Below is part of a scene where Hannah goes to have lunch with her new friends and they share some of their experiences with her. Hannah is getting ready to follow in Sarah’s footsteps, or at least she thinks she is… She’s curious about how things happened for her friends, and wonders about her own journey. So she asks, “How’d it happen for you guys?” She gets her answers in Return to New Parish… can’t wait for everyone to see what she finds out.
Excerpt from Return to New Parish:
Chapter 7 – Matching
““Hey, Miss Hannah! Come in,” Liam said, beaming at her with excitement.
“Hi, Liam. Thanks,” she smiled at the little cowboy.
“This way,” he said, leading her down the hallway toward the kitchen. “We’re having lunch at the kitchen table.”
“Okay,” Hannah followed his lead.
The kitchen was a familiar place that Hannah had really liked when she was there helping out for the Christmas party. A light, airy feeling permeated the room, which was due in part to the far wall, which was almost all large windows, the windows framed a large pair of French doors that showed off the gardens beyond. The other walls were an antique white color with little flecks of yellow, and many pale yellow wooden cabinets with glass fronts along with white trim and knobs. The spacious counters were white marble that had traces of gray every now and then. The huge double refrigerator had yellow wooden panels with white trim to match the cabinets. The kitchen table, which for anyone else would have been a dining room table, was already set for lunch. There was a green salad, pear with cottage cheese, finger sandwiches, and for desert a lovely bread pudding was sitting on a pedestal serving dish in the middle of the table.
As Hannah walked into the kitchen, she heard Cilla shout excitedly, “Oh, Hannah! I’m so glad you could join us!”
Hope and Patty and the girls echoed the greeting and there were hugs all around.
After the blessing on the food and dishing up Cilla said, “I’ve been looking for someone to help Liam with his project for a while now. I’m so glad you can help him, he’s really very advanced and far beyond what any of us around here can do.”
Hannah shrugged and smiled, “I’ll give it a whirl.”
“Do you know a lot about computers and robots then?” asked Hope.
“A fair bit about computers, I have two bachelor’s degrees in computer technology. One in programming, the other in networking, and besides that I took loads of extra classes,” Hannah tried to give her credentials without sounding like she was bragging.
“That sounds like you’ll fit the bill then,” laughed Patty.
Liam took over the conversation filling Hannah in on what the project entailed, which took a good thirty minutes. By the time he finished his outline of what he intended to do, they were already on the bread pudding. The bread pudding stopped Liam from giving further details because he was very involved in shoveling it into his mouth.
This gave room for a change of subject. “So, are you planning on staying here in our little community, Hannah?” Patty asked as Liam occupied himself with the desert.
“Yes,” Hannah replied. “I’m going to stay. I really do love it here, and I’ve already talked to Brother Michael about marriage and stuff.”
“Oh, well, that’s exciting,” Hope responded. “I remember when I talked to the church leaders back when I was ready to get married. I was excited, but a bit scared too, not scared of being hurt, mind you, just of the unknown. I was very decided that I wanted to get married and have a family, but still it’s a big step.”
“Me, too,” Patty agreed, “I remember talking to my parents and getting advice. And, praying, praying a lot!”
“Yes, me too,” Cilla nodded. “I knew this is what I wanted to do and I was very excited about it, but still I was a little afraid. I waited until I was nineteen, then I told myself to get on with it!”
“I’m a little nervous, but really very excited about it,” Hannah admitted. “How’d it happen for you guys? I know Sarah’s story, that turned out really great for her.””
While you’re waiting for Return to New Parish to launch on the 15th you can check out New Parish, or Brigham Tea Magazine on Amazon.com. Links below.
New Parish and Brigham Tea Magazine available on Amazon.com
New Parish on Amazon.com
Also available at:
Bee’s Grocery (in Centennial Park)
Coming soon to many new bookstores!
Brigham Tea Magazine:
