The Foster Girls by Lin Stepp

Author:Lin Stepp
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: inspirational, womens fiction, strong women, southern fiction, smoky mountains, dollywood, wears valley, tennessee fiction
Publisher: Canterbury House Publishing

Chapter 15

Scott felt more like his old self when he showed up at Vivian’s door later that night. He knew he looked sharp, and he was ready for a comfortable evening with the Greenes. He’d picked up a bottle of Quint and Ellen’s favorite red wine, a Merlot that went well with grilled ribs. After a hard day at the camp, he’d worked up a good appetite as a plus. Scott was, by nature, a social being, and he was ready for a good time.

When Vivian opened the door, he, admittedly, had to take a quick breath. She had let her hair down. He’d never seen her hair down, and it rolled over her shoulders like the rich mane of a chestnut mare. Dark blue slacks hugged her long legs and she was wearing some sort of soft, silky blue blouse that set off the deep blue of her eyes perfectly. He wondered if she knew that.

“Good evening, Vivian.” He made a courtly half bow in her direction. “I was wondering if you would remember that we were to go to the Greene’s tonight.”

“Of course,” she replied with an easy smile. “How could I forget when Chelsey was so excited about it.”

Vivian started down the porch steps without waiting for him to take her arm, and Scott found himself relieved. She didn’t appear miffed tonight; she wasn’t pouting or sulking over what happened last night. Those were two of the things Scott hated about most girls. They usually never let a slight go and they sulked for days over it. But Vivian was just walking along casually, talking about how the blossoms on the white snowball bush glowed in the twilight.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said, pointing toward the snowball bush. “Is it only that shrub that does that? Is this just a Tennessee thing?”

Scott picked up his pace to keep up with her. “A lot of white shrubs hold the sun’s light and glow for a short time in the twilight. Look over there at that baby’s breath bush. It’s got a shine to it, too.”

“Not as much as this snowball bush.” Vivian stopped to look at it more closely. “It’s just like magic, isn’t it?”

He gave her a teasing grin. “Is that some of your Andrew Lang fairytale talk?”

“No.” She lifted her chin. “But I can visualize fairies liking a bush like this, carrying the blossoms like lanterns to light their way.”

Scott grinned. “It amazes me how a professional academic woman like yourself can be so fanciful. You teach dense literature that most of us labor to read through and then talk about fairies carrying blossom lanterns in the next breath.”

“Perhaps I’m like a line from Whitman,” she explained. “You will never know who I am or what I mean, but I will be good health to you nevertheless …”

“And filter and fiber your soul,” he finished.

“Very good, Mr. Jamison.” She smiled at him warmly.

“Thank you professor.” He sent her a smile back. “We’re not all illiterate up here in these mountains.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.