Time just keeps tripping along and danged if it isn’t picking up speed. Am I right? We’re the first week into November and Thanksgiving (here in the States) and Christmas aren’t far away. Last week’s #ThursdayThreads prompt was **”And there might have been a tail.”** Ooh, lordy. There were a lot of ways to run with that one for sure. Writers, should you decide to be inspire, have fun! Readers, this one is pretty self-explanatory, as they have been of late. The original 250 words have now been expanded to 546. Hope you enjoy! 🤞🏼

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The chattering women stood near the bar in Clancy’s. Maura was laughing as Ronan and his men entered through the back stairwell door.

“That was fun,” Maura said. “Even though my feet are killing me.”

“Light weight,” Shannon teased.

“Totally. I sit behind a desk most of the day, though I do hoof it to and from the train station.”

“I take it the lot of you had fun,” Sean said, reaching for Bridget. He pulled her to him for a claiming kiss.”

“We shopped,” Maura said.

“And had lunch,” Bridget added.

“An’ don’t be forgettin’ the…” Fiona snapped her fingers. “Bellinis. They might be m’new favorite drink ever.”

Finn yelled from behind the bar, “I’ll not be makin’ any of them fancy umbrella drinks for your lot.”

“Grouch,” Shannon called in return. “You make martinis for those Deluxebury bitches.”

“That’s because they pay,” Finn shot back.

“Whatever.” Shannon turned around to ignore him. She rolled her eyes. “But they tip like shit.”

“And what else didja do?” Ronan’s voice was somber.

“We shopped some more,” Maura said.

Bridget put in, “And stopped in for a few drinks to rest our feet.”

“Ignored the office drones hangin’ ’round the bar wantin’ t’flirt,” Fiona declared.

“Then we ordered a car service,” Maura explained with a lift of one shoulder, noting that the men were more intent on getting the pints Finn had drawn for them than in the women’s itinerary.

“And there might have been a tail,” Sophie added.

The men froze. One by one, they slowly turned to look at the women.

“Well,” Sophie said. “That got their attention.”

Ronan zeroed in on Maura but Callum beat him to the punch. “What do you mean, Sophie?”

She put her hands on her hips and forced the smile hovering on her lips to stay hidden. She’d dealt with her father all her life. These alpha males didn’t scare her—especially since she knew Callum would never hurt her. Unlike dear old dad. “I mean that at various times, we all felt like we were being watched. After discussing it, we came to the conclusion that you overprotective alpha hotels were the likely culprits. We all know how good at hiding this bunch can be.”

The men exchanged looks. Callum’s face was set in hard lines when he said, “It wasn’t us.”

This time, the women looked at each other. Shannon turned troubled eyes to Mick. “You didn’t have Brendan or Aidan following us?”

“No.” He bit off the word. “Aidan’s working at the garage and Brendan is driving Brian.”

All the starch leaked out of Sophie. She reached behind her, found a bar stool, and managed to perch on it. Distraught, she studied Callum. When she spoke, it wasn’t a question. “You think it was my father.”

He shook his head. “No.” Unable to stop himself, he walked over to her. She widened her knees so he could stand between them and wrap his arms around her. “Maybe. I don’t know but I’ll find out who it was, Sophie. I won’t let that old bastard or anyone else hurt you. Not ever again.”

She buried her face in his soft shirt, her voice muffled against his chest as she said, “That sounds like a promise.”

“It is.”
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Callum and Sophie were featured on my FB author’s page this weekend so now y’all know what they look like. While they aren’t actually the main focus of this snippet, they do play a pivotal part and there are hints about Sophie’s past. I have to admit that, given the prompt, I almost went with the obvious “play on words” and “characteristics” considering half my characters turn furry with tails, but I decided to take the high road and go a different direction because…well…normally, there might have been (just ask Maura!) a tail. What about y’all? Are you enjoying seeing the characters and then getting a snippet about them? I want to keep the blog AND the FB page interesting so y’all keep hangin’ around.