Fiction Vixen is pleased to welcome author Heather Lin today.
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On My Hometown
Westridge is dedicated to my late Great Aunt Helen and to ?all those I love in slower, lower?Delaware.? Many people aren?t aware that there?s a northern and southern?division in Delaware,?but there is, right where the C & D Canal cuts through the state. I grew up in southern Delaware,?where people tend to take their time a bit more, and?agriculture is the main focus. I can only think?of one good mall south of the canal, but I know where two Tractor Supply and one Southern?States are. Up north is more industrial and at one point was almost completely owned by?the?DuPonts.
Basically, if you?ve ever seen this clip from The Daily Show (which gets good around the 4:10?mark), it?s true.
Until I was eight, I lived in the tiny town of Farmington on Main Street right next to the railroad?tracks which ran by a dirt road. My mom would see me safely across the street when I walked to?my friend, Hunter?s, house, and then we ran wild around the town, unbeknownst to her. When the?house burned down, we moved to Greenwood on nine acres of wooded land, next to a chicken?farm, across from a corn field. From then on, my summers were filled with bare feet, deer?sightings, fresh blackberries, and honeysuckle.
Nearly all of my family lives in Delaware. My Grand-pop is tracking his geneaology, and it turns?out my parents live a whopping two miles from where my great great grandfather is buried. I even?have Leni Lenape (Delaware) Indian in me somewhere. My family is close and country. At?reunions, we hang around barefoot at picnic tables and watch the little ones run around wild like?we all used to. I?m closest with my 3rd cousin rather than my 1st, but I know all the way to my?4th. We gossip and reminisce with coffee around the kitchen table. The main goal is to work hard?and raise a good family.
And working at my Aunt Helen?s luncheonette, which closed shortly before her death, was a right?of passage in my family. My Aunt Mary (who?s actually a cousin), had to have worked there for?at least twenty years, and I?d say my cousin Becky was the baker for about fifteen. Her son?s wife?worked there and so did her sister. My mom did for a few years, and I worked there for one?summer. It catered to farmers and construction workers and down-home boys for over fifty?years. Even when I was there in 2006, there were men who had been going to M&H since it?opened, still sitting in school desks around the edge of the store, drinking $.25 coffee, flirting with the girls, and getting rowdy. They had a great respect for Aunt Helen, and most of them called her Aunt Helen. Aunt Mary and Becky would tear into them if they got too loud or inappropriate?something you never see happen in an Applebee?s. You?d better believe there were secret family recipes, and you could never deviate from ?the M&H way? of doing something.
I love where I?m from. I went to Pennsylvania for college because I needed some time on my own, to gain my independence, but I always knew I?d come right back to where I started. I put everything I love and all of the memories I want to share and cherish into Westridge. Mrs. Grayson is just a small taste of my Aunt Helen; Westridge itself holds the essence of all the towns I loved as a child; and the people of Westridge are everything I?ve ever learned to love about my family and friends.
How do you feel about your hometown? Do you love it, hate it, miss it, still live there? Comment?below for your chance to win a PDF copy of Westridge!
Blurb
Gabby Jones and Jason Dawson were born only months apart in the small, country town of Westridge. For the next eighteen years, they were inseparable, but after their high school graduation, Gabby got on a bus to the city, leaving Jason with a weak explanation and a broken heart. After five years of making it a point to avoid her old flame, Gabby comes home for a funeral and, thanks to meddling parents and circumstance, she and Jason are thrown together again.
But now Jason is an auto mechanic with an ex-wife and a daughter, and Gabby owns a successful flower shop in the city. Even if Gabby is able to admit she still loves Jason, and even if Jason is able to convince her to tell him the real reason she left, will they be able to get past the changes and broken pieces in time to start over?
Excerpt
?What do you mean you can?t pick me up?? Gabby Jones asked in disbelief, trying to balanceher purse, suitcase, ticket, and cell phone as she boarded the bus.
?I?ll send someone to get you. I?m busy helping with the funeral arrangements,? her mother replied.
?What about Dad??
?He?s busy, too. We?ll send someone.?
?Mom,? she said unhappily. ?I know who you?re gonna send. You can?t.?
?Oh, you?re gonna have to see him at the funeral, anyway. And just because you disowned all of your friends when you moved away doesn?t mean I have to.?
