Month: June 2013

Fiction Friday: The Bandbox Hat

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The Bandbox Hat

 

Previously: SarahJane arrived back at the Date My Son! for her meeting with Austin and Linda to ask why they let her go and get some closure. She was greeted by Austin, Linda and a cameraman.

Chapter Fifty-Three

 

Linda’s face lit up. “SarahJane! I’m so pleased to see you.”

Confusion made me stutter. “Y-you, too.” At least I hoped it was confusion and not Austin’s eyes, grin, and dimpled chin. “I – I –what’s going on?”

“You said you wanted to come back.” Liam had his ever-present tablet computer and he barely glanced up from looking at his Facebook page or Google+ or whatever else he was doing.

“I said I wanted to talk to Linda and Austin. I didn’t say I wanted to be back on the show.”

“Oh. My bad.” Liam finally met my gaze. He sighed and propped the iPad on his waist. “Look—”

“Can we all go inside?” Linda motioned and waved us from the foyer into the living room.

The cameraman walked backwards, the red light on his camera steady and unblinking.

I straightened my shoulders. One thing I learned on this show was that posture was exaggerated on screen. I had to stand straight to have a chance at appearing calm.

Once we’d filed inside, Linda perched on the edge of the plush couch “So, SarahJane, what did you want to talk to us about?”

I cleared my throat and threw a glance at Liam who ignored me. Or at least didn’t meet my gaze. “I wanted—no, I want to know what happened. I thought you liked me and the next thing I know I’m ushered out the door. I feel like I need—no, I do need to know why, I need closure.” I’m not sure I had articulated all that to myself before that moment, but the need to know infused me.

Linda sighed and flashed me a smile. “That’s why, SarahJane. We do like you.”

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and tried to understand. “I don’t get it.”

“Look, sweetie.” She leaned forward and folded her hands on her knees. “This show isn’t about Austin falling in love. It’s about a whole bunch of other things, the opportunities this kind of exposure buys. We liked you too much, and it’s apparent you’re a sweet young woman who would get eaten alive in this business. We cut you to save you from this.”

Tears welled but I fought for a clear voice. I would not let them see me cry about being kicked off a reality television show. I’d rather chew off my arm and toss it to a gator. “So you’re saying I don’t have what it takes.”

Linda shook her head but before she could speak, Austin laid a hand on her shoulder. “What Mom’s saying is that we could tell you’re a good Christian girl from the middle of the state. You’re the epitome of ‘you can the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.’”

Now my outrage colored my voice and dried up the tears. “So I’m a hick?!?” I stood. “Are you freaking kidding me? Liam recruited me—” His head finally surfaced above his iPad but I held up a hand—“You did, you know you did.” The fierceness in my voice must have convinced him not to protest and I turned back to Linda and Austin. “Liam recruited me because I’m ‘country’ and ‘sweet’ and all those other things you got rid of me for.”

Linda stood too. “We’re not saying it’s fair or even right, but you wanted to know why. That’s why.”

I whirled and marched to the door.

“SarahJane! Wait a minute,” Austin called after me. “I have something to say.”

I made it to the door before he grabbed my elbow.

Woe! It’s Wednesday: Avoi-dance!

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I needed to work yesterday after a busy (and wonderful) long weekend away. I dutifully sat down at the computer.

I opened my document. But then remembered I hadn’t yet sorted the accumulated email.

I responded to the urgent.

Decided to do a little research for my USMarshal WitSec story and follow up on a name and some info I just learned.

In the course of surfing the web, it became apparent I needed to get on Facebook.

“Don’t do it,” I told myself. “You’ll get sucked in and the day will be half over.”

“That’s silly,” Myself told I. “I can get on, look for what I need and get off. It’s easy. Here, watch.”

Click. Click … “ooh, I haven’t heard from her in weeks, I better see what the message says…”

Yep, thirty minutes later I forced myself to log off. Now myself is angry at me for not listening to I.

I got off Facebook and faced my document again.

A stack of pictures on my desk caught my eye. I’ve been meaning to scan them and share them with friends and family. Some of them date back to the 1980s and I know everyone is dying to see their younger selves.

What’s not to love?

Anyway … eventually I had to admit it. I c.1986001was doing the avoidance dance.

Why is it so hard to get to work?

Part of it is the fact that I’m a freelancer. I don’t have an employer who expects forty hours a week at the keyboard from me.

On the other hand, I’ve broken myself of all computer games. Though to be honest, Facebook has filled in that gap.

Okay, one more picture to scan and then I’m getting to work. Really.

Book Talk Tuesday: Broken Harbor

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Wow. This is how a mystery is supposed to be written.

Tana French’s novel, Broken Harbor, is suspenseful, gripping, and beautifully written. Her words flow, creating word pictures that resonate. The story’s not bad either.

Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy is the ace detective on Dublin’s murder squad. He’s back to work after bungling a case and is ready to prove himself up to the task again.

Broken Harbor US

He partners with novice Richie Curran and the pair head outside of Dublin to Brianstown. Mick spent his childhood and teen vacations there when it was called Broken Harbor. The town has changed but Mick’s memories of his last summer there pierce him and his sister.

A new subdivision of “luxury” homes has been half built then abandoned. A family of four is found in their home. The two children have been smothered and their parents stabbed. The father is dead and the mother clings to life.

