Curing the Blues with a New Pair of Shoes Read online

  Miscellaneous Facts:

  The name “Texas” comes from the Hasini Indian word tejas, meaning “friends.” Tejas is not Spanish for Texas.

  The Texas state mascot is the armadillo. Armadillos are hard-shelled night creatures that live on worms. If they choose your manicured yard for an evening of dining, you can kiss your grass good-bye. Armadillos always have four babies. They have one egg that splits into four. They have either four males or four females. Obviously, they are prolific.

  The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the United States taller than the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. (by 7 feet).

  The Heisman Trophy is named after John William Heisman, the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston.

  Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other area in North America.

  Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, on the Gulf Coast, is the winter home of North America’s only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

  A live oak tree near Fulton, Texas, is estimated to be 1,500 years old.

  Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in Texas.

  How to Tell if You Live in Texas

  Recognizing that a few people don’t know where they are half the time, Edwina and Debbie Sue offer these tips to tell you where you are:

  If someone in Home Depot offers you assistance but he doesn’t work there, you might live in Texas.

  If you’ve ever worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you might live in Texas.

  If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation about family with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Texas.

  If the word vacation means going anywhere south of Dallas for a weekend, you might live in Texas.

  If you measure distance in hours rather than inches, feet, yards or miles, you might live in Texas.

  If you know several people who have run over a deer more than once, you might live in Texas.

  If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked, you might live in Texas.

  If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph, you’re going 80 and everybody’s passing you, you might live in Texas.

  If you find sixty degrees a little chilly, you might live in Texas.

  If you understand these jokes, you definitely live in Texas.

  THE COWBOY CREDO

  The Cowboy’s Ten Commandments are posted on the wall at Cross Trails Church in Fairlie, Texas.

  Just one God.

  Honor yer Ma & Pa.

  No telling tales or gossipin’.

  Git yourself to Sunday meeting.

  Put nothin’ before God.

  No foolin’ around with another fellow’s gal.

  No killin’.

  Watch yer mouth.

  Don’t take what ain’t yers.

  Don’t be hankerin’ for yer buddy’s stuff.

  About the Author

  DIXIE CASH is Pam Cumbie and her sister, Jeffery McClanahan. They grew up in rural West Texas among “real life fictional characters” and 100 percent real cowboys and cowgirls. Some were relatives and some weren’t. Pam has always had a zany sense of humor and Jeffery has always had a dry wit. Surrounded by country-western music, when they can stop laughing long enough, they work together creating hilarity on paper. Both live in Texas-Pam in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex and Jeffery in a small town near Fort Worth.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by Dixie Cash

  DON’T MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU AND MY SHOES

  I GAVE YOU MY HEART, BUT YOU SOLD IT ONLINE

  MY HEART MAY BE BROKEN, BUT MY HAIR STILL LOOKS GREAT

  SINCE YOU’RE LEAVING ANYWAY, TAKE OUT THE TRASH

  Credits

  Cover design by Raina Tinker

  Cover photograph by Jules Frazier

  Cover photograph by Digital Vision Photography/Veer

  Copyright

  CURING THE BLUES WITH A NEW PAIR OF SHOES. Copyright © 2009 by Dixie Cash. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Adobe Digital Edition June 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-189260-8

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  About the Publisher

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  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  A+ Author Insights, Extras, & More…

  About the Author

  Other Books by Dixie Cash

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher