A warm Love Bytes welcome to Alexa Milne joining us today on her blog tour for new release “Stay”
welcome Alexa 🙂
My Nan and me
I was asked to choose an excerpt from my short story, Stay and write about why it is important to me. Now, maybe I could have chosen a sexy paragraph or two, but in the end I chose the opening of the story shown below.
Excerpt from the opening of Stay:
Ivy sighed and gazed at him. She was a game old girl and in the small hospital because her husband had done in his back by lifting her onto their bed. “I’ve such a longing,” she said.
Could an eighty year old look coquettish? Ben smiled. “Oh yes,” he said, noting her twinkling eyes. He never knew what Ivy might say next. “Anything I can help with, Ivy?”
He’d been visiting his grandmother in the ward for a few days now, and he’d gotten to know the other women, listening to their stories over tea and biscuits, but Ivy, whose closest relatives lived abroad, had gained a special place in his heart, even after such a short time.
“I’d really love something I haven’t had in years. I don’t even know if you can get them these days,” Ivy continued. “I’d love an orange—one of those big blood oranges—but with my poor hands, I can’t even peel them now. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to make do with juice.” She sighed again and bent over to suck her tea through a straw. Over thirty years ago, while visiting my friend’s grandma in a local hospital, I met another old lady. She was full of mischief, with sparkling eyes and a ready wit. This was the first time she and her husband had been apart.
One day, she stated she had a longing. She announced she wanted an orange. The next day, we took in an orange, and I will never forget the look of joy on her face. It taught me that little acts of kindness matter so much.
This story is dedicated to two other women, the woman my friend and I were visiting and my grandmother, Betty. My Nan, as I called her, was not an easy woman to love, but I did, and she loved me. I was her favourite grandchild. When I was young, I would visit every Saturday. She taught me to knit and crochet, and I used to play on her old treadle sewing machine. I spent the day drawing, playing cards, watching wrestling and crocheting a huge poncho – this was the 70s. She made fun of my clodhopping platform shoes, reminded me I hadn’t lost any weight, and once clouted me when I swore in front of her. I should point out I was thirty five when that happened, and she was eighty six.
She’d started work as a school cleaner when she was fourteen having told her mother she may as well earn money for skivvying. She became the school cook and later worked in the canteen in Woolworths. She was a stickler for good behaviour and manners but could be quite rude. She was rude to me, but I loved her all the same.
When I left home, I didn’t see her as often, but when I returned for holidays, I would go and see her every day to keep her company, especially after my granddad died. Eventually, nearly blind, she had to go into a home. She lived to be ninety three, still smoking as she had done all her life. I miss her.
When I wrote Stay, I wanted to show how important it is to recognise the influence some people have on our lives. Meeting Ivy, and getting to know her, changes Ben’s life as it brings him into contact with Martin, her grandson. The Ivy, in the book is definitely a game girl. I aspire to be like her and I hope my Nan would be proud of me now.
Blurb for Stay:
An act of kindness is never wasted.
Ben Harwood loves his grandmother. When he visits her in the hospital, another old lady, Ivy, expresses a longing for an orange, so Ben, who works in a supermarket, takes her oranges the next day.
Later, after attending his grandmother’s funeral, he discovers that Ivy has died too, and decides to pay his respects. There, he meets Ivy’s grandson, Martin Riley, and the attraction is instant. To his amazement, Ben finds he has become a bit of a hero to the Riley family, who have traveled over from America. For Martin, Ben breaks his three-date rule more than once. Is this simply a holiday romance with great sex, or can he and Martin build something more permanent?
Like the sound of Stay? Buy it here.
About Alexa Milne:
Originally from South Wales, Alexa has lived for over thirty years in the North West of England. Now retired, after a long career in teaching, she devotes her time to her obsessions.
Alexa began writing when her favourite character was killed in her favourite show. After producing a lot of fanfiction she ventured into original writing.
She is currently owned by a mad cat and spends her time writing about the men in her head, watching her favourite television programmes and usually crying over her favourite football team.
