Modeen

About the Book

"Modeen" is a fictional story of the West near the close of the nineteenth century. Eighteen-year old farm lad, Clayton (Clay) Modin (pronounced "Modeen"), attracted by the lure of the West, leaves his Ohio farm home to find adventure. He finds it on a large ranch owned by the Davis family where he is well received in the family circle.

From the start he is smitten with Emmy, the slightly younger than he, daughter of the rancher. After one occasion when Emmy and he sit on the ranch porch and excitedly kiss, her mother calls out that it is late and Emmy should come in. After that he thinks that Emmy has lost interest in him. Later, after he leaves the ranch to go to Texas, all he can dream of is Emmy. The thing that is wrong is that Emmy always has green eyes in his dreams although her eyes are really blue.

Emmy's eyes are green like those of her younger cousin, Libby, with whom he has become a great pal. She was always around him whenever the families visited each other. She was nearly thirteen when he first arrived and about fifteen or so when he left for Texas. Libby was quite upset when he left.

After several years serving as a Deputy in a small town in Texas, Clay returns to his Ohio home to visit his parents. Now nearing twenty-four and drawn by the memories of the Davis family, particularly those of Emmy, he returns to the ranch where he again goes to work for the Davises.

One part of the Davis family already has fallen on hard times. A few months after he has returned, a chance meeting on a train ride, during which he foils an attempted robbery, sets in motion a string of events which eventually resolve some problems of his and those of the Davis family.

About the Author

The author, Donald W. Rice, was born on a Northwestern Ohio farm in nineteen twenty-three. In his younger years, he worked in a variety of jobs and capacities. Later, he worked mostly in sales related positions marketing and selling semi-trailers and heavy-duty trucks. An avid reader and moviegoer, several years ago, while in his seventies, he started writing. "Modeen," a Western romance, was his first novel. "Goodbye Sarah Harris," a romance between a salesman and a socialite was his next novel. Several more, including a sequel to "Modeen" and another salesman story are in process. Another about a fictional romance during an epic historical event is also in process. The author and his wife, Marilyn, a retired schoolteacher, live in Ottawa Hills, a suburb of Toledo, Ohio. Their daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, Terry, live and work in and near Herndon, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC.