Words on a Wednesday: In Which We Meet Jodi
As promised, I'm back to posting excerpts of my work in progress, It Came to Tranquility. This will be the third book in the Tranquility series. This bit of the story is not edited, so it may not make it into the final draft, or it may exist in a different form.
This is also a different section from the first two chapters that I'm offering up for a free preview if you purchase either Tranquility or Bride of Tranquility from Yard Dog Press in the month of December.
“David and I used to be engaged!?” she said in a high-strung voice that carried across the diner. Average groaned internally. “I’m in town to help dig up the old ruins in the lake!?”
“Is that where the mud came from?” Jake pointed to her coveralls.
“Huh?!” Her eyes followed his finger. “Oh!? No, I was unloading equipment from the trunk into the Gators!? We’re waiting on your clearance to go to the lake!?”
“She talks strange,” Horace whispered behind his hand to Jake.
“Why are you here?” David seemed to find his voice at last. Although his words radiated hostility, Jodi seemed oblivious.
“Because of the dig, silly!?” she said.
“No,” David slapped his face into his palm. He held it for a minute and breathed deeply as if searching for reserves of patience. “I mean why are you studying archeology? Last time I saw you, you were afraid to walk across a muddy parking lot because you were wearing sandals and the dirt would ruin your pedicure.”
She laughed at that. “Wasn’t that silly of me?!” She nodded, and Average found herself nodding along. Jodi tucked her hands into her pockets and shrugged in a self-depreciating way. “When you left me - It got me thinking, you know?! No one ever left me before!? I mean!? It couldn’t be my fault!? I mean!? Me!? Daddy always said that I was perfect!? But then I took a look at myself, and I think maybe I was just a smidge . . . Not so perfect?! I mean!? Did I really want the life my parents have?! Trophy husband?! Shopping trips to Dallas?! Planning the Junior League Holiday Bizaare?! Just like my mother?! Can you imagine?! I thought maybe you had the right idea!? If you could reinvent yourself, why couldn’t I?!”
“You’re going to become an archeologist?”
“It seems strange, but I think that history is my calling!? At least until I can get at my trust fund?!”
David shut his eyes and shook his head. “That sounds like a nice plan.” He said.
“Isn’t it?!” She grinned. “I thought about joining the Peace Corps and helping orphans in Africa. But I can’t pick up horrible diseases this way!? And I can still get my hands dirty!? See?!” She held out her dirt smeared hands for David to see. Despite the dirt that smeared them, she still had a perfect manicure.
This is also a different section from the first two chapters that I'm offering up for a free preview if you purchase either Tranquility or Bride of Tranquility from Yard Dog Press in the month of December.
“David and I used to be engaged!?” she said in a high-strung voice that carried across the diner. Average groaned internally. “I’m in town to help dig up the old ruins in the lake!?”
“Is that where the mud came from?” Jake pointed to her coveralls.
“Huh?!” Her eyes followed his finger. “Oh!? No, I was unloading equipment from the trunk into the Gators!? We’re waiting on your clearance to go to the lake!?”
“She talks strange,” Horace whispered behind his hand to Jake.
“Why are you here?” David seemed to find his voice at last. Although his words radiated hostility, Jodi seemed oblivious.
“Because of the dig, silly!?” she said.
“No,” David slapped his face into his palm. He held it for a minute and breathed deeply as if searching for reserves of patience. “I mean why are you studying archeology? Last time I saw you, you were afraid to walk across a muddy parking lot because you were wearing sandals and the dirt would ruin your pedicure.”
She laughed at that. “Wasn’t that silly of me?!” She nodded, and Average found herself nodding along. Jodi tucked her hands into her pockets and shrugged in a self-depreciating way. “When you left me - It got me thinking, you know?! No one ever left me before!? I mean!? It couldn’t be my fault!? I mean!? Me!? Daddy always said that I was perfect!? But then I took a look at myself, and I think maybe I was just a smidge . . . Not so perfect?! I mean!? Did I really want the life my parents have?! Trophy husband?! Shopping trips to Dallas?! Planning the Junior League Holiday Bizaare?! Just like my mother?! Can you imagine?! I thought maybe you had the right idea!? If you could reinvent yourself, why couldn’t I?!”
“You’re going to become an archeologist?”
“It seems strange, but I think that history is my calling!? At least until I can get at my trust fund?!”
David shut his eyes and shook his head. “That sounds like a nice plan.” He said.
“Isn’t it?!” She grinned. “I thought about joining the Peace Corps and helping orphans in Africa. But I can’t pick up horrible diseases this way!? And I can still get my hands dirty!? See?!” She held out her dirt smeared hands for David to see. Despite the dirt that smeared them, she still had a perfect manicure.