Part Two of "Look Higher" Short Story by Lyn Cote

Part Two- Look Higher by Lyn Cote

“Ellie Smith? We’re from the Mack and Middy Show--On the Road! You’ve been selected as this afternoon’s beauty makeover!”
“What?”
“Madge sent us a letter, submitting your name. Are you ready?”
Too stunned to speak, Ellie gawked, open mouthed.
“Turn off your computer! Let’s go!”
The next hours flew by. Ellie was shampooed, styled, manicured, made up and dressed.
Finally, center stage, she heard her name announced to a cheering audience. Mack and Middy showed the video taken at her office, then skillfully drew out facts about her. “Now,” Middy, a perky redhead, asked, “Do you have a special man in your life? What’ll he say when he sees the new you?”
Ellie moistened her lips and smiled shyly. “I doubt Ned’ll notice. He’s the absent-minded genius-type.”
“Oh, I think he’ll notice,” Mack chortled. The show swirled to its close.
Ellie thanked Mack and Middy. Then she was back in a white limo which dropped her off at the front of the plant once more.
When she stepped into the office, it was empty except for Madge who was waiting for her. “You look wonderful—“
“Why did you send in my name, Madge?”
“I wanted you to feel as beautiful outside as you are inside.”
“I’m numb, like a tornado has just blown me over.”
Madge did a little jig. “You’ll certainly make a splash at the party tonight!”
Bemused, Ellie didn't know what to think about the party.
After Madge left, Ellie retrieved her purse from her locked file cabinet. The warehouse door opened. Ellie stepped out into the aisle and nearly ran into Ned, a tall and thin engineer.
Ned’s eyes behind slightly cocked glasses opened wide. “Ellie?”
“What do you think?” Smiling, beginning to believe maybe she really looked a little beautiful, she twirled once like a little girl in a new dress.
“I…I…I….” Ned’s eyes glazed over, his mouth hung open. He looked like a dead mackerel. “You’re beautiful.” He sounded dumbfounded.
A thrill of pleasure zipped through her. “Thank you, Ned. It couldn’t come at a better time with the company party tonight. What do you think this new dress?” Ellie held out her flared black skirt.
Ned cleared his throat. “I’m not going with you tonight.”
“Not going? Why not?”
“I can’t go with you looking like that!”
Ellie frowned. “Like what?”
“Like a movie star!” “A what?” “Everyone will want to talk to you, not me. I really need to network tonight. I want that senior engineer position too much.”
“Ned, I can’t believe--”
Ned edged away. “This has thrown me off completely. I had everything planned.” He hurried to the door. It shut behind him with a swoosh.
He’s standing me up! Anger flared in her. Ellie stomped out and sped off in her car. She reached the hotel where the affair was being held and marched in.
Just inside the door of the banquet room, her anger deserted her. She couldn’t take another step. What if everyone thought her makeover ridiculous? She could already feel the humiliation.
“Ellie, you’re here.” Beaming down at her, Hugh took both her hands in his. “Mr. Hensley was just talking about that brilliant, money-saving proposal you sent him.” Smoothly, Hugh guided her to a knot of people she had worked with for years.
She received warm compliments on her appearance and her luck at winning a makeover. Ned came late, but amid all the people Hugh drew around her, Ned was easy to ignore.
Later when Hugh and she stood next to her car in the moonlight, she let her gaze linger on his kind face. “I don’t know when I’ve had a better time.”
“I enjoyed being with you. You look especially lovely tonight.” Her chin dipped. She thought of Madge’s words. Just because of Hugh’s handsome exterior, she had thought he couldn’t be interested in her and Hugh had asked her out even before her makeover.
“Ellie, I’ve always thought you were a diamond in the rough, but tonight you really shine.” Leaning down, he brushed her lips with his.

*** From their perch on the top of the hotel, two angels smiled down at the couple. “You did it, Magdelana.” Madge, really Magdelana, smiled. “Hugh deserved someone special. He’s been through so much.”
“Ellie’s perfect for him.” The other angel shook her head. “What did she ever see in Ned? What a lowlife.”
"That was the problem all right." Madge grinned beatifically. “Ellie wasn't looking high enough.”

