What’s a Romance without a little sparring, eh? A little bad feeling and a little rivalry, eh?

At this point in my machinations, the male lead (Del) has moved out of The Feathery Nest, the bed & breakfast co-owned by the female lead (Parma) and into a small rental house. He has left his cousin Wade (Waddy) and his dog (the one who bit Parma) and has taken Westley (the cat) with him, but the cat ran away. Del is directing a small-town play as a celebrity guest director, and the production manager has asked Parma to help on sets.

Shhh! The scene is ready to begin:

WORSE THAN HIS BARK – excerpt
by Marian Allen

Parma swaggered into the theater, waving to Andy, who was directing a couple of high school boys in arranging a flat on the stage. Del was there, she was pleased to see, sitting knee-to-knee on the front row with Beverly “Bigfoot” Jacobi.

Beverly never crossed her legs. She always tucked them (or as much of them as would fit) demurely under her chair. Parma wondered if Del had noticed the size of them, or if he had been too busy noticing the size of something else that also came in pairs. Hard to believe he hadn’t; if feet were dogs, Beverly’s would be Great Pyrenees.

Parma went over. Beverly smiled at her, not considering her a rival. Which she wasn’t.

Del met her look with a blank what-can-I-do-for-you-stranger expression that made her want to smack it off his face.

“Waddy wanted me to tell you that Westley came home.”

Del said, “Waddy came to my house?”

My house. He moves in quick.

“No, to my house. The Feathery Nest.”

“Oh,” Del said. “Oh, good. I’ll come get him tomorrow, if that’s all right.”

“Waddy says he’d just run away again. Waddy’s having Jo drive him out to the mall so he can replace the supplies you took with you. He says you were right, and Westley ought to be allowed to go where he wants to go, even though he’d rather keep him safe indoors. He says Westley might want to go back and forth between the Nest and your place.”

“Poor kitty,” said Beverly. “The product of a broken home.”

Only someone who was not the product of a broken home could say that as if it were funny.

Del said, “He had a warm home, good food, people who cared about him, and he prefers running the alley.” He shrugged irritably.

“I know,” said Parma. “Some cats just don’t know when they’re well off.”

Del gave her a sharp look, but she smiled blandly and said, “A cat’s gotta do whatever floats his boat, that’s what I say about it.”

Beverly laughed until she snorted. “A cat in a boat! Oh, Parma, I never knew you were so funny!”

~*~

I’m a little bit stuck on the project at the moment. Somebody blow pixie dust on me and think lovely, wonderful thoughts.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Is your main character the product of a broken home? How does he or she feel about being or not being so?

MA