As Mick and Richie dig into the family’s life, they discover more about the case, themselves, and each other, than they could ever foresee.

French does a great job doling out the story. Just when I thought I had all the puzzle pieces, a new fact would emerge that fit into the bigger picture.

The characters are believable and real. Even the less-than-likeable ones. The ending is emotionally satisfying.

They say a good ending doesn’t sell your book, it sells your next book. I agree. The next Tana French book that I come across I will definitely pick up.

Fiction Friday: The Bandbox Hat

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The Bandbox Hat

Previously: SarahJane decided she needed closure from Linda and Austin at Date My Son! so she called Liam and he told her to come back to the house at 4:00 that afternoon.

Chapter Fifty-Two

I managed to exhaust April. We went to the zoo, the Gene Autry Western Museum, and railroad park, and did some shopping at the mall.

She loved it all and nodded off in the back seat as I drove us back to my apartment. I had an hour to get ready and drive across town to the Date My Son house.

I’d called Rachael and she readily agreed to come watch a movie with April while I was gone.

April was rubbing her eyes and I slipped on my strappy heels when I heard the knock.

“April, let in Aunt Rachael please,” I called.

She sighed but staggered to her feet to do it.

“Wow, you said you had something to do, you didn’t say it was a hot date!” Rachael surveyed me from the door.

“It’s not.” I must have grimaced because her brow furrowed.

“What’s going on? Anything I can do?”

“You’re doing it by staying with April. I just have to go settle a few things. I shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours.”

I dropped a kiss on April’s forehead and squeezed my sister’s elbow as I passed them.

“Are you really my aunt?” April asked as I clicked the door shut behind me. Little did April know that not only was Rachael was her aunt, but she had a cousin back home that she knew as an older kid at school. As glad as I was to have my sister back in my life, there were some issues we still had to discuss. Like did she ever plan to come back to Rosedale? Be a part of her son’s life?

Those questions would have to wait. Now, I had an appointment to see a man about some answers of a different kind.

Traffic flowed nicely for mid-afternoon and it was ten minutes to four when I pulled up to the security gate.

“Hey, George.”

His face creased into a grin. “Hey there yourself, SarahJane. What are you doing here?”

I sighed. “It’s a long story. Did Liam put me on the list or do I need to call him?”

George perused the iPad in his beefy grip then his grin faded. “You’re on here all right. You sure about this?”

My head cocked. “Very sure. Why?”

He shrugged. “I just didn’t figure you for the type–never mind, it’s none of my beeswax. Go on up to the house.”

“Thanks, George. How’s your puppy’s training going? Is he still stealing kitchen towels.”

Instead of chatting like we used to do, George shrugged again and pushed a button. The wrought iron gate swung open.

That was weird. And unlike George not to want to talk about his little Rottweiler pup. He could jabber about that dog all day long. Oh well. Maybe he was having a hard day. The show was winding up. He could be preoccupied about his next job or … or anything, really.

At the top of the hill, an intern motioned me where to park then fell into step next to me.

“It’s good to see you again, SarahJane,” she said.

“Thanks–” I wracked my brain for a name and came up with it just a hair too late to make it seem like I hadn’t forgotten her “–Jaime.”

She tossed her blonde hair over one shoulder. “I couldn’t believe it when Liam said you were coming back.”

“Really? Why?”

“Well, I mean–it’s done all the time sure, but I didn’t think you would be–”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I asked. We turned from the driveway and made our way down the front walkway. Scents of lavender and cool earth tickled the air and I inhaled deeply.

“I guess, you just seemed more like the kind to get on with your life, not to wallow in–”

“I’m not wallowing in anything. I just want some closure.”

“Wait–what?” She tripped and did a quick step to regain her pace.

“I’m here to talk to Linda and Austin and ask why they strung me along only to dump me without a warning.”

“Oh SarahJane. I had no idea. Liam thought–”

We climbed the last step onto the porch and the door swung open. Liam stood in the opening.

With Austin behind him.

Then Linda behind her son.

And a cameraman behind her.

What did I get myself into?

Woe! It’s Wednesday: It’s All Good

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I had the kind of day yesterday where everything had to happen on time and go smoothly. I had no time for traffic detours, spilled coffee, or a broken fingernail. list1

I prayed about it and everything went well. I thanked God.

Everything was good.

Then my pesky conscience started in on me.

What if things hadn’t gone smoothly? Would I take that as God not listening to me?

After some reflection, I decided it would have been fine if I’d gotten stuck in a traffic jam. Because whether my life flows the way I think it should or not, I still trust that God’s in control and He’s got my best interests at heart. It may be that I needed to rely on Him and not myself so He’d be sure and get my attention.

No sooner did I come to that realization then guess what? Yep. I had to wait 20 minutes at one appointment. I was still early for my next appointment at the doctor’s office. But I had to wait almost two hours to be seen.

Normally I would have been irritated beyond reason, or would have left after an hour. But I needed to get this appointment done. And I had a book. And everything else had gone so smoothly, I could afford to take a couple hours to read.

A side benefit of waiting so long was that my blood pressure was below normal. I have white coat syndrome my bp is always high in the office. Not after two hours of reading yesterday!

I’m grateful I serve a God who always has my best interests at heart, whether that means things go according to my plan or not.