**SPOTLIGHT, INTERVIEW & EXCERPT** Summer Under my Quilt by Crystal Sellers

Summer Under my Quilt

By Crystal Sellers

Release Day - 4th December, 2015   

Megan Porter spent the summer at her grandparent's lake house. Her life imploded and she didn't know how to get it back. Her husband was a cheat, her son was outgrowing his mother, and her grandpa was very sick. Seeking refuge from it all, the one thing she didn’t expect, was to find herself being courted by the very handsome, local Pastor.

Reid Stone was finally enjoying his life, three years after a divorce. He started over in the quaint town of Lake Charlotte, as the pastor of the local church. He quickly made friends, yet still led a peaceful quiet life of bachelorhood. 

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Chapter One

  

In the sixteen years, since the night of her senior prom Megan Creeway always thought she had a perfect life with Bobby Porter. After all he proposed to her that night and at seventeen years old she was completely swept off her feet by it. They were sitting on the tail gate of Bobby’s truck out in Mari Baker’s cattle field. All of their friends were there too. Still dressed in their formal attire, gathered around the little pond out on the back end, of the Baker’s thirty plus acre farm.

Some were swaying to the music that blared from the speakers, wafting from one of the Ag guy’s trucks. Others were bundled up together in groups of two or three trying to stay warm. A bit of a chill hung in the air from the recent rain, but soon it would be hot and humid as summer took full swing.

Most of the Sr. class slipped out of the prom early, only to end up out there dancing around the pond. Megan and Bobby were whispering and giggling between themselves, trying to guess who might be drunk enough that they would fall into the pond. Hoping that when it happened they would pull a few others in with them, for laughs.

Prom was nothing more than the expected teenage ritual to them and their close friends. None of Megan and Bobby’s friends were the kind that might be picked for Prom Queen or King anyway. To them it was more fun hanging out in the field, than watching whichever cheerleader or football player be crowned. So even though she sat there all beautified, in her pretty black full length gown with her blond hair in long curls down her back, she felt content and enjoyed every minute of it.

They sat on the tail gate of Bobby’s truck, Megan's feet swinging above the ground. She kicked them back and forth the way all little girls tend to do. She watched the way the long black skirt of her prom dress swayed in the wind on her ankles, as her feet kicked. Bobby sat with his hands gripping the gate at his sides; his knuckles white from the tight hold. Bobby was excited to go to college in the fall, at the State University. Megan could tell he felt nervous just by looking at those white knuckles. Even though he had not talked of it today, she knew him well enough to know what was on his mind. Bobby wasn't the best student, so he got lucky that he had been accepted on a football scholarship.

"My mom is just happy I’m going to college at all," he told Megan. "She told me that she assumed I would go to a trade school, if she were that lucky. It's not her life, it's mine. Doesn't she mean if I were lucky?"

"I know Bobby, but you should just ignore her. Just because she may not have faith in you doesn't mean I don't. And it certainly does not mean, that you shouldn't have faith in yourself."

"I know, Meg. I’m really going to miss you if you go away to school."

Megan shifted a bit. She crossed her legs, uncrossed them, and began to fidget by picking at her fingernails. Megan was so scared to go away. Yet, as frightened as she felt, she was equally excited. Megan applied to her dream school Duke, at the beginning of the year. Ever since Megan, along with her family went one spring to visit her cousin there, she’d known that’s where she wanted to go to college one day. The day her acceptance letter arrived Megan was over the moon. It was finally happening! She had been accepted to her first choice. Her life was going as planned.

Bobby reached over and took her left hand in his. As he often did when she fidgeted that way, bringing her back to the present.

"I know you only applied to State as a backup, and to please your mom. Don't get me wrong Meg, I'm not trying to talk you into staying, I really want for you to make your decision based on what you want." Bobby touched her cheek with his free hand and turned her to face him. When he looked in to her eyes she knew what he said was true.

"I just want you to know that I will miss you very much." He then smiled at her. And wiped away the single tear that slipped from her eye, with his thumb. That tear betrayed her. While Bobby talked on she hardly heard him. Megan was thinking about what it would mean for them if she did move away. Even if it was only for four years, and they would see each other every chance they got. She would also be home on the holidays, right? Still, she worried that Bobby, the only boy has been serious with, might tire of his girlfriend never around. What if he decided to dump her and find someone new?

Bobby hopped off the truck. He stood before her, squeezed both of her hands, and got down on his suited knee before her. What was he doing? Megan cocked her head to one side, the way you see a puppy do when they are confused. In fact that's how she felt, like a confused little puppy dog.

"Megan, I mean it. Whatever you choose is okay with me. I know we can make it work as long as I don't lose you, I will be alright. Wherever you are, wherever I am, we will still feel like we are right there together. Because we love each other that much."

Megan wiped away her own tears this time. How did he always know what she was thinking? They were so in tune to each other. It was one of the things she loved most about him. They seemed so perfectly made for each other, ever since they first met. With his hand now free of Megan's while she wiped at her face, he reached for his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a tiny blue velvet box.

