Marin Thomas: The Cash Brothers: Sibling Rivalry

I love writing for Harlequin American Romance because I get to write about cowboys, kids and family drama! It wasn't until I wrote Dexter: Honorable Cowboy (July 2010) that I realized just how much fun sibling rivalry is to write.  Dexter was a twin and he and Dusty got into it a few times over a girl and not just with words…fists, too!  So you know all about sibling rivalry—right?  My brother, who’s only a year older than me was a big tease and our poor mother broke up more fights between us than you can imagine.  Ever been snapped by a wet dish towel? My brother drew blood one night and we ended up on the kitchen floor wrestling and my mother had to wedge a broom stick between our bodies to separate us!  Thank goodness we outgrew the fighting and now we have a great time telling “remember when” stories when we get together.

The Cash Brothers series is about six brothers all named after Country-and-western legends by their eccentric mother whose lifelong search for her soul mate left each of her sons with different fathers. The brothers are as follows in order of their books….Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty Cash, Willie (Will) Nelson Cash, Buck Owens Cash, Merle (Mack) Haggard Cash and Porter Wagoner Cash.

The idea to give the six Cash brothers their own series came to me when I wrote a scene in their sister's book, A Cowboy's Duty (Aug 2012) In this scene the over-protective brothers return home to find their little sister Dixie in the shower with the hero, Gavin Tucker.

  "Dixie?"  Johnny pounded on the bathroom door.

Gavin wrapped Dixie in a towel then tied one around his waist before opening the door.  She peeked over Gavin's shoulder.  Johnny stood in the hallway holding Gavin's clothes.  Before anyone had a chance to speak the rest of her brothers skidded to a stop in the doorway. 

"Well, now.  That's a cozy sight."  Willie expelled a grunt after Buck jabbed an elbow into his stomach.

Poor Buck.  Finding his baby sister almost naked with a man was more than his prudish brain could process.  "I didn't expect you until later tonight," she said.

"Obviously."  Porter snickered.

Gavin raised his hand.  "Before you interrogate your sister, give us some privacy to—"

"The last thing you two need is more privacy."  Johnny shoved Gavin's clothes at him.  "You're supposed to save that stuff for the honeymoon."

Conway came to Dixie's defense.  "She's twenty-three, Johnny.  Old enough to have sex.  Hell, you were poking Ilene back in ninth grade.  She was only—"

"Shut up, Conway."

"No you shut up, Johnny.  Just because you’re the oldest doesn’t mean you can—"

"Hey," Willie interrupted.  "Is that why Ilene wouldn’t go to the school dance with me when I asked her?  Because you were banging her in Grandpa's truck?"

Buck interrupted before Johnny had a chance to defend himself.  "Didn’t Grandpa find a condom on the floor of the backseat of his truck?"

"Shoot.  Grandpa accused me of having sex with a girl.  All along it was you."  Willie shoved his finger in Johnny's chest.

"That was years ago.  Besides, you never liked Ilene because she had small…you know."  Johnny's face turned red.

"I wouldn’t have cared if her boobs were no bigger than pecan nuts if she'd have let me under her skirt," Will said.

"I thought you were in love with Marsha, Will?"  Merle joined the conversation.  "You said Marsha was your first love?"

"When did I say that?" Willie argued.

"When you got drunk two years ago and Merle had to haul your ass out of the bar," Johnny said.  "You were foaming at the mouth about some girl named Marsha in your high school class." 

Dixie chanced a peek at Gavin and found him staring at her brothers in fascination.  She supposed he'd never seen anything the likes of a Cash brothers' argument.  Growing up an only child Gavin had missed out on all the action Dixie had seen in her younger years.

"Are we talking about Marsha Bugler?" Buck asked.

It amazed Dixie that no matter how loud or raucous her brothers became Buck's quiet voice always caught their attention. 

"Yeah, that's the Marsha we're talking about.  Why?" Johnny asked.

"Marsha and I were friends," Buck said.

"Friends?"  Willie scoffed.  "She never mentioned you when we were together."  Willie's eyes narrowed.  "Just how good of friends were you?"

"Good enough that she told me you’d gotten her pregnant."

Dixie gasped and her brothers' jaws dropped. 

***

The Cowboy Next Door (Johnny Cash) will be released July 1^st and we're celebrating all week long through an online event at The Triple D Ranch in Stagecoach, Arizona.  You can sign up for the event HERE.  For those of you who love Pinterest… #TheCashBrothersJohnnyCash Pin It To Win It Contest is going on right now.  Visit Marin Thomas on Pinterest to see the Contest Board or Visit The Cash Brothers FB Page for details on what to pin to your board. It's not too late to enter so name your board #TheCashBrothersJohnnyCash and start pinning! M-F b(July 1-5) Amazon Gift Cards will be given out for most creative board in each category with a grand prize on Friday for most creative board over all. 

Speaking of prizes…I'm giving away a signed copy of The Cowboy Next Door to one lucky winner.  Comment on the following question and your name will be entered into the drawing… Do you have a sibling-rivalry memory—if so, what did you and your brother or sister fight about?  I’ll be back on Sunday  June 30^th  to announce the winner!    

Hope to see you all at the Triple D Ranch!

Best Wishes,

Marin

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