So what do you think? Did I surprise you at the end? Do you look higher?

First Page-When the Snow Flies by Author Laurie Alice Eakes

When the Snow Flies

Laurie Alice Eakes

"No one met Audrey Vanderleyden at the train. A wizened old man with hair like mountain mist popped out of the station, spoke with the conductor for a moment, then darted into the clapboard building without so much as glancing Audrey's way.

The train pulled out of the station. Audrey remained on the platform amidst a collection of trunks and valises until the locomotive's last whistle died away in the valley, and pine resin scent from the planks beneath her feet overcame the stench of coal smoke. Still no one came to meet her, neither a porter from the hotel nor Dr. Hornsby, with whom she had an appointment in an hour, according to the watch pinned to her black lapel.

She left all but one of her bags behind and marched toward the station. Her black muslin skirts hampered her brisk stride, and she kicked them out of her way with each step. When she reached the door, she yanked it open, took one step into the hot, still air, and stopped to look around.

In one corner, the telegraph machine clattered. A diminutive operator sat beside it with his booted feet propped up on the desk on which lay a slip of yellow paper with the words addressed to Dr. Hornsby printed in bold, black letters.

DR. A. S. VANDERLEYDEN ARRIVE AFTERNOOON TRAIN TUESDAY STOP MEET HOUR LATER STOP

The message for the hotel was similar and requested that a conveyance meet her at the train.

"You didn't deliver my messages." She used the same tone she too often had to use on nurses who failed to carry out her orders for a patient's care."

Whoa! I wouldn't want to be that guy! And why didn't he deliver her messages???

