Outskirts Press, INC.

A Rekindled Romance Ignites the Flame of Desperation

When good-looking Ben “Tano” Montano, of the Boulder Colorado based rock band “Badge”, encounters a pretty red-headed girl stranded after a concert in San Angelo, Texas, he offers her a ride home to the Oklahoma Panhandle on his way to Kansas for the next concert. Two days pass on their fortuitous music-filled ride together in Tano’s van, during which time they connect in an unforeseen and intense way. When they arrive in Sage, Oklahoma, with regret they say goodbye on a dirt road main street in the tiny town believing they will never see each other again. Five years pass as Badge’s fame grows and Tano’s Boulder tequila bar thrives, but he is haunted and taunted by his memory of the girl, Holly. Without even knowing her last name, Tano is convinced that he must take a chance to find her, and he sets off on an August morning for Sage. When they reunite, their romantic past is renewed, and a secret is revealed. But the chance reunion is threatened by a hostile brother, a boyfriend in Kansas, a jilted ex, and a wildly obsessed woman stalker with guns and a hunger for Tano’s love. Dirt Road Main Street is a story of the strength and survival of love lost and found, entangled with the apprehension produced by the unpredictable desperate acts of an edgy mad woman.

"I'm headed to Garden City, Kansas, and driving through Oklahoma. Want a ride?" The girl looked at him with serious light blue eyes. He could see slight apprehension as she spun the offer in her mind. "I'm sure your mama told you never to ride with strangers. So I'm Tano. We aren't strangers anymore."Tano smiled at her and reached out to shake her hand.
  She took her sunglasses off and looked at him with tired blue eyes which widened with recognition as she  shook his hand. "Tano? Tano from Badge? Tano nodded. She studied his face for a few moments and softly said, "Okay, for a few miles." She took her phone out of her pockeet and held it in her hand for security and walked with him to his van.
  "You just let me know when you want to get out." He hoped that it wouldn't be soon. He was drawn to her and wanted to get to know her.
 "You know, I'e never hitched before.  And the only reason I am is that I love your music. So i guess you're okay. My name is Holly," Tano smiled at her weak logic. She leaned her head back on the head rest and closed her eyes.  After only a few miles, she nodded off a few times but shook herself awake, not wanting to be unaware of the stranger who drove her.
  Tano reached over and lightly touched her leg and said, "Dream of rock and roll." But she didn't hear him. She was already asleep.