Sweet Saturday

 

Welcome back! I have another scene from Sunlight and Shadows, my work-in-progress:

The shop was closed for the evening, so she could work on her project without being interrupted by customers. A knock on the door startled her. She looked up to see a familiar little face looking in and smiling. Her lips curved in an answering smile and she walked over to open the door.

"Hello, Jennie. What brings you here this evening?"

"Hi, Sophie. Daddy and I got a pizza for supper."

"Where is your Daddy?"

"He's right there." Jennie pointed to the car parked in front of the pizzeria. Brad stood next to the car, talking to another man. "He's talking to one of the band parents, and I saw your store's light was on and I wanted to say hi."

“That’s very nice of you. But does he know you came down here?”

"Jennie? Where are you?" Brad's anxious voice rang out. That answered her question.

"I'm right here, Daddy. I made sure I could always see you."

“I’m glad you did, Princess. I got really worried when I didn’t see you.”

Sophie's heart warmed to hear the exchange. Brad didn't sound angry, but his concern when he didn't see his daughter was evident, as well as his relief at finding her. As much as she grieved over the daughter she had lost, in a way it was probably better that the child had never been born. If she had, she would have been doomed to a life of constant criticism, and fear of not measuring up. She wouldn't have known what it was like to have friends, to express herself freely, play happily, and explore. She would have been as miserable as her mother had been. Maybe it was for the best the baby had never lived to experience such pain and suffering.

****

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Sweet Saturday

 

Welcome back! I apologize for the technical glitches with last week's excerpt. I'm out of town again this weekend, so I hope pre-posting works this time! Here's another excerpt from Sunlight and Shadows:

Another typical Monday morning in the Carmichael household. Brad wanted to pound his head against a wall. He couldn't find a clean shirt, and none of his socks had a matching mate. He'd forgotten to do the laundry over the weekend, and now he was out of clean clothes. How could he have been so careless? Lynn would never have forgotten. The house was always showroom perfect, and the entire family always wore clothes that were not only clean but perfectly coordinated. He'd never appreciated that, just took it for granted.

"Daddy, do you have another headache?"

Brad turned to his daughter, who stood in his bedroom doorway. She was dressed in one of her Sunday dresses, complete with tights and dress shoes.

"Princess, it's not Sunday. You're going to school today, not church."

"I know, but I don't have any clean shirts or socks for school. So I put on a dress."

He grimaced. "I'm sorry honey. I'll have to do laundry tonight."

"I'll help you, Daddy."

"Thanks sweetheart. You're so smart, figuring out what to do. I wish I could figure out what to wear because all my shirts are dirty, too."

Jennie's little face crunched into a frown. "What about that sweater Grandma gave you for Christmas? You haven’t worn it yet."

A sweater. He'd never been into sweaters, and the stylish cable knit creation his mother-in-law had given him was still in the gift box in his closet. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He pulled the box from the closet floor and opened it. "That will work, but what shall I wear under it?"

Jennie pulled the sweater out from the box. "Daddy, there's a shirt in here, too."

He looked. A turtleneck shirt. Definitely not his style, but it was clean. It would do.

"Princess, you're a genius. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"No. I couldn't find any milk."

Rats. He hadn't done the grocery shopping over the weekend, either. "I'm sorry, Princess. I don't think we have anything on the calendar tonight. It looks like laundry and grocery shopping are what we're going to do."

"Okay."

"So what shall we eat for now? We have some leftover Chinese food."

"I don't feel like eating that. Can I have some crackers and peanut butter?"

Peanut butter. Protein. Crackers were almost like toast. "Okay. Do we have enough for me to eat some, too? Do you need me to get the peanut butter out of the cupboard?"

"I think there's enough. I can reach it. You put it in the snack drawer."

"Okay, sweetie. Crackers and peanut butter for breakfast."

He finished dressing, feeling like the shoe-in candidate for Worst Father of the Year.