“Just so you know how much you truly mean to me, I sold my hunting rifle to buy you this." Still on bended knee, looking up at her, Bobby placed the box in her hands. Megan drew in a sharp breath as she opened it up. Inside was a small diamond ring. The diamond itself was almost too small to see here in the dark. Yet to her it shone very brightly. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen!

"Megan Hillary Creeway will you marry me? Will you stay with me forever, even if it only means by staying with your heart? Please say yes." Megan decided right then and there that she would. She would stay with Bobby for always. Even though that was not what he was asking of her. She decided not to go to Duke, and never thought one more second about it.

***

Now sixteen years later. Megan’s life, while not completely the fairytale she imagined, had been running smoothly. So smoothly in fact that she never expected what she found on an average Tuesday, as she ran home over her lunch break.

The one day her boss asked to see her portfolio, happened to be the only day she had left it at home. The whole reason she took the job at the gallery, was the hope that one day she would get her work seen. And now after a year of hard work she was finally getting that chance.

Megan’s passion had always been painting and sketching. Her parents saw it as more of a hobby. They encouraged her to be practical, and study something that she could build a career in. Argument after argument finally worn Megan down, until she agreed to compromise and chose to minor in art as she focused on a degree in business.

Eight years in the business world only brought Megan to one conclusion: her life with Bobby and their son Bret, was only complete as long as she had her art. Needing a change, she quit her job as a Payroll Director and pursued her passion.

After a small success at the local, ‘Up and Coming Artist’ exhibit she knew she had made the right decision. Though the results from it soon fizzled. A curator position opened up at a local gallery and Megan felt it was fate. After three years of jumping at the director’s every command, she had her opening. Finally she felt peace. She was again content with her life. All her dreams were coming true. Her perfect husband, wonderful son, great big house to expand her little family. And now the perfect job! Which would lead to a fulfilling career as an artist.

In a rush she left her keys in the front door and flew up the stairs to her bed room. Her portfolio was on the night stand where she had left it last night. She worked late into the night sketching Bret as a baby asleep in his crib, from memory. He was the cutest baby. Time flew so fast, he was a nearly a teenager now. Why inspiration hit her best when she was almost asleep she never knew but it always did.

As she burst through the door of her bed room, Megan nearly fell over. It wasn't due to some random thing on the floor in her path, which tripped her up. It was the scene before her that caused all of the wind to be knocked out of her body. Along with any semblance of her balance. Her husband stared wide eyed up at her. He lay in their martial bed and he was not alone. Bobby obviously did not expect his wife to drop by the house during her lunch. Because there he laid, under a slender red head woman, whom Megan had never met before. Just as Megan entered the room, this woman turned and looked her straight in the eye. She never even blinked! Sitting there on top of HER man all wrapped up in Megan’s favorite pink comforter.

The nerve of this woman! She just continued on with her task at hand, as if nothing had changed in the last two seconds. Megan’s entire being changed that fast. Bobby lay frozen, he just stared at her, as if Megan had hit him with some kind of freeze ray.

It may have only been thirty seconds tops that Megan stood in the doorway to her bedroom. Watching some strange woman having her way with Megan's very own husband. However it felt like hours. Even in that short time she had seen so much. She seen the surprise on her husband’s face. But not regret. Bobby still didn't make any move to get up. He wasn't saying, no you’re not my wife! He wasn't telling Megan he was sorry. He wasn’t anything. Not to her. Not anymore that much was clear.

Over on the night, stand her portfolio was just as she had left it the night before. Back when all was right in the world; in Megan's world at least. Megan seized the book off the night stand, in that dark bed room, then turned and shut the door behind her.

She didn’t go back to work. She called in claiming to be violently ill, hinting that she had a lunch gone bad. It wasn’t even a lie. After all her lunch had been bad and she was sick. After she hung up her cell, Megan entered the restaurant she was passing on the street and headed straight for the restroom. Where she proceeded to throw up the contents of her stomach for nearly an hour.

The vision of that woman straddling her husband was forever burned into her memory. As hard as she tried nothing would erase it. Nothing was ever going to be able to erase that image from her mind, or from her heart. She seen how great the red-heads body was. Megan guessed many men probably drooled over her on a daily basis. Megan never felt like she was being drooled over. That woman was everything Megan was not: beautiful, lean, and apparently brave.

Megan’s dirty blond hair and freckles across her nose and cheeks, even now at thirty-five years old, made her feel as if she looked like a child. She was not an athletic person. Even though she was not over weight by any means. She never worked out, and generally was not completely satisfied with her body.

When they were kids, Megan thought Bobby was the better looking of the two. With his great thick hair and broad shoulders. She always felt she blended into the background standing next to him. Her friends often assured her that this wasn’t true, and that she was very beautiful. Megan tried to see herself as they saw her. She just wasn’t the type to get hung up on her own looks.

