New In the Neighbourhood
Volume 1
(NEIGHBOURS: A Contemporary Christian Romance - Series 1)
Published by Fictitious Ink Publishing
(2nd edition)
Copyright 2016 Tracy Krauss
ISBN 978-0-9920977-1-4
(epub edition)
Calgary skyline: copyright doranjclark
(1st edition published by Stardust Romance, a subsidiary of Helping Hands Press, 2014)
◇ ◇ ◇
* * *
This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writers’ imagination and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.
◇ ◇ ◇
This series is dedicated to anyone who has ever had to pull up stakes and move, or to anyone who feels like they don’t fit. As a person who has moved multiple times, I know how hard it can be. The good news is, if God moves with you, you’re always at home.
* * *
Thanks to my writing colleagues and friends at Inscribe Christian Writers Fellowship, You are a wonderful source of inspiration and encouragement. Thanks to Priscilla Benterud, editor extraordinaire. To all my family, especially my husband Gerald, I acknowledge your support and love, without which I would have given up on this writing ‘gig’ long ago. Finally, I thank Almighty God, who has given me stories to tell. He hardwired me to write and has allowed me to follow that dream.
◇ ◇ ◇
I love people watching. Airports, waiting rooms, shopping malls - these are ripe fields for the student of human nature. It was during one of these ‘research’ sessions that I started a list of possible characters that might make an appearance in one of my novels. As I began to flesh some of these people out, it dawned on me that I had an entire community. I soon realized that several characters had their own unique story to tell, perhaps not long enough for a full length novel, but perfect for a series of novellas. Thus NEIGHBOURS took shape. I hope you enjoy meeting this varied, sometimes quirky, cast. Welcome to the neighbourhood!
◇ ◇ ◇
If you enjoy this work of fiction, you can join my mailing list and receive another book FREE! Plus you’ll be kept up to date on all the new releases and other promos and giveaways when they happen.
◇ ◇ ◇
- New In the Neighbourhood
- More in the series
- Author Bio
- Bonus Recipes!
New In the Neighbourhood
Late summer. The air was warm, but not oppressive. A slight breeze sent a shiver through the poplar trees lining the boulevard. Light and shadow danced together on the sidewalk as the sun’s rays filtered down through the leaves. The ‘whish’ of passing traffic a few streets over underscored the relative silence on the quiet street, marked only by the melodic offerings of a songbird high up in the trees.
Honk! Honk! “Hey! You’re blocking the driveway! Get that rust bucket outta the way!”
The tranquility was shattered. The impatient driver of the new BMW laid on the horn and craned his head around before jamming it into gear and backing up with a screech. Cranking the wheel, he swung past the offending blue pickup and U-haul trailer, coming dangerously close to clipping the front fender of the truck. The parting expletive and accompanying hand signal was not lost on the occupants of the rig.
“What’s your rush?” Lester leaned out the window of the dusty truck and shook his fist at the retreating silver sports coupe. With a disgusted grunt he pulled his head back into the cab.
“We are blocking the street,” Patsi noted, watching the now minuscule BMW. “I mean, couldn’t we pull around closer to the front doors or something?” She surveyed her brother for a moment and then flopped back against the rather unforgiving bench seat with a sigh. “I forgot. You have everything under control.”
Lester Ray Tibbett gave his young sister a withering look. “As a matter of fact, I do. No room to turn around. I don’t know how they expect folks to move in and out of these blasted apartments with no room to maneuver a trailer.”
The apartment block to which the brother and sister were relocating was a square, four-story structure situated on a narrow tree lined street in an older section of Calgary – if you could call any part of the city ‘old’. The prairie city had boomed to such a degree in recent years that it was a miracle they’d found an apartment at all.
Lester inched the vehicle back a few more millimetres then pressed his foot against the brake. He put the truck in park while simultaneously engaging the emergency brake. He slammed out of the vehicle, keys in hand, leaving the tinny reverberations of the door to echo in his sister’s ears. “Come on. We haven’t got all day,” he called over his shoulder.
Lester blocked up the U-haul’s tires and unlocked the safety latch on the back doors. With a creak, he swung the doors wide, revealing the contents within. Placing hands on hips, he surveyed the stacks of boxes and furniture. He took off his cowboy hat and wiped his brow with the back of his checkered sleeve. His closely cropped brown hair was stuck to his head in a flattened ring where the hat had been, curling up at odd angles everywhere else. A day’s growth of stubble darkened his jaw line until it merged with well-defined sideburns.
Patsi stood next to her brother and groaned. “This is going to take forever.”
“No complaining. The longer we stand around the longer it’ll take.”
Patsi let out a dramatic sigh, but extended her arms to receive the first box. Lester piled two more on top before nodding his head for her to get a move on. He watched her for a few seconds as she strode to the building’s entrance. Her blonde braid swung in time to her steps, mimicking the sway of her hips in the too-short jean shorts she insisted on wearing that day. She’d grown up right before his eyes, taking on a womanly shape that had him worried. His role as her guardian was sure to get more complicated once she started college. She was a good kid. Contentious as any teenage girl, but a hard worker. Both he and his sister were used to manual labor. Despite her petite figure and pretty face, she was tough as nails from doing chores and could hold her own.
Lester hoisted his own set of boxes and followed his sister. Several trips later they were both puffing from exertion. Lester had worked on the farm all his life and had the muscles to prove it, but so many trips up and down two flights of stairs was taking its toll.
“I need to take a break.” Patsi bent over, hands on her thighs as she tried to catch her breath. “Any water in the truck?” Tendrils of hair were coming loose, framing her face with heat induced curls. The siblings had the same naturally curly hair, but Patsi’s was a shade lighter than his. ‘Dirty blonde’ she called it while Lester’s was a light brown. He, of course, kept his cropped short, but Patsi insisted on keeping hers long and tried to straighten it each day. It was a chore that made no sense to him, but girls would be girls.
“I think there’s some in the cab.” Lester strode to the driver’s side of the truck and opened the door with a jerk. He rummaged around behind the seat until he came up with two bottles of water. He tossed one to Patsi on his way around the vehicle and she caught it with the quickness of an infielder.
“It’s warm,” she protested.
r /> “Beggars can’t be choosers.” Lester downed the whole thing then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before crushing the bottle in his fist and tossing it into the box of the truck among the other contents. “Okay, let’s get this trunk out of here next.” Lester jumped into the half empty U-haul trailer and tugged a large trunk toward the doors.
“It’s too heavy for me.” Patsi recapped her water and set it on the bumper of the trailer.
Lester shot her a frown. “Come on Princess. It’s not going to move itself, and I don’t see anybody else around, do you?”
Patsi sighed heavily and moved to take her place at the other end of the trunk. Lester took a hold of one of the corners and lifted, trying to shimmy the heavy burden so that Patsi could better grasp it by the handles. Suddenly the trunk slipped, jamming his finger between it and the open doorway of