{"id":3893,"date":"2011-06-21T01:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T07:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alannacoca.com\/?p=3893"},"modified":"2014-08-01T02:38:21","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T08:38:21","slug":"sexy-summer-solstice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/sexy-summer-solstice","title":{"rendered":"Sexy Summer Solstice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wel\u00adcome to the JustRomance.Me Blog Hop! It begins right HERE<\/span><\/a> if you want to find the beginning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Sum\u00admer Sol\u00adstice! The longest day of the year, and a day filled with myths and leg\u00adends all around the globe. Here in Wyoming, there is a ranch called Crim\u00adson Dawn<\/a>. Folks gath\u00ader to sit around a bon\u00adfire and tell sto\u00adries before par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpants make a wish as they toss a hand\u00adful of red dirt on the fire. In hon\u00ador of the cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion, I\u2019ve writ\u00adten the begin\u00adning of my take on the event, and some oth\u00ader blog\u00adgers have picked up where I left off. Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Jessie Bolton sat astride her mare, shak\u00ading her head at the diverse crowd step\u00adping off the KISS<\/span> FM<\/span> 93.7 tour bus. They had come from all over the coun\u00adtry, and Jessie imag\u00adined that not one of them had ever been to Wyoming, let alone the top of Casper Moun\u00adtain. Crim\u00adson Dawn Ranch had host\u00aded the annu\u00adal Sumer Sol\u00adstice gath\u00ader\u00ading since the 1930s. Some say a woman\u2019s ghost haunts the area, but Jessie didn\u2019t believe it. She\u2019d worked at Crim\u00adson Dawn since she\u2019d turned six\u00adteen and had nev\u00ader seen any\u00adthing but pranks and hoaxes.<\/p>\n

Jessie grinned, and nudged her horse into the clear\u00ading to greet the new\u00adcom\u00aders. Per\u00adhaps this year would be more enter\u00adtain\u00ading than the oth\u00aders. These nine folks had gone to great lengths to win the trip to Crim\u00adson Dawn to take part in the Sol\u00adstice Cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion. Sure\u00adly there was at least one trick\u00adster in town who would come up with a prank for these city slickers.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Howdy!\u201d Jessie swung out of the sad\u00addle, hand\u00aded the mare off to one of Crimson\u2019s cow\u00adboys, then knocked the dust from her gloves. \u201cWel\u00adcome to Crim\u00adson Dawn. I\u2019m Jessie.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man in front of her looked down his long nose, but did reach for her out\u00adstretched hand. \u201cDr. Mar\u00adtin Santorini.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ah yes. She remem\u00adbered his infor\u00adma\u00adtion. The \u201cworld famous\u201d geol\u00ado\u00adgist that Jessie had nev\u00ader heard of. She tried not to gig\u00adgle at his pre\u00adten\u00adtious atti\u00adtude, or his han\u00addle\u00adbar mus\u00adtache. Who knew they still made wax for those? \u201cWel\u00adcome, Mr. San\u00adtori\u00adni. I hope you enjoy your\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>That\u2019s Doc\u00adtor Santorini.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some\u00adone in the crowd snort\u00aded, but it didn\u2019t seem to both\u00ader the geol\u00ado\u00adgist. He wan\u00addered away and Jessie focused on the next in line.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Hi, I\u2019m Car\u00adla Hilde\u00adbrand. So excit\u00aded to be here! I kept expectin\u2019 cow\u00adboys and Indi\u00adans in stage\u00adcoach\u00ades and stuff, ya know? I\u2019ve nev\u00ader even set foot out\u00adside Geor\u00adgia, so I\u2019ll be takin\u2019 lots of pic\u00adtures.\u201d To prove her point, Car\u00adla snapped one of Jessie\u2019s deer-in-the-head\u00adlights look. \u201cI\u2019ll have to post these on my blog. Karl is just gonna shit. Karl\u2019s the cook where I work. He thought I was pullin\u2019 his leg about win\u00adnin\u2019 this trip. I nev\u00ader win any\u00adthing!\u201d She squealed and snapped anoth\u00ader picture.<\/p>\n

Jessie stepped aside to offer her hand to the next new\u00adcom\u00ader. Oh yeah. This had to be Jer\u00adri Carl\u00adsile, the strip\u00adper from Atlantic City. Fake boobs, fake hair, fake tan\u2026even a fake smile.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I\u2019m Jer\u00adri. I don\u2019t sup\u00adpose you sell those boots in your gift shop, do you? They\u2019d go great with one of my outfits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Uh\u2026no. I\u2019m sor\u00adry. Maybe on your way back to the air\u00adport the dri\u00adver can stop somewhere\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>You\u2019re too damn cute.\u201d Jer\u00adri winked and snapped her gum before saun\u00adter\u00ading away.<\/p>\n

