Writing Wednesday: Peggy Jaeger new release, Passion's Palette

Today I’m visiting with Addie O’Malley, the beloved housekeeper from Peggy Jaeger's MacQuire women series. She's stopping by in honor of Jaegar's latest release in this series, Passion's Palette.

Addie’s been a  MacQuire family mainstay for over 50 years. She agreed to sit down with me today to discuss the youngest MacQuire, Serena, and the events rolling through her life these past few months.

Me: So, Miss O’Malley—

Addie: Call me Addie, darlin’ girl. Every one does.

Me: (Smiling!) I understand Serena’s come home for a visit. How’s she doing?

Addie: (Clucks her tongue and shakes her head) Faith! That child. I’ve told her mother more times than not that  the lass works entirely too hard. She’s way too thin for her already skinny frame and she’s got smudges under eyes. It’s good she’s come home to roost and rest for spell.

Me: Will she be able to rest, though? I’ve heard she’s recently gotten a commission for a mural she’s going to paint for Downtown City Hospital’s new cancer wing, and the dedication is in just a few months.

Addie. Aye. Well, the lass’s definition of rest isn’t the same as most others. But she’s home and that’s what counts, so I can put some meat on her bones and make sure she sleeps at night in a warm, freshly laundered bed. A wonderful artist she is, too. Many’s the painting she’s done that you have to look at twice before you realize it’s not a photo, but an actual oil and brushes work. The child’s been blessed by God, she has, with more talent than most. Her art’s what’s helped her get beyond that heartbreak of her younger years.

Me: Heartbreak?

Addie: Aye. (She clucks her tongue again, her eyes turning sad.) The lass went off to study in Paris, France, don’tcha know, when she was a mere slip of a child. Lost her heart and when it didn’t turn out well, we came this close to losing her, we did. (She hold up her hand, her index finger and thumb close together).  She’s never been quite the same since. I’ve told her mother it’s just not right for such a vibrant, beautiful lass as she to close her young heart off. Terrible afraid, she is, of getting it broken ag’in. But, ( she breaks into a sly smile) I’m thinkin’ that’s about to change, though,  and the reason’s that new veterinarian who’s just moved to town. She’s going’ta be gobsmacked for sure.

Me: Oh? Carvan’s got a new veterinarian? What happened to the previous one?

Addie: Ach, David “the walking appetite” Stapleton, you mean. Faith! The man thinks this house is his, coming and going every day, wantin’ me to bake and cook for him. I know he’s Tiffany’s godfather and all, but really the man needs a wife! I’m a mite too long in the tooth to be seeing to his every need. Now, what did you ask, darlin’? Oh, yes. The new man. He’s David’s partner. Name’s Seamus Cleary – and did you ever hear such a name? Seamus. I must remember to ask who his people are. He’s sure to have some in Ireland with a name such as that, don’t’cha think?

Me: Why do you think Serena is going to be gobsmacked by him?

Addie: Ah, there now, darlin’ it’s just me old romantic heart that’s picturin’ it. I’ve seen the way the man looks at Serena—as if she hung the moon and sun – and know that’s the look of a man who’s smitten. The lass stares at him as well, when she t’inks no one is looking. They make a fine pair, the two of them, when they’re in the same room. This Cleary lad is all big and brawn and sunkissed. The green in his eyes remind me of the fields back home, they do. Placid, and tranquil. Calm. That’s what the lass needs, a man who’s calm and solid. She’s got a fine temper, my girl has, and a wicked sharp tongue. She needs a man like Seamus to cool those angry fires.

Me: So you think the two of them are going to be an item? But I thought Serena had sworn off men.

Addie: (She waves her pudgy, gnarled hand as if swatting a fly.) Aye, she has until now. But she just needed to find the right man to match her is all.

Me: And you think Seamus Cleary is that man?

Addie: (Smiles, knowingly) Well now, we’ll just have to watch and see, won’t we? ( With a wink and nod, she laughs).

