Love on the Line (36 page)

This was such a fun book to research. Not only because of the variety, but because I had the good fortune to find some wonderful turn-of-the-century material which I was able to incorporate into the novel. The Frank Comer character was based loosely on an actual Texas train robber who garnered the support of citizens in the ways Comer did and ended up becoming a legend.

Luke’s character was loosely based on a combination of real Texas Rangers. I read up on several and took the parts I found most intriguing, then compiled them into one character. We really did have a Ranger who was known for his fancy duds, who had ornate pistols with carvings of a boy and a girl—which he wore closest to his heart—and which he’d inscribed with a motto almost word-for-word to Luke’s. (He didn’t name his pistols, though. At least, not that I know of.)

The water moccasin incident? Really happened to one of our Rangers when he was a boy.

The speedy disarming of bad guys when the odds were against the Ranger? Really happened—one Ranger being particularly known for this.

The rounding up of the train robbers? Really happened the way I depicted it in the book except instead of posing as a troubleman, the real Ranger posed as a tree salesman and made sales calls to the outlying farms until he could determine which were the gang members and which were not. When he was ready to round them up, no one would join his posse—not unless he planned to bring an army of soldiers along with him (which, of course, he had no intention of doing). After a great deal of effort, he found one man willing to drive the hack; then he rounded up the gang single-handedly, one by one. The captures of the Comer Gang in
Love on the Line
are retellings of the arrests he made back in the day. (All except for Alec’s arrest. I made that one up.)

And didn’t you just love Brenham? They really did host the 26th Annual Texas State Sportsmen’s Tournament. No one cheated, of course, but the 1903
Brenham Banner
covered the tournament in their newspaper (which was on microfiche), and Kenny Ray Estes of the Trapshooting Hall of Fame had the entire tournament on microfiche as well. It was one of the last tournaments in the country to use live birds.

Brenham still celebrates Maifest every year, so if you’re ever in the Houston area around the beginning of May, it’s only about an hour and a half northeast of us and an absolute treat. Leaving a Mai tree at your sweetheart’s door is a real tradition, but I don’t know if it’s one Brenham specifically followed. The Brenham festival also has a Maifest King, not just a queen. But we already had a cast of thousands in this book, so I had to leave him out. Sorry about that!

Nellie Bly was, in fact, one of the most famous women in the world and way ahead of her time. There really was a Nellie Bly game and all sorts of things—including a Nellie Bly hat. But I have absolutely no idea if it had any bird parts on it. I made that up.

And how could I set an entire novel in Brenham and not give Blue Bell Ice Cream a shout-out? Their first ice cream was cranked in 1911 in a wooden tub with a maximum output of two gallons per day. But the 1903
Brenham Banner
advertised an ice cream parlor which opened for the spring and summer months. So I tweaked the name of it to reflect Blue Bell’s patriarchs, H.C. Hodde and E.F. Kruse.

The toothache gum and digestive tablets displayed in the book’s ice cream parlor were inspired by an old generic tintype I found. I had to get out my magnifying glass, but upon close inspection, that’s what they had sitting right up on the counter. LOL. My inclusion of it is, of course, no reflection on the Blue Bell Creamery—as anyone who’s had the great privilege of tasting their ice cream knows. As we speak, I have in my freezer a half gallon of their mint chocolate chip, a half gallon of cookies and cream, and a pint of coconut fudge. Yum!

And finally, the bird conservation movement was a hot topic of the time and spearheaded by women. Eventually, a tariff act banning the importation of wild bird parts was in fact passed in 1913 as a result of the pressure the women exerted. (And all before women gained the right to vote!)

I hope you enjoyed reading
Love on the Line
as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would love to hear from you. You can find me on Facebook (
facebook.com/DeesCircle
) and on my website,
IWantHerBook.com
. I hope to see you there!

Blessings, Dee

A Bride Most Begrudging

The Measure of a Lady

Courting Trouble

Deep in the Heart of Trouble

A Bride in the Bargain

Beguiled *

Maid to Match

The Trouble With Brides
(3-in-1)

Love on the Line

*with J. Mark Bertrand