Gabby had left the small town of Westridge five years ago. In Westridge, the nearest mall was forty-five minutes away, and ?got stuck behind a plow? was the most common excuse for tardiness. The kids hung out at Walmart or the diner during their downtime and talked about how they couldn?t wait to get away from the stupid small town where everyone knew everyone else?s business. They didn?t want to be stuck in the same routine, seeing the same people their whole lives, and Gabby had felt the same way ? trapped, bored, insignificant. At least, that?s what she?d told Jason two days before getting on a bus to the city and not looking back.
Ever since, she?d made a point of avoiding her old friends whenever she returned to visit her parents. Of course, her mother always updated her on Jason whether Gabby wanted to hear it or not. Mrs Jones had complained about the girl Jason dated after Gabby, discounted their quick marriage, gushed over their new baby, and gloated when they got divorced just a year after her birth. It had hurt Gabby to hear the news, but there was no way she?d ever admit it to her mother. Gabby tolerated her mother?s gossip and was grateful she?d managed to avoid her high school sweetheart in person, if not in conversation. But this visit would be different.
Her parents and Jason?s had been best friends since high school, and none of them made a secret of wishing Gabby and Jason would get back together. Sending him to pick her up today was a perfect setup. For them. Gabby rolled her hazel eyes in annoyance, even though her mother couldn?t see.
?I didn?t disown anyone,? she said. ?I just went on to bigger and better things. People drift apart. It happens.?
She found her seat and threw her bags onto the rack above it. Her neighbors didn?t look particularly happy about the twenty-three year old talking away on her cell phone, but she ignored them.
?Bullshit,? Mrs Jones admonished. Only her mother could make cussing sound like a gentle, motherly act. ?You loved it here. You were perfectly happy until??
?Mom!? Gabby interrupted, not wanting to hear what her mother would say next.
She?d become a master of denial over the years and couldn?t handle anyone breaking through the fog of her self-induced memory loss. Her mother sighed. It was a heavy sound, and Gabby didn?t like it. It made her seem old.
?You?re right. It?s fine,? Gabby?s voice softened. ?I?ll have to see him soon, anyway.?
?It?ll be okay, baby. I love you. I have to go now.
?Love you, too, Mom.?
She snapped the phone shut and leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes to fend off a tension headache. But all she could see was an eighteen year old Jason: blue eyes full of disbelief, face pale, fists balled.
* * * *
?What the hell do you think you?re doing?? Jason demanded, slamming the door to his truck shut.
?I?m leaving.?
Gabby had to work hard to keep her chin raised and her lips from trembling.
?Just like that? And all I get is a note in my locker on the last day of school??
He threw a crumpled piece of paper at her feet. Her parents had dropped her off at the bus stop, but they were long gone. If that goodbye had been painful, this one would be excruciating ? which was exactly why she?d tried to avoid it.
?I told you in the note??
?And now you can tell me to my face.?
He was making a scene. Gabby was embarrassed, and the tears she?d tried desperately to keep at bay burned in her eyes.
?There isn?t anything to do in this town. I just need to see what else is out there.?
?This is bullshit, Gabby. A few months ago, we were talking about getting married.?
Her voice rose as she lied desperately through her teeth, trying to keep control.
?Well, I changed my mind.?
The bus pulled up, and Jason?s anger turned to pleading.
?Don?t, Gabby. If you need some time away from this place, I?ll go with you.?
?You belong here, Jason.?
?I belong with you.?
?Not anymore.?
Then she turned and boarded the bus, ignoring the stares. She managed to hold the tears back until he was out of sight.
* * * *
The pain of the memory was scorching, surprising Gabby with its intensity. She opened her eyes. She had to get a hold of herself. She looked past the old man reading a magazine, her gaze falling on the houses outside. They were reaching the suburbs, but her destination lay far beyond that. Gabby groaned and firmly pushed the last image she had of her high school sweetheart out of her mind. The next few days were going to be hell.
Purchase Link || Visit Heather Lin
****Giveaway****
How do you feel about your hometown? Do you love it, hate it, miss it, still live there? Comment?below for your chance to win a PDF copy of?Westridge!
Giveaway is open until July 8, open to all.
Source: http://www.fictionvixen.com/2011/06/guest-post-giveaway-author-heather-lin.html
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