Today, I’m excited to introduce you to the characters from Tad’s Treasure.
When we first started talking about the Grandma’s Wedding Quilts series in the Sweet Americana Sweethearts group, I knew I wanted to tie the story into one of my existing series.
It was then I landed on the idea of making the book about Tad Palmer from the Baker City Brides series. We’d met him briefly in Crumpets and Cowpies and interacted with him more in Corsets and Cuffs, but we still didn’t know much about him.
We also knew from the books in the Baker City Brides series that there was a woman in town who made quilts for sale, but her identity remained a mystery. It worked perfectly to have that woman be Posey Jacobs, the widow of Tad’s best friend.
Kathryn Albright and I worked together to come up with some details of Tad’s past and his family since her book in the Grandma’s Wedding Quilt series, Gloria’s Song, is about Tad’s only sibling, Gloria Palmer.
From our planning session, I had a vision for Tad and Posey.
The moment I saw this photo of Dylan Scott, I knew he’d be perfect as Tad.
Absolutely perfect!
I mean… that hair, those eyes, the chin – sweet, rugged perfection!
Tad is a saddlemaker who left behind his family after being betrayed to start over on his own. He’s generally quiet and a little reserved, but he’s someone people know they can depend on and trust.
On his way to Baker City, he forms a friendship with a man named John Jacobs and his young wife, Posey.
Then John is injured in a mining accident and asks Tad to take care of Posey and their infant son with his dying breath. Tad does his best to take care of the widow and falls in love despite every effort to guard his heart.
Posey Jacobs is fun and smart, determined and resilient. When she finally emerges from her grief over losing her beloved husband, she realizes Tad has become much more than a friend.
The lovely Julie Mond made a wonderful Posey.
With that golden hair and beautiful brown eyes, it was easy to picture her as Posey.
A woman with deep hurts in her heart, but one who is also ready to move beyond the past and embrace the future.
A future she hopes will be with Tad.
Months ago, I came across a photo of a rascally little boy and saved it, knowing I’d eventually create a character to go along with it.
(And yes, I have arrived at the conclusion I get a big kick out of creating rascally little boy characters!)
Meet Nate, Posey’s son. Isn’t this kid fun? Can’t you just picture Nate up to mischief? I sure could.
Nate has an unusual pet, a goat named Agnes. The idea for the goat and her name came from a party prize I offered a few months ago. The winner could choose an animal and a name for a pet in a future story. Well, Agnes the goat won.
I have almost as much fun writing about quirky animals as I do ornery boys, so it was exciting to be able to add Agnes to the story.
And here is my inspiration for Agnes (and one scene that I particularly enjoyed creating!)
Oh, and I thought you might like to see the saddle shop I used to inspire Tad’s business.
This is a photo from the Baker County historical collection that shows a saddle shop that was located in Baker City. Notice the sewing machine in the bottom left corner.
And here is the song that I listened to as I wrote – My Girl, sung by Dylan Scott.
For more visual details about Tad’s Treasure, check out the board on Pinterest!