She sat on that cold hard floor of the bathroom of some restaurant, going back over her life. Maybe the clues were there and she ignored them. In her opinion, their life was perfect and that was how she had wanted it to stay. All those times Bobby called to say he was working late. Or grabbing a drink with his buddies, she never questioned it. When he missed events for their son, she apologized for him. They did fight some, she had mostly dismissed it because they never made any sense. She could see now, that he picked the fights so he had a reason to leave the house. Yes, Megan had been ignoring things for a while now, she was forced to admit.

While most men only got better looking with age, Bobby had not. She thought that he had given up. He let himself go over the years. His once beautiful long blond locks, he now wore shaved. His lean body now sported a beer belly; not a big one. But his flat stomach was long gone. She never once thought that she had to work harder to keep his attention. That someone would see him for something more. Mostly because she trusted the bond they shared, and the family that they made without any doubt.

Now she wished she would have opened her eyes and paid better attention. She felt like she wasted many years of her life. That evening she picked up Bret from school. Then they went to her parents’ house. She didn’t answer Bobby’s calls or text for two weeks. Not until the day he was served the divorce papers.





****************

Interview with Crystal Sellers

 

What or who inspired you to become a writer?

I wrote poetry since I was 12 years old. And in the 8th grade my friends and I co-wrote a story. I guess I have had a passion for writing most of my life.

Who is your favorite Author & what is it that really strikes you about their work?

I have a bunch. Nora Robert is in my top. I LOVE her witch series. I also really like V.C. Andrews. They both have a way of transforming you, into worlds very different from your own.

What was the most surprising things you’ve learned in writing your book?

After I was nearly finished editing I realized how much of myself is in the story. So many little things that are perfectly me.

Do you ever experience writer’s block?

Maybe some. I’m a pantser so occasionally I do sit back and ask, Okay what now? But for the most part I hashed this out in one summer and went from there with little story issues.

What is the last book you read?

Nora Roberts Dark Witch series. If you don’t count writing craft books.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. With whom would it be?

That’s a good question. I was born with cerebral palsy. And so my first thought was, who would I want to be? Then thoughts went to being able to walk normally..But I think even with that said, I am content with my life. And I can’t think of anyone I would want to trade places with.

 What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I have so many hobbies. I write a blog about being a housewife. I am a thirty-one consultant, I have recently started a YouTube channel. I like to crochet, read, and watch movies and craft.


Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

 I guess some is loosely related to my life. My grandfather died but not from cancer. My father actually died from cancer. Her son is based off my own, and some other things. These experiences helped shape the story line. And like I said earlier there are lots of little things that are me.

 As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A secretary, which I was for a awhile. An Actor and a model.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you? 

Lucy Hale, or Italia Ricci would be good

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Just write. Even if you throw out the first few ideas keep at it. You will eventually feel like you found your diamond in the rough. And participate in NaNoWriMo each year. It’s good to challenge yourself.

Is there anything you’d like to say to your readers and fans?

I just hope they enjoy my book. I do have more coming in the future if they find that they like my work. I’m on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook. I’m happy to answer questions if they would like to follow me.

 How would you describe yourself in 3 words? 

Funny, Strong-willed, and blunt.

What’s one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?

 I was in a local commercial once when I was 16.

What Scares you the most and why? 

I am afraid of the dark. Always have been.

When was the last time you cried over a book? 

I can’t remember. But lots of books make me cry. I cried when I read the last Harry Potter.

 Tell us about your first kiss?

 Haha I was 14, he was 12. (Nearly 13.) That’s all you get.



Some quick questions..

Light or Dark chocolate?

I’d rather have something sour.

Sunrise or Sunset? 

Sunset

Dogs or Cats? 

Toss up.

Tea or Coffee? 

Both!

 Favorite Colour? 

Pink

 Favourite Disney movie? 

Tangled

  Name 5 of your fictional crushes as of right now?

Edward Cullen, Rhett Butler, Harry Potter, That’s all I can think of off the top of my head.

**Thank you so much Crystal for answering a few of my questions. :)

Author Bio

Crystal Sellers was born in a small town in Oklahoma where she was raised in the country and lived a very simple life. Her parents didn't have much, but her needs were always met. Her siblings include one younger brother as well as an older step sister and younger step brother. She was born into a big close-knit family with lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. Crystal was the first born grandchild on her mother’s side and her papa's world.

She was born with a disability and went through a lot growing up; seeing doctors, wearing braces, surgeries, and physical therapy was a big part of her young life. Though it never slowed her down. Despite her disability she always found a way to make things happen.

Crystal met her husband just out of high school. They have been married for Fifteen years. They have a teenage son. He is the joy in their lives. Her family is the light of her life and the reason to keep going every day. Also part of the family are three mini dachshund’s; the bosses of the house.

Writing is just one of her passions. A way to escape to a world that she can only dream of.

Crystal has had a passion for writing for years. She writes a blog titled A Tale of One Housewife. Her poetry has been published in small literary magazines. She currently lives in Missouri with her husband of 16 years and their teenage son.

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