Tonight, he would definitely have to put his band director hat away and wear his Dad hat.

****

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Sweet Saturday

Welcome back! Here's another short clip from Sunlight and Shadows, my current work-in-progress.


A young woman entered The Quilting Bee leading a little boy. She wore the look of a harried young mother, yet she seemed happy. At Sophie’s greeting, she nodded and headed to the quilted fabrics with juvenile prints. She paused in front of the selections, still holding on to her son and rubbing her rounded tummy with her free hand. Sophie's hand traveled to her own flat tummy, mirroring the woman's motions. 

In her mind's eye her body had the same curves as the young woman's. She stood at the window of the nursery, gazing at the antique baby furniture her in-laws' servants had brought out of storage and had dusted to a fine sheen. Her baby would live in luxury like she had never known. She could put up with their condescending manner as long as her child had all the privileges and comfort. 

"Excuse me, miss." The young woman called to her, holding her squirming toddler with one hand. "My son needs to use the restroom. Do you have one here?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Sophie directed the lucky mom to the restroom at the back corner. She sighed and went back to her work. It did no good to remember the past. Perhaps things had worked out for the best. She had a new life to live and it was best if she forgot the old.

And each night she prayed the old life never caught up with her.

****

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Sweet Saturday

Welcome back! Last week we got a glimpse of Sophie's world in Sunlight and Shadows, and saw Sophie faint away at the mention of an escaped convict. Let's see what happens now:

She opened her eyes to see five faces staring down at her, their faces lined with anxiety.

“Sophie, what happened? Have you been feeling sick? Maybe we shouldn’t have come tonight.”

“She looked a little flush when I came in. I thought it was that handsome band director, but maybe she’s sick.”

“Here, I got you some water. Have something to drink.” A paper cup was thrust into her hand.

Sophie drank and did her best to smile. “I’m fine, really. I guess I forgot to eat something tonight. I’ll just run over to the pizzeria later and get some cheesy breadsticks. That’ll keep me going for a while.”

“You stay where you are. I’ll get the breadsticks.” Sylvia grabbed her purse and dashed outside. The rest of the women helped her sit up and led her to a comfortable chair in the corner of the shop designated as the “Husband Area.” They continued to fuss over her while she insisted she was fine.

“Really, I’m okay. I just forgot to eat and it got to me. I’ll be fine as soon as I eat.”

“What have you got to eat? I can run upstairs and get it for you.” They knew Sophie lived in the apartment above the shop.

“Umm…” She wrinkled her brow as she tried to think. Did she have anything? Crackers? The bread was moldy. Was there anything in her refrigerator?

“That’s what I thought,” Lila declared. “Let’s put it this way. When was the last time you ate?”

Sophie opened her mouth, but no words came out. She couldn’t remember. Was it yesterday when she’d opened that last can of soup?

The ladies hovered until Sylvia returned with not only the breadsticks but a small pan of lasagna. “When I told Mario why I needed the breadsticks he wouldn’t take my money and he insisted on sending this lasagna over for you. I think he’s sweet on you.” She smiled as she handed over the package.

“You just sit here and eat. Don’t worry about us. We’ll just finish up our projects and clean up when we leave.”

Sophie ate, thankful the ladies didn’t question her further. As soon as they left, she’d get on the computer and do some checking on that prison escapee. All she needed was the name. If she was lucky, it wouldn’t be the one person who had turned her life upside down.

****

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Sweet Saturday

Welcome back! I have the next part of my work-in-progress. This week I have a little insight into my heroine, Sophie:

The ladies in the quilting group kept up a lively conversation, but Sophie remained silent as she cut the pieces for her own quilt. She loved the weekly meetings because she could live vicariously through their stories. All of them had families, and she enjoyed listening as they shared their trials and joys.