Are you intrigued? I am!--Lyn

Part One of "Look Higher," a Free Short Story

Look Higher by Lyn Cote, Part One

At mid-morning break, Ellie walked over to the desk nearest the door and cleared her throat politely.
“Taking up another collection, Ellie?” Madge, the plump, gray-haired temp secretary, teased cheerfully.
“The custodian’s wife had heart surgery. I thought a card and a check would help.”
Madge signed the brightly colored card and handed Ellie a five-dollar bill. “You’re a beautiful person, Ellie. You think of everyone.”
With an apologetic grin, Ellie shook her head. “This is the third time I’ve come around since you started two months ago. You’re probably hoping to get transferred.”
Madge didn't reply to this. Instead, she asked, “Is Ned taking you to lunch today?” Ellie nodded.
“Someplace special?”
Ellie shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Why not? You and Ned haven’t been dating for too long. He takes you for granted.” “We suit each other.”
“Don’t just settle for Ned. Don’t let him treat you like a pair of broken-in shoes—“ The ringing of Madge’s telephone interrupted.
Ellie waved good by and walked to her own desk. Mulling over Madge’s kind words. But ever since seventh grade when Ellie had beat the handsomest boy in the math class contest, she had accepted that she was bright, not pretty. Madge was sweet to call her a beautiful person. But in romance, a vast difference separated a beautiful “person” from a beautiful “woman."
With a sigh, she flipped on her computer. As the head of the parts department, she had another inventory to check. Time crawled by. The clock on the computer screen read 12:15. Ned should have come by now. Shaking her head at his absent-mindedness, she dialed his office number. No answer. She hung up and waited. Resting her chin on her hand, Ellie fought against the thoughts that Madge’s recent words had stirred up. Ned wasn’t anyone’s dream date, but people with his kind of brains often forgot things like lunch dates. She turned back to her computer. Might as well work till Ned appeared.
“Ned hasn’t shown. I thought as much,” Madge said. “I brought lunch for two.” “Really, Madge, Ned still might--”
“Then he should have to hunt for you.” Madge waved a lunch cooler in front of Ellie’s eyes. “Tuna on rye and homemade potato salad.”
“It’s my favorite lunch! How did you know?” Within moments, Ellie found herself out in summer warmth.
Madge chose a picnic table under the shade of a full, green maple. Lifting two sandwiches encased in neon pink plastic rectangles from her lunch-sized cooler, she handed one to Ellie, who sat across from her. “I also made angel food cake and strawberries last night.”
Momentarily, Ellie considered warning Madge she had no say about filling permanent positions. But with the sweet dessert awaiting her and the sparkling sunshine glinting on the windows nearby, Ellie found it impossible to talk business.
“Now we were discussing your fatal fascination with Ned—“
“Madge, please!” Ellie chuckled in spite of herself.
“Mind if I join you ladies?”
Recognizing the deep, liquid-honey voice, Ellie glanced up at Hugh Garner, the company's most successful salesman. Tall, dark and handsome didn’t come close to describing him, delicious him.
“A man at this table is just what we need,” Madge said.
Hugh slid his lithe frame onto the picnic table bench and opened a cooler similar to Madge’s.
“You packed a lunch?” Madge teased. “I thought you only did power lunches.”
So close to Hugh, Ellie forced herself to take a small bite of her tuna. Being around Hugh always made her nervous. Even when his wife died of leukemia last year, she hadn’t attended the funeral. What could she say to someone facing such a heart-breaking loss? Instead, she had ordered flowers and engineered the collection for the designated memorial fund.
“Power lunches are over-rated. A lunch outdoors on a beautiful day with two charming ladies, now that’s a lunch.” He smiled at Ellie, not just any smile.
She felt all the way to her toes. “You always seem so confident.” Ellie’s gaze drifted to his Kirk-Douglas chin.
“Salesmanship 101—always appear confident.”
Madge slid a piece of cake toward him. “Scuttlebutt says you’re about to bring in a nice, juicy contract.”
Ellie put down her sandwich. “Madge, how do you know so much?”
Madge forked up a bite of cake. “Am I right, Mr. Garner?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. Today I met with the president over bidding strategy.”
“That sounds so important,” Ellie said.
“Salesmanship is a complex science,” Madge added.
Hugh chuckled. “Thank you both, but it’s not a done deal yet—“ Hugh’s cell phone ran and he slipped it out of his suit jacket pocket. “That’s it for my picnic. I have a client to meet.” He quickly re-filled his cooler, stood up and smiled down at Ellie. “Maybe you’d have dinner with me sometime, Ellie?”
Ellie couldn't say a word in reply.
As he hurried off, he looked back and smiled at Ellie. His parting words had taken her breath away.
Madge said, “Hugh could be an interesting date.”
“He was just being polite.” Ellie toyed with her plastic fork.
“He didn’t have to ask you. I think he likes you.”
“I’m just an average small-town girl. Hugh's late wife was beautiful.”
“You’re missing what’s important.”
Ellie looked to Madge. “What’s that?”
“Every man has his own idea of what beauty is.”
Wryly, Ellie shook her head.

Back at her desk, the figures on the spreadsheet squiggled under Ellie’s gaze. She slipped off her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes. She dialed Ned’s number. “Hi, did you forget lunch?”
“I had lunch with the vice president,” Ned explained.
“I thought we were going out to lunch today!”
Ned snapped, “This lunch was important.”
“You could have called—“
“Ellie, one of the things I like about you is that you don’t go in for any of that feminine stuff. You take me like I am. Don't change that.”
Feeling hurt, she wanted to say men called other men when they break appointments, but that would be petty. Ned didn’t like pettiness either. “Ned, when will you pick me up tonight?”
“Yeah, the company thing. Right.” He hung up.
Ellie bit her lower lip.
A sudden flurry around the door made her stand up. Catching sight of a man wearing a cowboy hat over a ponytail and another with a large video camera threw her.
Madge leaped up and began waving at them. “She’s right back here.”
Ellie stared in dismay as the men headed for her.--

The conclusion on Thursday!

Another Summer Gift to Readers--Another Free Short Story

Please tell your friends and family. As another summer gift to my readers, I'm posting another of my short stories this week in two installments. It's titled: "Look Higher."

Part one will be posted on Tuesday August 17th and Part two on Thursday August 19th.
Hope you'll drop by.

And again invite your friends!

Author Renee Ryan Gives Away an autographed copy of her Latest-Open for comments to win through Sunday!

