Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Not Just Another Love Story

Just a reminder to go check out Gemma's auction. She has some really great stuff over there. Oh, but don't outbid me. I've got my eye on a few things. (Smile) http://romanticinks.com/auction/

CC



((I’m under deadline…so here’s a blog I wrote for Novel Thoughts in December. Enjoy!))

November 17th was my wedding anniversary. Somehow hubby and I have managed to laugh our way through 24 years of ups and downs. I’ll be the first to tell you that there’s been more ups than downs. Not that he’s perfect. But he’s darn near perfect for me, which basically means that his flaws don’t drive me crazy, or too crazy anyway.

There was the morning after our wedding. We were in a cozy cabin in Ventura, California. The fireplace still had a few burning embers, the champagne was still cool in the ice bucket. He leaned in, kissed my cheek, and asked, “Do you want me to go get you some coffee and croissants, Jackie?”

I gazed at him. “That’s awful sweet of you. Only problem is, my name isn’t Jackie. But I just happen to know that it is your ex-wife’s name.”

You gotta know I’ve given him hell for that ever since. Poor man will go to his grave paying for that one. In good humor, of course.

Ahh, but the truth is that I know what I’ve got in my hubby. Because I’ve had a bad one. I’ve got ex-husband stories that could outwit, out beat most of yours. How many of you can say your ex appeared on an FBI wanted list? I’m serious.

And while I don’t wish bad marriages on anyone, I have to tell you that it was those experiences that inspired the Divorced & Desperate series. You see, like all three of my heroines in these three books, I know how hard it is to move past that pain, to trust again.

As a matter of fact, that pain almost prevented me and hubby from hitching up.

I’d just arrived in California and my mother, playing cupid, had targeted a Mr. Steve Craig. I was certain she was bat-shit crazy. With my heart still wearing band aids, the last thing I wanted was a man. And unfortunately, I pretty much let Mr. Craig in on that little secret.

Mr. Craig was a friend of my youngest uncle. Both divorced, every weekend, they went bar hopping. I actually met Mr. Craig the first night in California. It was like one of those awkward meets in a romantic comedy. He came in and everyone sat down, leaving only the small spot next to me open on the sofa. When he sat down, the cushion made this farting sound, and I wanted to sink like an unwanted penny between the sofa cushions.

The next weekend, my uncle said he wanted to take me out. What he’d neglected to tell me was that his friend was coming. When my uncle pulled up in his MG, a two seater, and expected me to crawl into Mr. Craig’s lap, I laid down the law. “I don’t sit in men’s laps that I don’t know.” I knew that car was gonna bump around and I wasn’t the type to give lap dances to strangers. More importantly, I’d had my heart gnawed on by one man and didn’t want to go there again.

My uncle let Mr. Craig drive so I could sit in his lap.

At the bar, Womphoppers, (a local meat market) we were sitting by the entrance watching as lonely people seeking company walked inside. I looked at my uncle checking out the hot babes. “Do you see anything that interests you?”

“A few,” he said. “What about you?”

I saw Mr. Craig lean in, all ears. It was time to nip this right in the bud.

“Nope. There’s nothing, nothing here that interests me.”

Mr. Craig raised his glass to me in a silent toast, and he and his drink went strolling through the bar to find someone “interested.”

Hours later, Mr. Craig, with a sexily-dressed redhead hanging all over him, walks up to my uncle and me. He introduced me to his new friend, and then asked me to convince her to join us for pizza at this great Italian place right down the hill. Being the friendly sort, I did my “southern” best to talk that woman into joining us. She declined, saying she was with friends.

As my uncle, Mr. Craig and I walked outside to head to dinner, my uncle’s ex-girlfriend came up. They took off to go discuss some unresolved issues, leaving Mr. Craig and I alone. For over an hour we stood by the locked car. It was chilly and Mr. Craig gave me his jacket. Somewhere in that hour, Mr. Craig became Steve. We chatted about everything from my five year old daughter to his dogs. I learned he was trying to get past his own divorce.

“Sorry I couldn’t talk the red head into joining us,” I told him.

