Something’s Cooking at Dove Acres
By
Will Zeilinger
Summary
When
her Great Aunt Helen dies in a tragic barbeque explosion, young Maddie Van der
Wald inherits the huge house and estate on an isolated part of Catalina Island.
She reluctantly moves in amid rumors of ghosts and buried treasure
If
she doesn’t follow the terms of the will, which forces her to live on the
island and give up her life back in L.A., her greedy cousin stands to inherit
it all.
She
meets eco-activist Luke Garrett and tells him of her plans to turn the mansion
into a Bed and Breakfast inn. Her ideas go nowhere when she is plagued by debts
and legal problems. To pay her bills, she agrees to allow a cell phone tower on
her property. Everyone turns
against her, including her best friend Jojo.
Maddie’s
life has become a total mess. She wonders if her boat trip to this island was a
trip to Hell. Whatever the outcome, she’s ready to fight for what is rightfully
hers.
Excerpt
"What's
all the noise Luke? I'm trying to make
some phone calls and... What in God's name do we have here?" With a
twinkle in his eye, he extended his hand,
"Son, aren't you going to introduce us?"
"Oh
sorry Dad, this is Maddie Van der Wald, Helen Devine's Grand Niece. She's living up at Dove Acres. Maddie, my
father, Charles Garrett."
From inside
my get up all he probably heard me say was, "plmmph mummph yu.” I pulled
my mask down, "A pleasure to meet you Mr. Garrett." I think that's
what finally came out.
He chuckled,
"I'm glad to meet some of Helen's family." and returned to his office
shaking his head.
"Luke, I
am never going to forgive you for this... ever!”
He walked me
over to the dumpsters. “Just climb up that ladder on the end and hop in.”
“Can’t we
open the big doors on the back instead of climbing in?”
“If I open up
the back it will spill out and get mixed up with the others.”
I pulled
myself up the metal rungs on the side and peered down into the cavernous
container when it dawned on me the only view Luke had was my butt.
“You could at
least show me the best way to get in here... Luke!”
"Oh,
okay. Hang on."
Once I got
his attention away from my rear, he climbed up the other side and swung his
legs around.
"Just
swing your legs around and drop down onto a bag.”
I did,
landing on my back on top of a bunch of bags with pokey things in them. I was not happy. All the bags looked the
same, so I tore one open. Papers, rags,
old clothes dead flowers and old newspapers... no success. I tore open the next one, nothing.
“I could help
you if I knew what you were looking for,”
“All
right. I’m looking for a silvery pin
almost four inches across that looks like two overlapping leaves
with...er...rhinestones or crystals all over it…”
Luke tore
into one and found a shoebox full of a bunch of junky looking pins and other
jewelry. He held up a big pin between
this thumb and forefinger.
“Um...does
this look like it?”
Quickly I
grabbed it from his hand. With it
tightly in my giant, yellow gloved hand I pulled my mask back down and planted
a big kiss right on his lips.
“Well - um, thanks for your help.”
“Okay,” was
all he said.
That’s when I
discovered there was no way to get out.
I jumped up and down until Luke lifted me up high enough to grab the top
edge. He put his palm squarely on my
butt and pushed me to the top like he was making a basketball shot. I was so humiliated.
“May I please
have that shoe box?”
He handed it
up to me. With it tucked under my arm I
climbed down the ladder and ran to my car, still wearing all that stuff, and
got out of there as quickly as I could. But now I'll have to come back to
return the dumb outfit. Maybe I’ll just
mail it.
PURCHASE
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Bio
I’ve been writing for over twelve years. During that time, I took novel writing classes and joined writer’s groups, but what has helped me most are published authors who mentor, encourage, critique and listen to me while I continue to learn my craft. I live in Southern California with my wife and we are currently working on a crime novel together. Finding time to write while life happens is a challenge.
SOCIAL LINKS:
I’ve been writing for over twelve years. During that time, I took novel writing classes and joined writer’s groups, but what has helped me most are published authors who mentor, encourage, critique and listen to me while I continue to learn my craft. I live in Southern California with my wife and we are currently working on a crime novel together. Finding time to write while life happens is a challenge.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Twitter: @Will_Zeilinger
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/wzeilinger
blog:
http://www.booksbywilzeilinger.blogspot.com
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