Sophie loved children and had wanted to become a teacher, but there had been no money for college. Her grandparents lived simply in rural Indiana and couldn't afford extras. Jeffrey had promised she could go to college as soon as he finished his own degree. But as soon as the wedding license had been signed, he began to groom her into what he felt a successful businessman’s wife should be. She needed to wear the right clothes, and wasn’t allowed to leave the house without her hair and makeup in perfect order. She had to eat right to keep her weight down and her complexion clear. She had to watch her speech and not use that “hillbilly language” as he had called it.

At first she had been flattered that Jeffrey wanted her to look and act her best. She absorbed everything she could from magazines and books, and observed the wives of Jeffrey’s colleagues to learn about style and deportment. But it seemed nothing she did was ever good enough. She always fell short of his expectations.

“Sophie, I can’t get these pieces to line up correctly. I know the squares are cut correctly because I double-checked. But every time I sew them together they shift or something and the corners don’t match up. What am I doing wrong?”

She quickly put her thoughts away and turned a smile toward Sylvia. “Let's take a look. Did you pin your pieces together?"

Helping her customers with their questions kept her occupied for the next hour. The ladies were at various levels of expertise and some needed more help than others. Sylvia’s problems stemmed from the fact that she had recently purchased her machine and wasn’t totally familiar with it. Sophie had helped her select the machine and felt responsible for helping her use it.

“Did you hear about the convict who escaped from the prison in Indianapolis?”

Kirstie’s question sparked a lively conversation among the other ladies, but Sophie didn't hear any of it. Her blood ran cold and she froze, her heart beating furiously. And then her world went black.

****

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Sweet Saturday

            Welcome back! I'm continuing with the next part of my work-in-progress, tentatively titled Sunlight and Shadows:

Brad Carmichael buckled his daughter into the back seat and gave her another hug before closing the door. His heart still beat furiously as he thought about the danger his little girl could have been in if the lady at the quilt shop hadn’t taken her in and called him. How could he have been so irresponsible? He’d known what time the party was over, but he’d gotten engrossed in the task of finding parents to chaperone the high school band’s trip to the festival next week, and the time had slipped away.

Starting up the car, he checked his rear-view mirror. His little miracle sat quietly in her car seat, content to gaze out the window.

“How was the party, Princess?”

She looked up and connected her gaze with his in the mirror. Her grin showed the gap between her teeth and he felt his lips lift in an answering smile. “It was fun, Daddy. We played games and stuff. And we had ice cream and cake.”

“Sounds good. Were all your friends there?”

“Yes. Sherry, and Callie and Bethanie…”

Brad smiled and let the girl chatter while he navigated the car toward their home. He and Lynn had made plans to buy a bigger home and expand their family, but now he was glad they hadn’t moved from the tiny bungalow. Upkeep on a bigger house would have been a greater expense and more effort to maintain, and right now his time and money were stretched to the limit.

“Daddy?”

“What, Princess?”

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going home to have supper. Why?”

“Because we passed our house already.”

Rats. Daydreaming again. He turned the car around in the nearest driveway. If his daughter hadn’t been on the ball, there was no telling when he would have realized where he was going. He might have ended up in the next county. Spotting a family smorgassboard type restaurant, he pulled into the lot.

“Princess, I changed my mind. If I start cooking when we get home it’s going to be late by the time we eat. So would it be okay with you if we eat here tonight?”

Jennie’s eyes lit up. “Okay, Daddy. I like their chicken. And they have corn with butter and stuff on it. And mashed potatoes and applesauce…”

The rest of jennie’s list faded away as Brad opened his door and got out. He went to the back seat to unbuckle his princess, who continued to name off her “favorites.”

“…And can I have chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce for dessert, Daddy?”

“Sure Princess. Anything you want.”

He’d be a good dad and make a home cooked dinner for his daughter some other night. Right now he just needed to get them both fed. One of these days he’d get caught up, and then he could think about nutritious dinners. In the meantime, they’d have to make do with someone else's cooking.

****

Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about Brad and the others in this story. Is he believable, or too syrupy? Be sure to check out other excerpts by going to Sweet Saturday Samples.