TUESDAY TALES - WORD PROMPT "FRUIT" - NEW STORY!

 

Howdy do! Welcome! This week the glorious Tuesday Tales writers are writing to the word prompt "fruit." I am starting a brand new story!! Yes, the first new one in a long time and I'm thrilled. I'm so pumped. I hope I can devote lots of winter indoor-days to writing this tale. I don't even have a name for the book, but I do know that it will be book 10 in the Pine Grove series. 

So here's the beginning of the book. Pardon my writing as it has not been edited or proofed yet. I hope you like the story. If you do and you want to read more, please leave an encouraging comment. Those always motivate me to go to the computer. Thanks for stopping by. 

When you're done with my excerpt, please visit the other TT authors. Find them HERE. 

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Charlotte Emily Anderson stood next to her father in the fifth row, at the garden where the Master’s degrees were to be presented. English professor Dr. Mark Garrett walked right past them. He didn’t recognize Charlotte and only gave a brief nod to her father.

Ever since she did the renovation of his office at Kensington State University, Charlotte had developed a huge crush on Dr. Garett. He didn’t recognize her because she always tucked her long dark hair under a painter’s hat and wore worker’s overalls. And she answered to the nickname of “Charlie”. Her gaze followed his attractive form to the front row.

Her father had insisted she dress like that when she worked a job.

“Don’t be flauntin’ your goods around men, Sister. You’ll be working alone there without me or your brother to protect you. And men get ideas. Besides, these men expect a man to be doing carpentry and painting walls, not some delicate flower.”

“I’m no delicate flower, Pa,” Charlotte had responded, pulling herself up to her full five foot eight inches.

“Well, your mother, God rest her soul, thought so.”

Her mother had died before she could see the fruit of her loins turn into a tomboy. Her father tried to teach his son, Corey, Charlotte’s older brother, his trade. But the boy ignored his father and spent his days under a tree reading literature while his sister finished each project.

After three years of letting her brother pass off her work as his, Charlotte spoke up. There was a terrible row. Corey stormed out of the house, then her father followed. When his son went off to college to study literature, Tom Anderson settled himself on hiring his daughter. That’s when she got the nickname “Charlie.”

Tom did carpentry for the university in exchange for free tuition for his son. There wasn’t money to send his daughter. Besides, she preferred woodworking to reading tiresome stories written by people long since dead. Besides, he needed her to keep his business going to put food on the table. He was getting too old to do everything himself. That was just fine with Charlie.

 

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by.