An Excerpt of Just Dessert
Dessert…the perfect
remedy when nothing in life is going right.
What do you do when you are the sole protector of
four children, your brothers and sisters?
When each day is haunted by disappointment, disillusionment and desperation? When you believe that everyone who ever loved
you, including God, has abandoned you?
You bake a pie, of course.
What do you do when you find a woman whose heart
is consumed by fear? Who does not know
how to trust? Who scoffs at your faith and
throws your kindness back in your face?
You eat a pie, of course.
Excerpt:
Seventeen
year old Mary Fitzgerald stepped up next to the deacon, a beautiful looking
strawberry pie in her hands. Today was the day she started taking lasting steps
to protect her family. Pa was passed out at home, having drunk so much there
was no way he would be waking up to come to the festivities at the church
today.
She
had been taking care of and protecting her younger brothers and sisters, the
four of them, as far back as she could remember, but her pa was getting meaner
and nastier with each passing year. Her brothers were getting angrier and more
volatile, too. It was important to get them all out from under Pa's thumb
before her brothers were ruined for life, sentenced to turn into men like their
pa.
Hoping
to find a man willing to wed her and take her brothers and sisters in, too,
Mary had entered herself in the dessert auction at a picnic hosted by the
church. The auction was one of many events at the picnic, but it was the only
one in which Mary was interested. Only eligible men were allowed to bid, and
she hoped to use the auction to find a husband. How old, ugly or poor – Mary
didn't care as long as he didn't beat or terrorize them. That was her highest
hope, to find a man who did not cause her to cower, who did not break her
bones, who would not harm her brothers and sisters. She had poured all her
hopes for escape into making this pie to help her find a husband. Harboring no
illusions about love, Mary didn't even really care if the man was kind; she
only needed him not to be too terrible.
As
the diminutive deacon with thinning grey hair was about to begin the bidding,
Mary glanced up. Fear grabbed hold of her heart and squeezed so tight she
thought she might faint right there. Neither the sea of curious faces nor the
beautiful blue Idaho sky drew her attention. Pa was coming, and he looked
madder'n a hot, hungry bull. Mary couldn't move. Her breath came in short,
shallow gasps as she tried to stay conscious. She was terrified of this man.
They had been so certain Pa would stay passed out all day, that he wouldn't be
able to discover their plan until it was too late. The kids had all dressed in
their finest clothes and promised to be on their best behavior – no small feat
for the boys – and now here came Pa, ruining their chance for escape.
The
deacon had not seen Mr. Fitzgerald yet and was taking a big breath in
preparation to start the bidding. His mouth was still open, sucking in air,
when the bellow came from the back of the crowd, "That's my young'un and
ain't nobody biddin' on her pie! I ain't raisin' no harlot to get paid for her
favors!"
You can purchase Just Dessert at these and other fabulous
online retailers.
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