My guest today is Author Renee Ryan who speaks about her personal faith journey and her latest book. Please let Renee know what you think of her journey into a deeper trust of our Lord and her venture into writing a WWII historical. Here's Renee:

"Thank you, Lyn, for inviting me to participate in your blog today. Although I write about strong, brave women, I’m not always that way myself, especially when it comes to my writing ministry. Even though I consider myself a conservative evangelical Christian, I sold my first manuscript to the secular market. At the time, I didn’t see a contradiction in my faith versus my career. I was proud of the fact that I was following Jesus’ command to “go out and make disciples of all nations.”

That first sale brought lots of validation. All my hard work had finally paid off. I’d arrived. I was doing something important. I was God’s vessel. I was woefully misleading myself.

Within months of that first book hitting the shelves I was released by my publisher. Enter a very long, very frustrating dry spell. For months I rationalized why I couldn’t make another book sale. It was everyone else’s fault, of course. Westerns were dead, the market was shrinking, the editors didn’t like people with the first name Renee.

Long story short, the pursuit of publishing my second novel became my obsession. No, it became my idol. When I realized this, I knew something had to change--me. So I started working on my relationship with the Lord, something I had let lag to a dangerous level of indifference. I began studying the Word on a deeper level and turning to God for answers, rather than myself.

It was around this same time that I decided, hey, if I was going to collect rejections I might as well swing for the fences and stop playing it safe. I was going to write what I wanted to write, not what people said would sell. Enter WWII, a taboo time period for romance writers.

The resulting book was my first attempt at writing Inspirational romance. By the time I wrote “the end” I’d found my home. Writing isn’t any easier, but knowing that I’m the quill and the Lord is the Great Author brings unspeakable joy (and peace).

That WWII story is my next release. DANGEROUS ALLIES is a romantic spy thriller set in 1939 Nazi Germany. The hero is an American officer on loan to the British government. The Brits sends him into enemy territory to photograph the blueprints of a Nazi secret weapon that is having unprecedented success. Because this book is an Inspirational, the main characters happy ending includes a return to a life of strong faith (something I myself had to learn).

So what’s the point in all this? Simple. Swing for the fences in everything you do, never play it safe and always put the Lord first. The rest will work itself out in time.

I’ll be giving away a copy of DANGEROUS ALLIES today. All you have to do is leave a comment and you’ll be entered in the drawing.

Renee Ryan writes for Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Historical and Love Inspired line. Her fabulous editor is Melissa Endlich. For more information, visit Renee at www.reneeryan.com

First Page-Beyond the Night by Author Marlo Schalesky

The First Page today is from BEYOND THE NIGHT by Author Marlo Schalesky:

First Page

They tell me it never happened. They say it couldn’t have. Some call it a dream. Others say I’m a romantic. But I know what they’re thinking: I’m crazy. Touched by grief. Making up stories to ease my pain.

But I have no grief. Not anymore. And my pain is only a single note in the symphony of my peace, for I know what’s true. I was there that day. I watched her hand reach toward him. I heard his voice in the darkness. I saw their love. Paul and Maddie. My parents. The ones who showed me truth.

So call me crazy if you must. But I know the power of love. I’ve glimpsed its mystery. I’ve witnessed its light.

If you doubt, come with me. Step through the shadows of time to when it began. A cold night. Dark. And beyond the night…well, come and see.

* * *

Paul gripped the steering wheel tighter as the Ford Pinto curved along the mountain road. Rain fell in heavy sheets, slamming against hood and pavement. The swish of the wipers played a dissonant beat to the thrum of water on metal.

This is mad. We should turn back. Paul glanced at his wife, sleeping in the seat beside him. Maddie’s breathing remained steady, her eyes closed. A deep snore drifted from her open mouth.

Paul smiled. Maddie hated it when he told her she snored. “It’s not snoring,” she’d say, “just strong breathing.” Strong enough to be heard over the rain. Of course, she’d never believe him. One day, he’d record it, if he dared.

Author Website: www.marloschalesky.com

Amazon Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Night-Marlo-Schalesky/dp/1601420161?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191886502&sr=8-6

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marlo-Schalesky/103475746357601?v=app_389355083668

Author Allie Pleiter & The Disaster That Fascinated Her

My guest today is Author Allie Pleiter, a woman who like most of us have been forced to find out just how strong we are. Her son has been struggling with a combination of medical problems recently. Here's how her own personal struggles have impacted her Here's Allie:

"What doesn’t kill you....

