~ FRIDAY FICTION FEATURE ~
BLOG TOUR STOP FOR:
-- 'SUMMER PLANS AND
OTHER DISASTERS' --
OTHER DISASTERS' --
AUTHOR KARIN BEERY
~Post Includes: Book Spotlight, Link to
Excerpt and Author Bio~
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
Elementary school music teacher Callie Stevens thinks she’s finally figured out God’s plan for her life—she even made a list to keep her on track.
Moving in with her brother and reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend are at the top of the list. What’s not on the list is running into her childhood crush, Ryan. God wanted her to connect with Kyle, right?
Trying to figure out God’s plan is hard enough. But a dating-averse older brother, the young blonde who adores him, a pregnant best friend, and Callie’s continual mishaps make her wonder whether her best laid plans were truly God-inspired.
Now available from Elk Lake Publishing!
Elementary school music teacher Callie Stevens thinks she’s finally figured out God’s plan for her life—she even made a list to keep her on track.
Moving in with her brother and reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend are at the top of the list. What’s not on the list is running into her childhood crush, Ryan. God wanted her to connect with Kyle, right?
Trying to figure out God’s plan is hard enough. But a dating-averse older brother, the young blonde who adores him, a pregnant best friend, and Callie’s continual mishaps make her wonder whether her best laid plans were truly God-inspired.
Now available from Elk Lake Publishing!
EXCERPT:
She smiled as a long-forgotten peace settled over her. “I can’t believe I’m here.”
“Can’t believe good, or can’t believe bad?” He propped open the screen door.
“I’m still deciding, but mostly good I think.”
She followed Jack into the lighthouse. He walked right in, but she couldn’t help stopping to admire everything she loved about early twentieth-century construction. The outdated but solid oak cupboards in a cozy kitchen that opened into the quaint, window-lined dining room with its corner booth seating and well-used table top.
Turning right and moving up three stairs, she froze. Gone were the ripped couch cushions and laminated build-them-yourself bookshelves. The wood-burning stove still greeted her at the top of the stairs, but everything else had grown up. The new brown sofa and recliner appeared to be on steroids, but they weren’t what captured her attention. She couldn’t resist the magnetic pull of the built-in entertainment center. Blond wood intricately crafted and carved with a rustic but delicate ivy inlay.
Through the open archway in the adjoining room, she spotted a matching desk and bookcases. What had once been a bachelor’s sitting room, complete with a splintering Papasan chair and two cracking bean bag chairs, appeared to be Jack’s new office.
Jack walked up to Callie and grabbed the box from her arms. She ran a now-empty hand over the carved ivy leaves trailing along the side of the desk.
“You made this, didn’t you?”
He cringed. “It’s one of my early pieces. It’s rough.”
“It’s beautiful. I didn’t think you were ever going to get rid of that old furniture.”
“You harassed me about it every time you visited. After five years, I figured you might have a point, so I decided to go back to these pieces and see if I could make them work.”
“When did you have time to make it?”
“I have to do something during the winter.”
“I thought you tinkered with your truck.”
“I don’t tinker.”
He carried her box to the nearest bedroom, the one connected to the living room.
“I don’t want that room.”
He ignored her and nudged the door open with his foot, then disappeared. He reappeared without her boxes. Callie popped her hands onto her hips.
“I don’t want to stay in that room. It’s like a powder blue bomb exploded in there, and the wallpaper is awful.”
“Sorry.” Jack walked past her and out the front door.
Callie hustled after him, but the heel of her sandal snagged the carpet and she tumbled down the steps into the dining room. Her elbow smacked the thinly-carpeted cement floor. Pain shot up her arm and shoulder. Grabbing her elbow, she rolled onto her stomach to mute the moans.
Two feet appeared out of the corner of her eye. “What are you doing?”
“Testing my balance.” Callie hissed the words through clenched teeth as she willed the throbbing to stop.
“Well, get up and help me.” Jack tapped her foot with his heavy work boots as he walked by. Callie pushed herself up with her good arm. She couldn’t let Jack think she couldn’t handle a little pain.
She grimaced, but not because of her elbow. “Why can’t I have your old office? You obviously aren’t using it. Can’t I turn it into another bedroom?”
“It’s already a bedroom. Ryan’s staying there.”
Callie blinked. “Ryan Martin?”
“Yep.”
Tall, handsome, off-limits best friend to the big brother? Her heart dipped. Fabulous.
“Why?”
“His roommate decided to get married. Ryan had to move out.”
Jack walked past her and out the front door. Never mind that he’d just altered Callie’s entire summer plan. She followed him outside. If she was going to share a bathroom with Ryan for three months, then she needed to know how everyone felt about the arrangement.
“Does he know that I’m staying all summer?”
Jack opened a car door and pulled out two suitcases. “Yep.”
“And he’s okay with that? You’re okay with that?”
Callie stepped right up to Jack. At almost six feet tall, she still looked up to her brother.
“He’s not sharing a house with you. He’s living with me.”
“Whatever. We’ll be in the same house.”
Jack looked at her like she’d sprouted horns. “You’ve lived in the same house before. It’s no big deal.”
He moved around her and back toward the deck.
Callie’s heart skipped. “He went on vacation with us and spent the
night. This is different.”
Jack ignored her as he banged the black luggage into everything on his way inside. He clearly didn’t care about the living arrangements. Well, if Jack didn’t mind, and Ryan didn’t mind, maybe she was overacting. Or not.
Callie slumped against her car. Ryan Martin. The schoolgirl crush that wouldn’t fade. He’d known her since she was ten, and she’d been invisible to him for just as long. Not that she could blame him. She’d been an obnoxious, weird-looking, awkward girl until five years ago.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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