Sunday Snippet: Underfoot

As usual, we're having bizarre weather. Got hot again then a stormfront moved through and now we're back down to the sixties. I'm not complaining about the cooler temperatures or anything, but I'd rather stick with one range for longer than a week.

 

Still loaded up with work projects and I'm making solid progress on all of them. Sometimes it's like spinning plates and trying to keep them all going at the same rate, but I love the variety of the stuff I'm working on right now.

 

Not a bad week for viewing television. I did the taking a break from wall-to-wall words thing again and got pretty much a full round of shows in this week.

 

Started off with Best in Paradise and enjoyed the rewatch of "Dark Memories." I have one more episode left for this series then I'll be switching over to Beyond Paradise. I'm looking forward to starting that one.

 

Caught another episode of Death in Paradise with the ninth season premiere. I think this is Jack's last season and the new guy takes over for the next one. Enjoyed the episode a lot.

 

Watched another episode of Elementary and enjoyed it. Not a huge Moriarity fan, but I like the layers and back and forth between Holmes and Watson with Moriarity.

 

Finished up the third season of The Batman and I'm getting ready to start the fourth. I honestly can't remember if I ended up liking the fourth season or not.

 

Also caught an episode of Classic Rugrats and the three vignettes were ones I don't remember seeing before so nice to have something new to me.

 

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Underfoot, a novella that brings a couple together during a raging snowstorm.

 

Here's the miniblurb:

 

Nona Rack, a footloose artist and Jane of all trades, breaks down beside reclusive author West Wentworth's house at two am during a blinding snowstorm. The cranky writer lets her stay, even though she's underfoot, and before he knows it, he's discovered a new muse.

 

And a snippety peek…

West's stomach growled. "Better eat something." He stretched the kinks out of his arms and neck.

He went in search of food, opened the fridge and found thawed ground sirloin. Damn. He'd forgotten he planned to make some burgers. Maybe he'd do a burger and bacon salad instead. Then he remembered he had a houseguest. He'd better see what she'd like.

He didn't find Nona anywhere in the house. "Surely she's not still in the garage…" He opened the door off the kitchen and stopped short. "What the hell?" Did he walk through a portal to another universe?

The haphazard, jumbled mess that normally greeted him had disappeared. Instead, neat rows and piles lined the floor and shelves. What a difference from the uncontrolled clutter.

Nona popped up from behind his dad's old vehicle. "Hi ... um..." Her cheeks bloomed with color. "Sorry?" She had an armful of items and placed them in the box on the trunk. "I kind of got started and couldn't stop." She dusted her hands off over the box.

He took in her appearance. An old pair of his jeans, one of his thermal shirts. She'd tied a knot at her hip to keep the shirt from catching on anything. A smudge of oil on her cheek made her look like a kid. Okay … not really. The black streak made her look hot, which unnerved him.

I'm old enough to know better. Of course I'm attracted to her. I haven't been out in months.

His gaze scanned the space—if not neatly organized then at least less chaotic. How long had he been writing? She'd made a huge dent in the otherwise unmanageable mountain of madness that always overwhelmed him.

She dusted off her hands and eased around the car, coming to a stop in front of him. "I found lots of parts, but no plugs yet. But I couldn't think with all the ... uh ... well..." Her voice trailed off and her gaze swept the area.

He cut in. "Sheer and utter chaos?" His dad loved to save everything.

She shook her head. "I think disorganization fits better. There's a lot of great vintage stuff in here." She paused a moment. "I needed to create a little order. A blank canvas, so to speak."

He nodded. "Or a blank page. I get it." Hard to concentrate or do anything with everything scattered about.

She shot him a smile. "Right. And like I said, once I got started, I couldn't stop."

He considered the amount of work she'd done. "Uh, thank you. I've been putting a good clean out off." He grimaced. "Deadlines." His gaze met hers. "You've saved me a headache." A huge one.

She shrugged. "It's the least I can do. You're letting me crash here, after all." She tilted her head. "Did you need something?"

He blinked, trying to remember why he'd come out, then his stomach growled. "Oh, uh, dinner. It's after six." He ducked back into the kitchen, making sure she followed. "Thought I'd fry up some ground sirloin and bacon and make a salad. Are you hungry?"

I'm having a lot of fun bringing West out of his crankypants mood. Nona is good for doing that.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin