Wednesday, March 27, 2024

A Birthday Surprise


by Barbara Catlin Craven from the March 4, 2024 issue

Tagline: When Jerri's handsome plumber invited her to an impromptu birthday celebration, she would be gived a new chance at love!

Observations: At first, this matchmaker story plays out as expected. There's a set-up--the single mom needs a plumber. Her friend, the matchmaker, recommends someone who is a single dad. They connect as he fixes her problem.

I liked this part. It contributes to the characterization.

While he worked, we talked...and our easy, polite conversation along with his occasional glances out the window to keep an eye on the boys gave further confirmation that Mason was a good man.

Mason invites her to a birthday party. She and her son go to the party. The cake has nine candles. All clues point to the fact that it's a party for the kid, except there aren't any other children at the party. You think to yourself, maybe it's just a family party. But then, Mason the dad, blows out the candles. Plot twist! He's a leap year baby. 

As you know, I'm touchy about holding hands too soon and this story was guilty of that but the plot twist was so good, I didn't care that much.

Photo by Droid Gingerbread via Flickr CC License

8 comments:

Sandy Smith said...

Good story and nice twist. Wish I would have thought of the idea.

Barbara Catlin Craven said...

Thank you so much, Sandy, for the lovely compliment. I'm glad you enjoyed my story!

Barbara Catlin Craven said...

And my thanks to Kate Willoughby, as well, for such a complimentary review!

Nanci said...

I loved it! And a leap year baby! Very unique. 😀

Barbara Catlin Craven said...

Thanks ever so much, Nanci! It was fortunate that 2024 is a leap year; that gave me inspiration.

Kate Willoughby said...

Barbara, thank YOU for visiting the blog!

Barbara Catlin Craven said...

Thank you for WRITING the blog, Kate! I love it and read it regularly.

Pat said...

I loved this story. Such a unique idea for this leap year. Wonderful twist that took me a minute to realize.

Re: Your hand issues. I did think it was odd that the plumber shook her hand right away, but I guess if the kids go to school it worked.