This week, we're welcoming author Jeffree
Itrich, whose latest title is Destiny
at Oak Valley. Join us on Sunday, when Jeffree will offer a free copy of the book to a lucky
blog visitor. Here's the blurb:
Imagine flying in a hot-air balloon, getting caught in an eclipse and
descending over 100 years into the Wild West of New Mexico, where you meet a
strikingly handsome man who challenges every notion you ever had about love.
That’s exactly what happens to independent, high-spirited Rachel Kingston, who
doesn't know how to get home, but must find a way without falling for his
charms.
**An Excerpt from Destiny at Oak Valley**
Rachel felt
very strange. Both fear and elation swelled within her. She sensed she had come
home. Though she knew she had never been to the house before, or to Oak Valley,
it felt strangely familiar.
They found
the thick, oak front doors boarded up and posted with “danger of collapsing”
signs. Lauren sighed, laying her palms on the door. “This was a lovely home at
one time. These people worked so hard to build such an elegant house in this
outpost. And now it’s being left to rot.”
Rachel stood
back and closed her eyes. “Lauren, can’t you imagine women in bustle skirts and
funny little hats holding a tea party on the porch?” She reached back and
whisked her thick brown, shoulder-length hair up into a bun on the top of her
head, demonstrating a Victorian hair-do.
“Oh right!”
Lauren laughed. “This was a gold mining town. I doubt it would have been so
civilized.”
Rachel looked
back at the porch and garden and tried to re-imagine it with a group of grungy,
ill-dressed miners in their place. Somehow that imagery didn’t seem to fit. The
buried beauty and sophistication of the home suggested pride and self-respect. She
couldn’t explain it, but somewhere deep inside of her she knew the people who
inhabited this place were not wild, ill-mannered or poorly dressed, but people
who took the future of Oak Valley and themselves very seriously.
“I wish we
could see the inside,” Lauren said quietly. “I’ll bet it was beautiful.”
“It was and
we can,” Rachel blurted out suddenly.
Lauren stared
at her. “What do you mean? How do you know?”
Rachel shook
her head, feeling somewhat confused herself. “I don’t know. But I know it was
magnificent. Mahogany lined walls, a heavy, carved staircase, stunning imported
rugs and tapestry draperies and stained glass windows and-----”
“Hey!” Lauren
interrupted her sister who rambled on in a dazed-like manner. “You’re worrying
me. You’re always such a no-nonsense person and now you’re babbling on as
though you’re in a trance.” She snapped her fingers in front of Rachel’s face. “Hey!
How do you know all this? Have you been here before?”
Rachel
snapped out of her reverie, smiled slightly and hunched her shoulders. “No,
I’ve never been here and I don’t know how I know. I just do. Like I know
there’s another way in.” She took off around the corner of the house.
“Huh?” Lauren
responded, following her sister.
Rachel ran to
a little shed off the northeast corner. With a tug, she opened the door, and
then brushed away some old hay that covered the floor to reveal a door in the
flooring. When she opened it, she looked up at Lauren who stood behind her with
her mouth open in surprise. Before Lauren could say a word, Rachel bolted down
a stairwell.
“You coming,
Lauren?” she called from deep down inside.
“Well, I
can’t let you go in there by yourself, can I?” she answered timidly, stepping
down onto the old wooden stairs.
The sisters
followed a musty, rank-smelling corridor that led to another door. Rachel
pushed on it repeatedly until it opened. They climbed into what was the
kitchen.
The two
walked through the dilapidated house, being watchful of corroded floorboards
and small animals that had taken up residence. Rachel glided through the house
as though she had lived there for years.
The house was
a shell, a fragment of its former glorious years. Though they could still see
the fine wood, it was greatly decayed and rotted in many places. Shreds of once
opulent draperies barely covered the boarded-up windows. When she discovered
the staircase was too decayed to risk visiting the second floor, Rachel sat on
the bottom stair and plopped her head into her hands.
Lauren looked
squarely at her sister and saw her eyes filled to the brim with tears. “Why is
this house affecting you so?”
Rachel
shrugged. “I feel this uncanny sense of grief here. I know it as well as my own
apartment, but I don’t know why. I’ve never felt such a connection to a place
before. I can’t explain it.”
“I can’t
either and I suggest we get out of here. It’s giving me the creeps,” Lauren
declared. She grabbed Rachel’s arm and led her out of the house the same way
they entered.
Outside, they
walked through the dead rose garden and headed toward the car. Rachel stopped
and looked back at the house one more time. “This breaks my heart,” she said,
her voice unnaturally quiet. “This home shouldn’t be left deteriorating at the
foot of a forgotten hillside.”
At the edge
of the garden, Rachel nearly tripped over a small stone plaque, embedded in the
ground. Although weather-beaten and worn with age, she could still read “La
Querencia.” She smiled. She knew the term well. La Querencia, the place of your
heart’s desire. It was a phrase people often used to describe their passionate
feelings for the rustic charm of New Mexico.
Rachel
thought about how since birth she had heard the term, but had never been able
to apply it to herself. Many of her friends relocated to New Mexico because
they found that special spirit, that special connection to the land here. Although
she had been born and raised in New Mexico, she never felt that bond, never
felt that ethereal level of comfort, as though she was meant to be here.
Rachel
dropped to her knees and ran her fingertips over the words on the plaque when
something shiny caught her eye near the bulging roots of an old oak tree. Digging
in the dirt, she uncovered a large, oval cameo on a gold chain. “Lauren, look
what I found!”
Lauren joined
her sister on the ground. Rachel buffed the face with her shirt until they
could clearly see an image. The intricately carved cameo portrayed a very
handsome man looking into the eyes of a woman who bore a striking resemblance
to Rachel.