The disaster fascinated me.

Actually, it wasn’t San Francisco 1906 earthquake and fires themselves, but the aftermath. The challenge of rebuilding a city from scratch. Things had been wiped out to the point you could stand on a street corner and not be able to tell which corner it was (by the way, if you ever wondered why the street names are embedded in the San Francisco sidewalks, that’s why). How does one rebuild a life on such a monumental scale? Over months? Surrounded by thousands of other people in the same catastrophic situation?

In the children’s hospital where I spend way too much of my time, there is a sign that reads: “You don’t know how strong you can be until strong is the only choice you have.” I believe this. I’ve lived it, granted on a slightly smaller scale than the all-out destruction of a city, but nothing shows you who you really are like a major disaster. You learn things about yourself you can’t learn any other way. Hard things. Valuable things.

Nora Longstreet doesn’t realize her own inner strength until the earthquake asks more of her than she thinks she can give. Still, God works best in those kinds of desperate places. Nora learns the difference between genuine compassion and polite charity. She learns to see people in ways she’s never seen before. She learns that lines we “think” exist in the world often don’t--and that deeper lines show up in places we didn’t expect. She learns to love in the deepest, most Christ-like sense of the word.

Tragedy has a way of strengthening our ability to love. I love the image of the potter from the Bible; the pot is formed from dual pressure on both the inside and the outside of the pot. As uncomfortable as that tension feels, it is the necessary process of growth. You can’t make a pot without it. Talk to the strongest woman you know, and I guarantee you she will tell you stories of incredible strife and challenge.

Maybe that’s what fascinated me most about the 1906 San Francisco disaster. The aftermath of the soul, not the rubble of the city. I made Nora the kind of woman who would look back on her disaster as a turning point in her life, essential to the woman she became.

MISSION OF HOPE

by Allie Pleiter

Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical

August 2010

ISBN#: 978-0-373-82842-5

BACK COVER COPY:

No one knows who he is or where he’s from. But witnesses throughout San Francisco report a masked man in black is bringing supplies--and badly needed hope--to homeless earthquake survivors. Some believe that the city’s gallant rescuer is a gentleman of wealth. But others whisper that he is a working class man with courage as great as his faith. And rumor has it that one of the city’s most spirited society belles is helping him against her family’s wishes. What can be confirmed is that the masked messenger will need more than a miracle to escape those on his trail--and win the woman risking everything to save him...

ONE SENTENCE BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The gallant sequel to Pleiter's San Francisco historical, "Masked by Moonlight," MISSION OF HOPE follows an unlikely hero and his surprising young love as the pair help the city heal from it's massive 1906 earthquake.

EXCERPT:

She looked right into his eyes, and Quinn felt his stomach drop out through what was left of the soles of his shoes. “You’ll probably think it’s silly, but you’ve been such an encouragement to me. Here I was thinking God had left me alone, and you do all those things—those little but very big things—that let me know He’s still minding my path. You’re an answer to my prayers, Quinn Freeman. How does that make you feel?”

He knew the exact moment his heart left his body. The exact instant it disobeyed all the good and solid reasons he had for not pining over Nora Longstreet and left to follow her of its own accord. He stared at her, knowing his affections had just overstepped all kinds of bounds and not caring. He no longer had any choice in the matter. “I’m thinking it might not be wise to answer that, Miss Longstreet.”

AUTHOR BIO:

An avid knitter, coffee junkie, and devoted chocoholic, Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction. The enthusiastic but slightly untidy mother of two, Allie spends her days writing books, buying yarn, and finding new ways to avoid housework. Allie hails from Connecticut, moved to the midwest to attend Northwestern University, and currently lives outside Chicago, Illinois. The “dare from a friend” to begin writing has produced two parenting books, twelve novels, and various national speaking engagements on faith, women’s issues, and writing. Visit her website at www.alliepleiter.com or her knitting blog at www.DestiKNITions.blogspot.com