08/06/2020
Thought I'd share an excerpt from my work-in-progress:
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Madison, chatting with Morgan and a few other church members in front of the church, shivered when she felt the tap on her shoulder. She’d noticed Adam’s eyes on her since coming outside, and it wasn’t a look of love, or even desire, both of which she would have welcomed. Instead, his eyes bore into her with hostility.
“Hey,” she said softly, noticing that now he looked normal. It must have taken great effort.
“Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Sure,” she replied with an enthusiasm that masked the dread she felt. She turned back to her present company to excuse herself. Mona Triggs’ eyes already shone with interest as she watched them. She’ll probably report to everyone to be on the lookout for a budding romance, Madison thought bitterly.
She noted the odd look Morgan wore. It reminded her of those courtroom dramas, when the prosecuting attorney presented his or her theory of how the crime was committed and the stricken look on the defendant’s face told the viewer the truth had been nailed.
She and Adam silently walked a few yards to an unoccupied area.
Without preamble, he said, “My sisters told me there’s a new book out that appears to be about this town and the people who live here, including one character that appears to be based on me.”
She knew it would be fruitless to pretend she wasn’t aware. “Yes, I know.”
“I thought you would,” he replied, his voice dry as hay. “One incident in the book describes something that happened at my shop…something only three people were present for. Vaughn Reavis, myself…”
Here it comes…
“…and you.” He cleared his throat. “I think you know the incident I refer to, Madison, but allow me to refresh your memory. “I speak of the one time the three of us were at the shop. We were laughing at a joke, and as you looked at Vaughn and I standing on opposite sides of the counter, your expression began to change, as if you’d just noticed something startling. It was like that scene in Titanic when the lookout goes from laughing to being stunned when he slowly recognizes the shape of an iceberg looming ahead.” His eyes didn’t leave her face. “I thought you might be able to share some insight about how that private encounter ended up in a novel written by someone named Cassandra Dunham.”
“Well, I’m not Cassandra Dunham, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Suddenly desperate to convince him, she said, “Whoever wrote that book put in characters who closely resemble my own great-aunts, and said one of them is the biological mother of a character that’s clearly based on your sister, Michelle.”
“That’s the oldest trick in the book, Madison. List yourself among the victims to deflect suspicion away from you.”
“I swear to you, Adam, I didn’t write that book. And if you don’t believe me, there’s nothing else to say.”
Mustering her dignity, she turned and walked away, trying not to tremble.
*****
Adam watched her go. She sure put on a good act, but did she think he was stupid or something? After his sisters called him in a three-way conversation—Simone from here in town and Michelle from her home in a suburb of Jackson, to inform him that his secret had been revealed in the novel, he’d gone over to his childhood home, where Simone continued to live, to see it firsthand on her copy of the book. After he read it, he became convinced that it had to have come from the pen of Madison White. She was the only one who’d witnessed that scene at his garage that was recreated in the book. He’d taken Madison to lunch shortly after it happened, intending to discuss it, but when she didn’t mention it, he decided to leave it be. But he’d never forget the stunned look that formed on her face as she watched him and Vaughn laughing together, standing on opposite sides of the counter, and it told her she noticed the resemblance between them…a resemblance that Vaughn himself seemed unaware of. Adam realized then that Vaughn had no idea of their biological connection, and he’d thought his secret was safe…until Simone and Michelle told him it had been laid out for everyone to see in that new book. Yet, Madison had sounded so convincing when she insisted she hadn’t written the book, which rehashed various other incidents that had happened to people in town over the years, some of them before he was born that he’d only heard about.
Realization hit him like a punch in the gut as he noticed church members staring at Amanda Larkin with barely disguised hostility. She’d made no secret of the fact that she was a writer. It made sense that the people of town would presume she was Cassandra Dunham and that she’d betrayed them by putting all their families’ salacious secrets into a book to make a profit…well, sort of. Adam had no idea how Amanda would have gotten information about things that occurred forty, fifty, and even sixty years ago. Why hadn’t anyone considered that before giving Amanda the cold shoulder?
But if Madison seemed so sincere in her denial of having written the book, that could only mean one thing.
Her twin, Morgan, had written it, and Madison was protecting her.
And they were both content to sit back and watch while the townspeople treated Amanda like a traitor, knowing full well that Amanda was innocent of any wrongdoing.
That sucked.
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From A DECEMBER TO REMEMBER (Eighty-Eight, Mississippi) by Bettye Griffin, coming later this year
