Krista

Might want to cross your toes too, if you can.. lol. And aww, hallmark moments are so sweet and too rare. I really liked Craig and Grace's interactions in this chapter, they were fun to write.

Thank you! I'm glad you liked this chapter. And thank you for leaving a comment. Very much appreciated.

I was at work and checked in on my story comments... and I laughed. Luckily I was alone in my office and didn't have to explain myself. But thank you for this.

I had a bittersweet feeling about my high school life ending, too. Jackson has had a bit of an up and down year, but I think he'd be pretty happy over all now. Same with Luke to be honest. The only person I see kissing the ground and happily screaming for joy after the year ends right now is poor Welker. These characters are fun to write. Thank you for leaving a comment!

I wish I was as inventive as what I make my characters out to be, and you may have gotten a few of them. But alas.. all lies... you'll have to use your imagination on what Teenagers can come up with in regards to what they'd call Cindy for storming the field again. lol. *whistles* Thank you for leaving a comment, they are very much appreciated.

It’s not just about how the people walk, talk, and dress. Always keep that in mind, and try to remember the culture and the world as it was during that time. The characters that you’re creating for your period piece are going to be more than just an existing member of your personal cast of characters...they’re going to be living, breathing, products of their environment. Not your current environment...but theirs. --- Ah, I wish todays filmmakers and writers would read this and then read it again... and get their hands swatted every time they broke from it. Period pieces are flawed and they're beautiful... keep them as such.

woops, I am so sorry for leaving this comment hanging for almost a year. And such a sweet comment at that. My dogs never have.. and never will play fetch. They look at me like an idiot when I toss them a ball or something. They'd much rather just get the zoomies and run all over the place. Well.. the did when they were younger anyway. I'm glad you enjoyed the story as a whole. It is very different than what I usually/typically write. Thank you! I really loved Adam when I wrote this story. Someone so wild, but centered and had both feet on the ground when needed. It made for a good bit of character work for me to do. Jason was just reeling through most of it, being impacted by different things throughout the story, dealing with what he was dealing with as well. I do remember most of this story, parts have faded a bit from memory, but thank you for reading and enjoying this story. Also, thank you for leaving a comment.

No.... just... no. Public or semi-public pools are not clean! He might as well just chucked his clothes into a toilet bowl... at least there he could add detergent. Thank you for adding to my squeamish vulnerabilities around public pools... and for someone to pick up a guy.. whilst wearing all his underwear AFTER admitting to using the pool to wash his clothing.. DIRTY clothing I might add... makes you wonder about both of them to be fair. And as a mother and a sister that has done most of the laundry since I was able to walk, I can tell you without a doubt... the male sex are 2x more dirty. They are more prone to the sniff and shrug technique in dressing themselves in clothes they wore weeks ago and stuffed into the far corners of their rooms. So no.. NO, just... *breathes...* no. --- With that said... and now that I'm calm. It was an interesting take on the prompt itself. One that I wouldn't have thought up at all. So you get marks for originality.

The fallout from prom was felt all over the place. After it ended and the chaperones herded the stragglers that hadn’t made it to Toby’s afterparty out of the gym, Cindy stormed the village of pop-up tents searching for Luke. Not finding him there, it didn’t stop her from calling the police, the first time in recent memory they had ever been called to break up a party. Luckily for Troy, he was away at a cattle auction. He could at least claim he had no knowledge of the party, even though the cop

PT 131 Krista creates a miniature doll in the shape of a Wildone. She chants, 'find his soul and bind him,' three times aloud. The doll bursts into flame and embers, then reforms. Smiling she shoves a crochet hook through its chest. The end. --- Honestly though.. Good luck.

Well, I see @Valkyrie and myself are going to have to have a talk with you and your heathenish ways. In the meantime your babysitter will be arriving tomorrow morning and you better be on your best behavior. I have never found a beer that I like. It all hits my stomach the same way, no matter the taste. It just is awful... and the smell of most of them are rather offensive. Give me a cocktail, margarita, or a nice red wine and I'll be happy. --- And the weather finally was nice over the weekend, so I stayed outdoors most of the time playing volleyball, did some light hiking, and played softball which is something I haven't done since High school.. and I sucked at it.

