Page 45 of Blame It On Midnight

Book?

“You’re a writer?” Collins asked.

Bunny nodded and raised her eyebrows at her brother, who had a long-suffering look on his face. It was clear the two of them were close, and Collins figured she was looking at her future. Bunny and David could be an older version of Collins and Kip.

“I write romance novels and am currently working on a new idea set in the great state of Montana, which is why I’m here. Research.”

“Do you write as Bunny?” She’d never heard of her.

“Oh no, though I love my name. The publisher thought it was too cute, I suppose. Maybe if I wrote children’s books.”

“Which you do not,” Willie interjected with a laugh.

“No.” Bunny shook her head. “I do not.” She looked at Collins. “I have a pen name.”

“Do you mind if I ask what it is?”

“Not at all.” Bunny smiled. “Avery Hanes.”

Holy. Cow. It took a lot to impress Collins Lafferty, and Avery Hanes was a lot.

“Avery Hanes,” she said.

“Yes.”

“The Avery Hanes that wrote the Black Tattoo series?”

Bunny nodded.

“The Avery Hanes who wrote the Skull Riders?”

Again, the woman smiled and nodded.

“I take it, you’re a fan of my sister.” David’s eyebrows rose.

“You could say that.”

Bunny winked. “You’re surprised that I’m a middle-aged woman with grey hair and wrinkles.”

“No, I?—”

Bunny laughed and sat back in her chair. “Most folks think that Avery Hanes is a young woman, maybe in her mid-thirties, with a handsome husband for inspiration. Maybe she rides a motorcycle on the weekends and jumps from planes in her spare time.”

Collins blushed because the woman wasn’t wrong. She was not the author Collins pictured. “I love your books,” she managed to say. “Especially Abe and Talon’s story. That one nearly broke me.”

Bunny smiled, clearly pleased to hear this. “Thank you.” Her expression shifted a bit, like a cloud rolling across the sun. “Abe is based on my late husband. He’s special to me as well.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. Some of us are only given a small window of time to spend with the love of our life.” She nodded toward Willie. “Us old friends know this, don’t we?”

Willie nodded. “That we do.” She turned to Collins. “So when you meet someone who makes you smile when no one is looking, who kisses like a storm and holds you like you’re the most precious thing in the world, you grab hold of him with all you’ve got and don’t let anything keep you from him.”

Her meaning was clear. Benton Bridgestone kissed like a tornado.

Collins finished her plate while the others chatted about upcoming plans. When she was done, she got to her feet. “So nice meeting you, Bunny.” She paused. “If I manage to get a couple of copies of your books, would you sign them for me?”

“Absolutely.”

---