The Vern Stephens Operation

By Robert James Allison

Mike Maltby has more time and money than he knows what to do with and nothing to do with it, until a young boy and a broken bicycle enter his life. Now for the first time since his wife died, Mike has a new focus. Now instead of taking and taking and taking, he is going to give something back.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert James Allison
• Release date: May 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301777426

Robert James Allison

I was born and raised in Decatur, Illinois, but moved to the Moweaqua area around 1991. I like small towns and rural settings, as does my wife of thirty-five years, Barbara. We have two grown children, John and Anna to whom I dedicated my first book, The First Suitor. I started writing about fifteen years ago as a diversion from my regular job as an attorney. At that time I had been practicing law in Central Illinois for about fifteen years and was looking for another avenue to exercise my writing and organizational skills. Now after thirty years of practicing law I would like to write full time, but yet I find myself full time in the law and part time in writing. I enjoy telling stories and some would say that all lawyers are born fiction writers, because fiction is all they write in the first place. I have to admit that there is some truth to that.I have had five books published with Wings ePress, Inc., and more manuscripts in the works. I recently started the process of removing all of my books from Wings and putting them on Amazon in Kindle format and other digital sites. In the future I plan to publish all of my books in ebook format on various sites such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Some new books will be going up soon, too.Recently I have retired from the private practice of law and have relocated to Louisville, Kentucky.I try to draw on my experiences in the practice of law and my life experiences in general to give realism to my stories and characters. In the 1970s I served in the U.S. Army as a Military Policeman and in the late '80s, I was a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps, Army National Guard. I have been to Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, and many of the United States. I like to work the settings of the places I've been and things I've done into my stories. I write romance into almost every book, but it isn't always the main theme and it is never explicit or vulgar.I am foremost and always an entertainer and that is why I write fiction, but I try to make it real and believable as well as entertaining.

Book preview

The Vern Stephens Operation

by

Robert James Allison

Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First Suitor Enterprises

www.RobertJamesAllison.com

Copyright © 2013 by Robert James Allison

ISBN: 978-1-30177-742-6

Published by First Suitor Enterprises at Smashwords.com

May 2013

Cover photo:

The end of the rainbow taken by the author at Moweaqua, Illinois

All rights reserved

Table of Contents:

Title

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

End

About the Author

One

Think he’ll stay around here, Doc? Joe Ranney asked as he leaned back in the kitchen chair and stretched his long legs out under the table.

Hard to tell, Joe. Don’t know why he would with his wife dead and the exhibition over, Doc Collins replied from across the table as he picked up his coffee cup and noted it was empty again.

Too bad about his wife. She was a real nice lady or so I heard. Never met her myself, Joe said dispassionately.

Well, I met her and she was the salt of the earth, Doc responded, as he got up from his kitchen table and crossed to the counter to get more coffee.

Too bad her husband wasn’t. I did meet him. I never ran across a more greedy and disagreeable man in my life. He lived to make a buck and never gave a hoot about his charming wife, Joe said with disgust as Doc held up the coffee pot inquiring if Joe wanted more. Joe nodded and scooted his cup toward the edge of the table.

Don’t be too quick to judge, Joe. You and your brothers have been on that sheep ranch too long, you don’t get out enough. The world’s not all black and white you know, he responded in a gentle admonishing tone as he poured Joe another cup of coffee.

Yes, father Doc, Joe drawled facetiously with a smile. Joe’s real father and mother had died years ago, leaving him and his brothers to fend for themselves on their ranch. Doc had always been their father figure.

In a serious tone, Joe continued, Still, you’ve got to admit he’s the most disagreeable fellow to be found in these parts.

Doc retook his seat, poured several spoons-full worth of sugar into his coffee and as he stirred it in he said, "maybe, but I’m not so sure there isn’t more to him than meets the eye. I think he’s just lost. Some people get that way, Joe. They get off on the wrong foot or head in the wrong direction. Sometimes they wander around for years before they find themselves or their purpose in life.

Mary must have seen something in him, she stuck with him, so maybe, just maybe, there’s more to Mike Maltby than meets the eye. This might change him.

I hope you’re right. I’d hate to think a fine woman like Mary Maltby died for nothing, but I have my doubts, Joe ended cynically.

No one dies for nothing, Joe. Everyone and everything is in the plan. I’ve drummed that into you and your brother’s heads for years. I figured it took, but maybe it didn’t.

"Yeah, it took alright. That and a lot of other things. Mostly things