Friday Romance: The Waltz
With his mom gone, and now ‘dancing the waltz’ with his father, he’d taken it upon himself to pack up their things.
Jake cracked open a can of orange soda and took a seat on one of the boxes yet to be placed into the moving truck. He looked up at his parent’s house, the house he’d grown up in, and sighed. With his mom gone, and now ‘dancing the waltz’ with his father, he’d taken it upon himself to pack up their things. His sister would be arriving the next day to help with general cleanup of the property.
He wasn’t able to find the right song on his drive home and eventually turned off the truck’s radio. In the back of the truck, in boxes that rattled over every bump in the road, were memories of four lives that’d been intertwined for decades. He pulled the truck into his driveway, a house only twenty minutes away from where he grew up, and stepped out to greet his wife who was standing in the garage with her arms folded.
“What’s the plan, Jake?” said his wife. “We can’t store all that stuff.”
“I know,” he replied. He walked over to the recycling bin and tossed out his soda can. “Some of it is worth keeping. I’ll find room in the attic. We can have a garage sale, I’ll get started on the details. Whatever doesn’t sell we’ll donate. Paul said I could hold onto the truck as long as I need it. He owes me one anyway. Kelsey…”
“What is it?”
“I miss her.”
Jake sorted through the boxes as he setup for the garage sale. He dedicated a table to kitchen supplies, and as he emptied the last box he pulled out a colander, the one his mom used every Sunday when preparing dinner for the family. He held it in his hands and closed his eyes. He could see his mother pulling the colander out from the cupboard and placing it onto the granite counter. It always managed to catch the sun from the nearby window, a bright white light sparkling on its side, until his mother would place it into the sink and fill it with lettuce, chopped cucumbers, and tomatoes. On several occasions it’d been Jake’s job to fetch a chair from the kitchen table so he could reach the sink and help rinse the lettuce.
He couldn’t get himself to place the colander alongside the other kitchen supplies, he instead tucked it under his arm and walked into the house.
“What’s that?” asked Kelsey. “We already have one of those.”
“This one is special,” replied Jake.
Kelsey walked over and took the colander from Jake’s hands.
“It’s all dented,” she said. “I doubt we’ll even get a dollar for it.”
“I know it sounds silly, but I’d like to keep it. I’ll find a use for it. I can attach some rope from the garage to the handles, and cover up some of the holes on the sides with parchment paper.” He walked around the kitchen as he spoke. “I’ll need good soil. I can check the store tomorrow for some, and seeds, or should I buy the flowers from the florist?”
“What’re you talking about?” asked Kelsey. She was hunched over the counter, watching him and he paced about.
“I’m going to grow daisies in this,” he said, “they were my mother’s favorite. White daises. I’ll mend the dents, it’ll look wonderful.”
He looked up to see his wife walking towards him. She wrapped her arms around him and pushed her face into his chest.
“I love that idea,” she said.
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Abigail Bloom's life is thrown into a sweeping romance when a new deputy rolls into the small town of Brooks Landing, but when her ex-husband enters back into her life, she's unsure if she can hold onto her new chance at true love. A break-in in the small town causes Abigail's ex to suspect the new deputy - Can she trust her new love interest or is he using her as an alibi?
How about some serial fiction? “One Town Over” on Kindle Vella offers up another small town romance, this time set in Peek Creak (which may sound familiar if you’ve read “The Centennial Courtship”). Follow along as a new romance blooms! You can read on your phone/tablet/computer. (contemporary romance, office romance, romantic comedy)
(First 3 episodes FREE) John Prince's life in Peak Creek seems perfect. He's been seeing Cassandra Queen for six months and hopes to move in together. However, Cassandra resists the change, putting John's romantic future into question. When an opportunity to advance at work opens up, John feels his luck turning around. Katie Young, a recent transfer at the firm, has other plans. Their rivalry collides when they have to co-present during a company retreat.
Romance story collections (available on Kindle Vella) First 3 episodes are FREE in each collection (9 FREE stories). Perfect for quick reading sessions on your phone:
The Fantasy of Love: A Romance Story Collection
The Mystery of Love: A Romance Story Collection
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