Jessie focused on the tight-faced woman in flow\u00ading pais\u00adley silk. Her eyes were the light\u00adest blue Jessie had ever seen. She found that she couldn\u2019t look away from the direct stare.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Zoe Red\u00adner, darling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh. The psy\u00adchic. Jessie hoped her eye\u00adbrow didn\u2019t quirk as it was known to.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I do hope you don\u2019t spend your entire sum\u00admer up on this moun\u00adtain. There is a lot of ener\u00adgy in this area. Not all of it kind.\u201d Zoe spread her hands out, palms down. If she was get\u00adting a read on the grav\u00adel beneath their feet, Jessie hoped the psy\u00adchic wasn\u2019t afraid of rattlers.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I\u2019ve heard sto\u00adries, but I\u2019ve spent a lot of time at Crim\u00adson Dawn. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly I haven\u2019t seen any\u00adthing extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>You need to close your eyes\u2026and open your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that, Zoe flared her nos\u00adtrils and walked away. Jessie couldn\u2019t hide her bemused grin as she faced the next vis\u00adi\u00adtor. This had to be Phineas Wal\u00adton. The Com\u00adput\u00ader pro\u00adgram\u00admer from Day\u00adton Ohio blinked rapid\u00adly, as if he was fil\u00ading images away in his bril\u00adliant brain. Jessie had nev\u00ader met a \u201cgeek\u201d who looked this good. Before she could check him out too thor\u00adough\u00adly, he reached for her hand and pumped it vig\u00ador\u00adous\u00adly \u201cI\u2019m Phineas. Very nice to meet you. Tell me you have Wifi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessie laughed. \u201cYes we do. After the cer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adny I\u2019ll get you all set up in your rooms for the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Great!\u201d He pulled out his smart\u00adphone and tapped the screen.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Hel\u00adlo. Lindee Pen\u00adton. I\u2019m the astrologer for the New York Cen\u00adtu\u00adry magazine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man beside her cleared his throat.\u201dAnd I\u2019m Will Tread\u00adworth. I have a real job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindee\u2019s face flared with col\u00ador. \u201cI swear to God, Mr. Tread\u00adworth. If you don\u2019t shut your trap about my career, you can expect a scathing review of your lat\u00adest arti\u00adcle by my colleague.<\/p>\n

Will shrugged. \u201cBig deal. What\u2019s your cir\u00adcu\u00adla\u00adtion, fifty?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindee\u2019s lips turned white, but Jessie was glad to see that she spun away rather than con\u00adtin\u00adue the argument.<\/p>\n

Mak\u00ading a men\u00adtal note to change the Tread\u00adworth and Pen\u00adton rooms from con\u00adnect\u00ading to oppo\u00adsite ends of the floor, Jessie shook Corey Thurston\u2019s hand. Strange how cops looked like cops even in street clothes. He did have a nice smile though, and the scar on his cheek only added to his attractiveness.<\/p>\n

After scratch\u00ading behind Offi\u00adcer Thurston\u2019s Ger\u00adman Shepard\u2019s ears, Jessie turned toward the last man off the bus. He wore head to toe black. From his Stet\u00adson to his boots, and even his long duster. She peered through the shad\u00adow of his hat and caught sight of a black goa\u00adtee, and an equal\u00adly dark expression.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>John,\u201d he growled. He didn\u2019t offer his hand, and Jessie was a lit\u00adtle relieved. John P. Smith was the only one of the KISS<\/span> FM<\/span> win\u00adners that hadn\u2019t both\u00adered to fill out the per\u00adson\u00adal infor\u00adma\u00adtion sec\u00adtion on the pre-noti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion packet.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Wel\u00adcome, John.\u201d As intrigu\u00ading as the man was, she forced her\u00adself to face the group. \u201cWel\u00adcome all of you! We\u2019ve got some great sto\u00adry\u00adtellers lined up for this after\u00adnoon\u2019s sol\u00adstice. We\u2019re set up just around this bend. Tonight we\u2019ve saved you the best van\u00adtage point for the bon\u00adfire. The sol\u00adstice will arrive in less than an hour, so we\u2019d bet\u00adter get set.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Jessie led the mot\u00adley crew down the path, the grav\u00adel beneath her boots hummed. \u00c2 She shook her head. She did\u00adn\u2019t believe in witch\u00ades, war\u00adlocks or fairies. It was just anoth\u00ader day out of the year.<\/p>\n

Right?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thanks for stop\u00adping by today. At the end We\u2019ll be chat\u00adting on Sat\u00adur\u00adday evening (7pm EST<\/span>) \u00c2 at Gem\u2019s Place<\/a>. Hope to see you there!<\/p>\n\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wel\u00adcome to the JustRomance.Me Blog Hop! It begins right HERE<\/span> if you want to find the begin\u00adning. It\u2019s the Sum\u00admer Sol\u00adstice! The longest day of the year, and a day filled [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3WdCY-10N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alannacoca.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}