Writing "Smoky Mountain Baby"

If you read “Smoky Mountain Murder,” you’re already familiar with Tristan Mabley, the bold, overprotective brother of the novel’s heroine, Gemma. From the start, I knew I had to write his story. He grabbed my attention in his very first scene and screamed at me that he had more to say. As “Smoky Mountain Murder” progressed, I started to get a better sense of where I wanted his story to go. He needed someone to bring out his softer side. Enter Laurel Hunt. A pint-sized paramedic who not only saves his life, but sends it into a tailspin. What I didn't know, though, was that Laurel would take me on a journey of love and loss.

I had a vague idea of her background when I started - I actually started the novel, deleted all of it, and started it again twice before I was happy with where she was taking me. I had written a quarter of the book the second time before I decided to scrap it all and start over once more. I'm glad I did. Her journey is one that I hope no one ever has to live through, but I know some do. Her relationship with Tristan helps her to realize that she has reconciled with her past and that she has become her own person over the years. Seeing herself through his eyes, she becomes the epitome of a strong woman who can take care of herself.

I hope you enjoy her journey, and Tristan and Laurel's journey together, as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Keep reading for an excerpt!

EXCERPT FROM “SMOKY MOUNTAIN BABY”

When Tristan finally pulled into his sister’s driveway it was dark.  He had stayed at work much longer than he had intended.  After they had taken the homeless woman, Debbie, back to her camp, he and Jake had gone back to the station and started a search for Adam Richland as well as Miranda Benning.  Tristan had a bad feeling that they were going to find her in a similar state to her friend.

Muscles protesting all the activity of the last thirty-six hours, he trudged up the stairs, vowing to find a bottle of ibuprofen as soon as possible.  Pulling open the door feminine laughter assaulted him the moment he stepped inside.  He followed the sound to the kitchen where he found Laurel and Gemma knee-deep in flour, pans of cookies spread around them.  Laurel’s blonde hair was pulled back, highlighting her pretty face.  Her cinnamon eyes sparkled as she laughed at something Gemma said. 

God, she was beautiful.  He really hoped that they could work things out.  He wanted to come home to that smile every night.

His stomach growled as the scent of the cookies invaded his brain.  He loved Gemma’s cookies.  Even though he had eaten not long ago, he could never resist her baking.  Stepping into the room, he snagged a chocolate chip cookie off of one of the pans, rolling his eyes in ecstasy.  He was a cookie junkie and he knew it.

“Hey, Tris.  It’s about time you got back.  Ben’s been home over an hour.”  She gestured to her husband, who sat at the end of the island, sneaking cookies and watching the women bake.

Tristan swallowed his cookie and slanted a glance at his brother-in-law.  “Yeah, well my case blew up in my face.  Again.”  He had filled Ben in earlier on everything they had learned.  Tristan hoped it was nothing, but it didn’t sit well that the guy whom Debbie mentioned was using the homeless and they were then turning up missing.

“Everything okay?” Laurel asked softly.

“Yeah.  It’s just complicated.”  He walked around the island to her side.  Lifting a hand he brushed some flour off her cheekbone.  “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.  My legs are still a little weak and sore from running so far, but I’m warm again.”  She smiled and laid her hands against his cheeks to demonstrate.

He covered them with his own and held them there, staring down at her. 

“Good.” 

She was so very tiny.  It still amazed him that she had run so far over such rough terrain in her condition.  And, in those boots of hers that weren’t made for anything except making the wearer look good.

Leaning down he pressed a kiss to her forehead, inhaling her sweet scent.  “We need to talk,” he murmured against her hair. 

She pulled back to frown up at him.  “About what?”

“About what you saw that made you run.”

Her mouth tightened into a thin line, but she nodded.  “Just let me help Gemma finish up in here and then I’ll answer any questions you have.”

“You go on,” Gemma said, having overheard their conversation.  “I’m just going to throw these dishes in the dishwasher.”

“What about all the cookies?”  Laurel frowned and gestured to the still full pans and cooling racks. 

Gemma waved a hand.  “Tristan will eat a pan before he leaves and I’ll send a bunch home with him.  The rest Ben can help me throw in ziplocs.  He’ll take them to work in the morning.  Trust me, I have this down to an art form.  You go.  We can handle cookie clean up.”

After a moment, Laurel nodded.

Taking her hand, Tristan gave his sister and brother-in-law a quick nod of thanks and led Laurel from the room.  But, not before snagging a couple more cookies on his way out.

Laurel giggled when she saw his loot.  “You really will eat a whole pan, won’t you?”

He grinned, taking a bite.  “One thing you will learn about me is that I have an extraordinary weakness for chocolate chip cookies.”

“That’s good to know.  Gives me leverage if I ever need to sweet talk you.”  She tossed him a saucy grin.

He polished off his cookie and stared down at her hotly.  His eyes roved over her pretty face and lower.  “You have many ways to talk me into things and none of them involve food.”

