Beyond the Book: Fortuna

Fortuna: A Merry Tale of life, love, and confusion in a small town.

Welcome to Beyond the Book. Fortuna is the first romantic comedy I've ever written although some readers say I had a lot of humor in a few of my other books. I tried to be funny in this one, so you'll have to tell me if I succeeded or not. By the way, most of the humorous incidents in the book are based on real life events, even the bean ball battle, the snake, and the funeral home. So today, let's just watch Aimee's reaction the first time she sees Fortuna, her new home. Rocky is her fiance, Cade and June are friends.

With Cade and June following, Rocky indicated the room to the right of the fallen door. “This is the living room.” He pointed toward the ceiling. “See that pretty molding up near the ceiling?”

Aimee shook her head. “No, but I do see some crumbling plaster. Is that what you’re talking about?”

Rocky closed his eyes as if her assessment of the molding pained him. “Hon, this house was built in 1750. Of course it needs a little work.”

“With historical properties one focuses on the potential, not the current condition,” June inserted.

Aimee’s lips tightened when June’s snarky tone registered.

They left the living room and went straight into the room on the left of the fallen door. “This is the dining room,” Rocky said. “Don’t go into the far corner. We have a hole in the floor.”

Aimee bounced on the supposedly safe part of the wooden floor. “I’m not sure we should be in here at all. It feels spongy to me.”

Cade stepped into the hall.

From the hallway, Rocky led them to the back part of the house. “Here’s the kitchen, hon.”

“Much nicer,” Aimee approved as her eyes swept the room. “The kitchen must have been redone in 1920. Is that a woodstove over there?”

June scowled and Cade laughed.

“Hon,” Rocky reproved.

The bedrooms were no better, but the bathroom . . . “There are no words,” Aimee whispered. She kicked the claw-foot tub and dislodged a rain of rust particles. They made a pretty pattern where they drifted across the dirty floor. What did the floor look like? Was it black and white? No, maybe gray and white, or maybe brown? “Rocky . . .”

“Don’t worry, hon.” He patted her shoulder. “We have outside facilities. I told the contractor he’d need to work on the bathrooms first thing.”

“No, he’ll need to shore up the entire thing first, or it’s going to fall down and kill us.”

Cade’s eyes were full of laughter. “Hey, Rocky, where are the outside facilities?”

“Look out the window.”

Aimee rushed to the window and looked out. She saw an outdoor shower with absolutely no way to conceal oneself. Not far away she saw a small, crooked hut. No! It couldn’t be. Her grandmother had told her of such things, but . . . “Is that hut an outhouse?”

If you'd like to read Fortuna you can find it at http://amzn.to/23yoW2d