Me: Addie, you’ve been with the MacQuire’s for quite some time, haven’t you?

Addie: Aye, darling. Know where all the bodies are buried you could say. (She laughs and her entire body shakes with it) I was a sixteen year old gal just off the boat from Dublin when I got a position as nanny to Alaina. The most beautiful babe I’d ever laid eyes upon. A shock of curly red hair the devil himself couldn’t equal. I came with her to her new husband’s house and helped raise her two beautiful daughters. And I’ve lived long enough to see the next generation come about, with Tiffany. Ach, there’s a devil child for ya.   Calls me the old lady behind me back and doesn’t think I know it. But for all her serious and adult ways, the wee lass can be an absolute treasure. Powerful good she is with horses, too.

Me: What do you think about Alaina’s new husband, Senator Nobel?

Addie: One’a’the foinest men I’ve ever had the pleasure t’meet. A true nobleman, he is, so he’s aptly named, aye? And loves my girl to no end. Fell in love with her the first moment they met and hasn’t left her side in all these years.  It’s pleased I am that she finally consented to marry the man after 10 years of his courtin’ her. And now he’s running for the top job. President of these beautiful United States. He’s got me vote, that’s for sure. A true and legal citizen I am these past twenty years.

Me: So you think he’ll win? That would make Alaina the First Lady.

Addie: Aye, and what a wonderful First Lady she’ll be, that’s Gods truth. I’m lookin’

forward, I am, to cooking in the White House kitchen.

Me: Well, hopefully you’ll get your chance. I want to thank you for sitting down with me today and giving me a little glimpse into Serena’s world. She sounds like such a great girl.

Addie: That she is. And you’re most welcome, darlin’. Stop by to the house, any time. I’ve always got something bakin’ or on the stove simmerin’. The Lord above knows David Stapleton drops by any time the fancy hits him – usually square in the stomach!

Excerpt from Passion's Palette:

            Their eyes met and Seamus registered the silent “O” of surprise on her mouth.

            "I'm sorry I startled you," he said, drawn to her as an errant moth would be to a ghost of moonlight. "Addie told me you were out here."

            Serena reached over to her sketchpad, open at her feet, and closed it with a flick of her toe. He was rewarded with a lengthy view of thigh as she stretched.

            "Working?"    

            "Doodling, mostly. I wanted to do some preliminary sketches for a commission I have."

            "Mind if I sit?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer, did.

            When he reached for the pad and said, "May I?" she shot her bare foot on top of it.

            "Sorry." Serena reached over and grabbed the book. When it was safely tucked behind her back, braced against the tree, she added, "I'm a little schizoid where my work is concerned. I don’t let people see it when it’s in the planning or beginning stages."

            He looked across at her, lifted one brow slightly, then glanced around. "This is nice," he said. "Quiet. Peaceful."

            "Private.”

            A fist of pure desire punched him in the stomach, the muscles contracting in response to the challenge in her eyes.

            "Was there something you needed to see me about?"

            He considered her again, before replying. For someone so young she could act as regally as the most aged dowager.

            And she was young; much younger than he was. It wouldn't do to start anything with her. Besides, she was a client. He had to keep it professional.

            But dammit, those eyes speared right through him, impaling him with their beauty, and were hard to ignore. As was the gentle swell and shift of her breasts with each breath beneath her barely modest halter top. And her legs, well, just forget about those. Legs like that were destined to be his downfall.

 ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

About the Author:

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, Peggy brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

Tying into her love of families, her children's book, THE KINDNESS TALES, was illustrated by her artist mother-in-law.

Peggy holds a master's degree in Nursing Administration and first found publication with several articles she authored on Alzheimer's Disease during her time running an Alzheimer's in-patient care unit during the 1990s. 

In 2013, she placed first in two categories in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest: Single Title Contemporary Romance and Short/Long Contemporary Romance. 

In 2017 she came in 3rd in the New England Reader's Choice contest for A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS and is a finalist in the 2017 STILETTO contest for the same title.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0

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