She bit her lip and blushed, making Tristan hungry for more than Gemma’s cookies.  Leaning down, he kissed her soundly unable to help himself.  He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her off her feet, pulling her close.  She was a welcome weight in his arms after the long day he’d had.  He had missed her and hadn’t realized just how much until now.

When he begged entrance to her mouth, she wound her arms around his neck and opened for him.  Losing himself in her delicious heat, he let go of the stress of his day.  She washed it all away and left him feeling new again.

Slowly, he pulled back and lowered her to her feet.  She smiled up at him softly, her cinnamon eyes warm and inviting.

“You taste like chocolate,” she said softly.

He laughed and gave her another quick kiss.  “I guarantee that you taste sweeter.  Come on.  Not to ruin the moment, but let’s go get this over with.  I want to be done with this case for the day.”

Nodding, she followed him into Ben’s office.  He pulled her down next to him on the old leather couch shoved against one wall.  “Okay.  Start from the beginning.  What happened?”

She took a deep breath and clutched his hands, staring at a point over his shoulder as she talked.  “I was headed up to Mrs. Preston’s.  She’s a shut-in we used to get a lot of calls for.  I noticed that a lot of the time she was just lonely, so I started taking food and other necessities to her every couple of weeks and spending an afternoon visiting.  Anyway, I rounded the bend and nearly hit the SUV that was sitting across the road.”

“What SUV?” Tristan interrupted.  Only Laurel’s car and Veronica Chapman’s car had been at the scene when he and Jake arrived.

“There was a black SUV, a Ford I think, parked perpendicular on the road.  I managed to avoid colliding with it, then got out to check on everyone.  I saw the damage to the rail and when I looked over the edge I could see the red car.”  She looked at him then.  “I didn’t think.  I just ran down the hill, wanting to get to whoever could be injured.”

“You didn’t see the man standing outside the car before you ran down?”

She shook her head.  “There were too many trees.  The car was wedged and he was standing behind the one on the driver’s side.  I was only a few yards away before I saw him.  He came into view just as he lifted the gun and shot her.”  Her voice trailed off into a choked whisper as she remembered. 

Taking several deep breaths, she blinked hard before continuing.  “He saw me then and took a shot, but I moved as soon as we made eye contact and he missed.  I just ran and tried to make myself as hard to shoot as possible until I got to a place where I could hide.  I climbed a tree behind some rocks.  He didn’t see me and kept going.”

Tristan frowned.  “Why didn’t you come back to the road then when he didn’t spot you?”

“There was someone else with him.”

He leaned forward at the new bit of information.  “You’re sure?”

She nodded.  “He yelled back at whoever it was that I was there.  I didn’t stick around, though, to see who it was.”

A second suspect changed things.  It made it less likely that it was just a scorned baby daddy bent on revenge.  It also explained why the SUV was missing.

“What did the man you saw look like?”

“Brown hair, dark eyes.  Probably about six feet tall.  I only got glimpses of him as I looked back while I ran.  I got a really good look at his face, though.  He looked right at me after he shot that girl.”

Which meant that the killer had gotten a good look at Laurel.  His concern for her safety rose tenfold and he cursed.  Standing, he paced to the window and looked out.  The night was still.  Snow fell lightly, giving the world a dreamy quality.  The peacefulness of the scene outside was in direct contrast to Tristan’s churning gut. 

A small hand on his back had him turning around to look down into Laurel’s warm eyes. 

“This is bad isn’t it?  That I saw him and he saw me?”

“Yeah.”  He framed her face in his hands.  “But I’m not going to let anything happen to you.  Ben already agreed to post a guard on you at all times.  If I’m not there, someone else will be.”

She frowned up at him.  “What about when I’m at work?  There isn’t room in the ambulance for an extra person all the time.”

Déjà vu slapped Tristan in the face.  It was Gemma all over again.  He let his hands drift down to hold hers.  “How about you take some time off?  Just until we catch this guy.”

She was shaking her head before he had even finished.  “I can’t.  We’re already down a paramedic.  Besides, I can’t take a bunch of time off now if I want to take more than the six weeks maternity leave I get when the baby comes.  I’d really like to not have to turn my newborn over to daycare because I can’t take an extended leave.”

He resisted the urge to growl in frustration.  Leave it to him to find a woman with the same stubbornness as his sister.  “You do realize that I can support us without you ever having to work again, don’t you?  I spent years in the back of beyond fighting terrorists and got paid well for it.  And I never spent much of it because I was always in a war zone or living on base.  I invested it all.  Between that and my detective’s salary, we wouldn’t be hurting if you wanted to stay home and raise our baby.”

A flash of pain crossed her face.  “I have no right to any of that, Tristan.  I’m not your wife.”

The urge to change that hit him square in the chest.  “Maybe you should be.”