Jackson's parents were high school sweethearts that married right out of high school. That's how Jackson sort of ended up where he ended up... lol. Since they fell in love in the small town, they wanted to return to it. There are obstacles though, some that go well past the obvious, which is Cindy... Aww. Thanks for sharing this little bit of yourself. I married the... third man I was engaged to. There are a lot of stories about this sort of thing happening. High School romances turning into life-long commitments. I have decided how I want this story to end, I'm very impatient with waiting to write those closing parts, chapters + epilog. I want the story to feel real, that is a goal of mine as well. So with that, we'll have to see.

Aww, I teared up a little bit. I remember back when I started this story, these words didn't reflect Jackson at all. A lot of you wanted to sit the boy down and give him a talking to. and his friends too for that matter. lol. Which, I was living for, since that is a goal I started out with. I knew I always wanted him to be cheeky. So his growth towards the latter part of the story, it rests my nerves a little to know there has been some. It also calms me a bit to know that there are at least some evidence left of the old, true Jackson. It is always a fear of mine that the story arc takes the overall make-up of the character away from start to finish. I'm not saying it is wrong, but for the most part I want my characters to be themselves throughout within the concept of their arc itself. Not completely overtaken by it, I feel that is a more natural growth - unless something earth shattering happened, then maybe it could turn a character around completely from beginning to end. So thank you.

Thank you for reading! Jackson being vulnerable, I think I've sprinkled in a few moments within the story where he at least took some of the cocky defense mechanism away and let people see him. He typically bounces back fast though and he did this time as well. At least, after a little bit of a pep talk to himself. We'll see if this night has any lasting affects on him though, it had to touch him. The "Prom" chapters were fun for me to write. I hadn't ever covered it in my other coming of age romances. I went a bit all out, so I do hope everyone liked them for what they were.... and they didn't detract from the pacing/plot too much.

Steven, I'd hire you, just so I could fire you.

Aww, a happy accident. I only realized that Luke did plan most of the evening, prom aside, since the girls did take most of that on. I thought it was a decently memorable night for both of them at least.

Thanks or reading. Turn of events? 😮 Could you elaborate on that a little further, you have me worried... lol. I didn't see anything all that story turning in the chapter when I wrote it. Aside from what Luke told Jackson, showed him, and so on. Lol. Well, Jackson has shown in the past that he can be a bit dense at times. Part of his charms? 😮 You can't have it all, our boy... lol. And hmm.. Maybe if Cindy saw the outgoing applications to Georgia, she might get creative. I wouldn't put it past her, if the college was more than a couple of hours away. Definitely if it was on the other side of the country. But, at least she isn't pressuring him into going to a private christian university... although, mostly those are expensive AF and I doubt they could afford that, even with financial assistance, scholarships, etc. Now hold on a minute... Lol. 😮 I'll have to defend Jackson a little bit... he didn't know Luke was applying to UGA! Luke dropped bomb after bomb on him and he was reeling a little bit... Not to mention, Luke's hand was sliding around poor Jackson's thigh... no wonder the boy couldn't think... poor thing.

After the limo dropped us all off back at Rick’s, he wasted no time turning around and hauling ass back down the road. It was getting late and dealing with us all evening probably hadn’t been easy. I saw Derek slip him some tip money just before we all stood around in the driveway, everyone checking to make sure they had everything they started the night off with. I couldn’t help staring at Luke, I wanted to make sure the night wasn’t ruined for him. That he wasn’t ready to just go home and end

Wait. 😮 It's over? --- Well, this chapter was just full of sweetness. A fitting end for two people that went through the ringer to where they are now. I know putting Will to rest was important to Coy, to finally do that, Boone too. The story came full circle and I highly doubt Will would be enjoying himself, wherever he was - seeing the two of them the way they are. As for the Mommas and the Lord, I can see where they felt blessed by them, looking around at the bit of a full life they were able to build together. Loving the work you do makes it easier, I felt that. And this... this right here, the simpleness of doing that nightly, is how you know your love is still readily given and received. If you can lay down beside yours and talk about your day. Nestled in and safe. Making plans for the next day, the distant future, or whatever. That's when you know. It is such a small thing, but it is so huge. So I love this part of the chapter. I'm also glad that it was Coy that said the words, it solidified his growth even more, as we already knew Boone was there. He was there in the dusty campground, if he were allowed the be honest. His life now is just... extra blessings. Thank you, I really enjoyed this story. I'm glad I took it on, despite it being out of my usual depth.

