Book #Excerpt – Evelyn Evolving

Last weekend the “Generations” art exhibition opened at the Winnsboro Center For the Arts, and I was so thrilled to see an entire wall taken up with art from my family, starting with my mother. I posted a couple of pictures on Monday, and here is another one.

The bed dolls were made by my mother, as was the crocheted tablecloth. Some of her drawings on letters are bound in those folios in the front. The sketchbook in the middle is mine, as are the books in the background. This table sits below the large wall with all the art from my kids and grand-kids.

I have another busy weekend ahead of me. Tonight I will be at the Peter Yarrow concert at the Winnsboro Center For the Arts. Peter was here in my little town  two years ago, and it was great fun to hear so many of the songs that were, and still are, important to me.  Music and song can call us to action, and he is still going strong after so many years.

Then tomorrow, I will be back at the art center for a book-launch party for the new book by the Winnsboro Historian, Bill Jones, Reflections of Winnsboro. It was my honor, and pleasure, to work with him on this book, and we are both happy with the end result.

And now, here is another excerpt from my WIP, Evelyn Evolving. This picks up where I left off on May the 5th, with Regina meeting Henry Stewart, who was the grandfather I grew up knowing. I don’t know if this is how they met, or even if he was this courtly when they were young. I only know that he was a kind man who was one of the few people who took an interest in a young girl and her aspirations to be a writer. Perhaps that is why I choose to present him as such a good character.

As if sensing her reserve, Henry pushed his hat back and gave her a long, appraising look. “Are you married?”

“God, no.”

“You don’t ascribe to the fine state of matrimony?”

Regina resisted the urge to laugh. He sure had an odd way of saying things. “It wasn’t so fine in my experience.”

Henry touched her cheek, the gesture so soft she wasn’t even sure she felt it before he took his hand away. “Nobody should treat a queen badly.”

Regina resisted the urge to pinch herself. Was this real? She was afraid if she blinked she’d wake up from a dream.

But she wasn’t dreaming. Henry was real. This was real.

“Have you had supper?” he asked.

“No.”

“Neither have I. Do you know a place nearby where we could get a bite?”

“There’s always my place.”

It took him so long to respond, she worried that she had been too forward. “That is not a good idea for tonight,” he said, touching her cheek again. This time the touch seared her skin and she felt a flush of heat. Oh, God he was a tease. “Anticipation will make it so much sweeter.”

They went three doors down to a fancy Italian restaurant, where he said he could buy a dinner fit for an Italian queen. And true to his word, he did not go home with her that night. It took two weeks of meeting almost every evening before he satisfied that burning inside her.

Two months later, they married.

Regina never told Henry about the girls, and she had brushed over the details about Frank, saying it was nothing. They had married in haste and quickly unmarried. She didn’t know why she held back about her daughters. Well, actually she did. She didn’t think Henry was like John, not wanting children, but she didn’t want to take the chance that he would bolt. She was tired of the men in her life running out on her, and she was determined to make sure this one stayed. Even if it meant pretending. She was good at pretending, wasn’t she?

As always, I am open to feedback on these excerpts. Have a great weekend. Do you have special plans?