Seasons of the Fool by Lynne Cantwell

Author:Lynne Cantwell [Cantwell, Lynne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Paranormal & Urban
Amazon: B00Q8QZAEG
Published: 2014-12-08T23:00:00+00:00

Spring

~~~~

Julia stood and stretched, easing the ache in her spine, as she dusted the dirt from her hands. She had been sitting too much lately, parked in front of her computer in her chilly office, putting the finishing touches on her book and learning how to promote it. The learning curve was steep, but rewarding; as she picked up and polished each new skill, her self-confidence grew. And she was finding her theater background useful. She had uploaded a video of herself reading an excerpt from her novel to a bunch of social media sites, and she was beginning to find an audience for the book. Some of her friends from her old life in Chicago had even congratulated her, marveling at her talent. At least one of them – a frustrated novelist herself – had posted several sniping comments on her Facebook page, and then blocked her.

Oh, well. Her loss.

She was also recovering from the home invasion. Reluctant to leave the house at first, she had arranged for a few sessions with her therapist via Skype. Now, weeks later, she could view the incident as a victory: she had successfully defended herself and her home against a criminal, which was no small thing. She was still upset every time she saw the duct-taped window, which she still hadn’t had repaired. But her feelings were morphing from shame, to anger at Ron for breaking in. Still, sometimes, she turned the anger on herself, for getting involved with him in the first place. But that was happening less and less often as time went on.

Her writing had helped with that, too.

With all of these small successes, her house had begun to seem stuffy as winter waned. It felt good to be outside, doing something other than staring at pixels on a screen.

“Hello!” Ms. Thea called from the street. “Nice to see you out and about!” The older woman let herself in at the gate. She was dressed in her usual jeans and flannel shirt, her gray hair caught back in a green bandanna. She carried a paper bag, which she presented now to Julia.

“Thank you,” Julia said automatically, and then peered into the bag. “Oh! Thank you! What are they?”

“Dahlias, mostly.” Ms. Thea reached into the bag and poked the bulbs around with a forefinger. “These bigger ones are iris. I was hoping to have some freesias for you, too, but something must have eaten them.”

“That’s too bad.”

Ms. Thea shrugged. “It happens. Everything has to eat – even the deer and the moles. How are you, dear? Elsie and I were just talking about how we haven’t seen much of you lately.”

“I know,” said Julia, chagrined. “I’m sorry. I’ve been busy trying to publish my novel.”

“How exciting,” said Ms. Thea. “What’s it about?”

“Oh, this and that.”

Ms. Thea gave her a penetrating look, but let it drop. Instead, she said, “We were wondering whether you’d heard anything from that jerk of a handyman.”

“Not since the break-in, thank God,” she said. “I did hear back from the police, though.

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