I must admit, the first section of this chapter was difficult to get through. LOL. It was just surprising to see the talk of, that sort of preparedness in fiction. Being the setting, it was a different choice. It was interesting having you figure out how it would have been done, in a realistic way back in the day, aside from skipping meals, mind you. These scenes were a lot more organic in nature. I was able to connect to it on a better level than the first time, which I felt was completely necessary for the story, in a way. So this second go at it, was nice, like I figured it would be. The shaving scene was adorable. I'm glad we're seeing them truly coming together as a pair, working their way through. I was expecting the toils of labor and building the life to start, but it is good for them to slow down and enjoy the new horizons and scenery and not burdened down by all the work. Lets hope the townsfolk in Larkspur proper didn't think a wild beastly thing has come to town with all the noise they were making.

Okay, Corker I love. I also like that the conversations between Coy and Boone has grown to be far more relaxed. Although careful, not too runaway with the breeze sort of thinking. I can only imagine how long it would take to get their homesteads in order. As they're still building two cabins and whatever else they'll need to make it look like two separate properties. They may get by with just building one for now, it is later in the year and they are pressed for time. Especially if they don't want to be too dependent on buying hay and necessities to feed their stock. Yeah, Phineas Lemon might have had sly motivations for his warnings, but they may need to heed some of them. There's only so much time and so much they can do with it before winter... and they have a ton to do. But, it will be nice to see them journey through that, I'm sure. So I'm looking forward to that.

and Woops, again. I was a chapter ahead of where I left off..

Well, I'm back to reading this tale. Got extremely busy over the weekend and this week. Both tracts of land sounds too good to be true. No wonder the land Agent attempted to sway them out and away from them. I could see big timber buyers or deeper pockets maybe paying more for the land than it is actually worth. Or maybe it is listed cheaper than it should be, after being surveyed in the hopes the Agent can someday buy both tracts and make a small fortune - or at least the one Boone is wanting. Either way, the guys were at least thorough and found some surprises like the Orchards and lacking of rocks. The meadows, it does sound very pretty, the way you described both. It would be a nice place to build a life. Also knowing they're coming from a rocky/sandy/dusty region to a greener, coming into a later Spring or early Summer just added to the niceness of those visuals. Their relationship also took the next jump forward. Remembering as I read the scenes, I know Coy is far less comfortable or aware of all that it entails. Maybe not unaware, just less inclined to think of the pleasure to be gained by such physical acts, as he's always been told how inappropriate or demeaning those acts are. I'll have to admit, having Boone take him step by step along for the ride, left me lacking some of the organic sort of natural closeness I wanted to feel with them first growing together in that way. For the time, setting, place, and lacking of awareness and experience from Coy, Boone taking the lead and talking through it, was nice. I'm sure they'll get to the more organic and natural togetherness later on.

oh, and my book on the Cheeky one will be thicker and a lot more thorough.

This whole chapter was a breath both of them needed to take. Glad they got a chance to be distracted by everything that's new and not burdened by everything that's not. That will come later, it has to, it is the inevitability of it that I'm looking forward to. I want the explosion or whatever happens to happen. It needs to, so this breath they got in this chapter can lead to more. Larkspur, I wondered where the name came from. I didn't look it up, thinking it was fictional. I do garden, but I never remember names of flowers. I just hope these townsfolk are as good as they seem, even if they do settle on the tracts farther away. And, even I know never to trust land Agents, I've seen just enough of the benign Westerns that I have to know that... lol.