He shrugged. “No big deal, she wasn’t my type.”

“Yeah, probably the perfect body and hair,” I teased.

He just laughed. And he had a good laugh.

When my unhappy uncle came back and got in the driver’s seat, Steve asked me if I wanted him to insist my uncle let him drive. I said no, I thought, now that I knew him better, I could sit in his lap. Yup, that was my first mistake. J

But the story doesn’t end there. It ends when we got to the restaurant and the sexy redhead jumped up and met Steve.

Steve told her he hoped she enjoyed her pizza then he picked up his drink and asked me if he could help me carry my tray.

I’m not going to say I fell in love with him then, it took some time to get those band aids off my heart, but he impressed me. And to this day when I give him a hard time about calling me by his ex-wife’s name, he accuses me of preventing him from getting lucky with some hot redhead.

So that’s a little about my hubby and about how we met. Do you have any “cute meets” in your past? Any funny hubbies or not-so-funny ex-hubby stories. No names please.
Crime Scene Christie

12 comments:

Gemma Halliday said...

Awww... sweet story. Steve sounds like a keeper!

~Gemma

Christie Craig said...

Gemma,

He is a keeper.

Your post reminds me of the chapter Faye Hughes and I are working on in our book, "Wild, Wicked & Wanton: 101 Ways to Love like You’re in a Romance Novel" which will be out in February 2010. The chapter is: Keeper or Creeper: A Romance Heroine Always Knows the Difference . . . eventually.

And haven't we all run into a few creepers?

CC

Keri Ford said...

Ouch. Calling you by the wrong name on your honeymoon! That's worth a lifetime of sucking up points!

The hubby and I didn't date other people much by the time we met each other. So there wasn't any major ex's in our lives for this uh-oh to happen!

Christie Craig said...

Keri,

Yup, he pretty much is marked for life due to that mishap.

But I love him anyway. Not that I have stopped taking my jabs. LOL.

Thanks for stopping in.

CC

Keri Ford said...

Speaking of Gemma's auction. How about a Book-A-Month for a Year??

http://romanticinks.com/auction/2009/01/2108-book-a-month-12-books/

The ladies and I at www.EverybodyNeedsALittleRomance.com is offering that up!

Go bid on that book package...but stay away from Leah's phone chat!!*Keri's off to stand guard by that item*

Gemma Halliday said...

I saw that item, Keri! What a fantastic idea! You are so cool for donating it.

And, I have a feeling Leah's gonna be pretty popular. ;)

~Gemma

Keri Ford said...

Thanks, Gemma. I tried to think of something someone would want from a group of unpub's! Since there's 5 of us in all, we're only basically buying 2 books

Unknown said...

A beautiful story that left me smiling. Congrats on 24 years of love.

Can't say there's as much to my own story except that dh showed up at my door with huge blue eyes and a bottle of wine. We got lost in South Plainfield trying to find a Chinese restaurant and laughed for hours. When he asked if he could kiss me (don't you just love those Southern gentlemen) well, I was a gonner.

Anonymous said...

I'm a day late, but that's a great story. My ex, while not an ex-hubby was no so great. Like as in obsessed with a hooters waitress not great,lol.

But I digress, you got a great one there.

Michelle

Christie Craig said...

Robin,

I love those southern gentlemen!

I think it's a great romantic story.

CC

Christie Craig said...

Michelle,

I can only tell you that you aren't alone in life bumbing into one like that. They exist. But hey . . . it should make you feel better to know that we authors ususally use them as victims in our books. And I never make it easy on them.

Thanks for sharing.

CC

RM Kahn said...

I originally met the man I would marry, the first time I went to a Renaissance Faire with friends. I fell head over heels in crush with him and even though he was five years younger, he was nice enough to let me down easy. We had mutual friends and ran into each other on occasion after that. Five years later we meet up again at the same faire, a little older and wiser. (he was even more handsome) This time things were different and we began dating. Three years later he proposed and I laughed at him... I thought he was joking, okay!
We have now been married almost 14 years.