Snippet Saturday: Arrivals

Snippet Saturday is the brainchild of author Lauren Dane, wherein a group of authors selects thematic excerpts from their work and shares them on Saturday mornings. This week the theme is arrivals.

I thought I'd post the very first page of my upcoming novella, What She Deserves, since the heroine is arriving at her high school reunion.

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She couldn’t put this off any longer. After adjusting the straps of her designer gown one last time, Winnie tiptoed across the elegant hotel lobby. Despite the careful pace, her high heels clicked loudly against the tile until she reached the carpeted hallway.

There, straight ahead, was her destination. The room she’d attempted to approach three times already and chickened out. The room she’d been dreading, and anticipating, for months.

The Magnolia Ballroom, scene of the Ten Year Reunion of Tallwood High School’s Class of ’98.

As she lurked behind the final pillar that hid her from the view of the woman at the welcome table, she heard the ominous words that would force her into the open.

“Winnie? Winnie Sampson?”

Winnie whirled. A tall, handsome man strode toward her. He wore an expensive grey suit with a wildly patterned tie and wide smile.

She smiled back, waiting for memory to kick in. He looked familiar—but not familiar enough. Whoever he was, he was very good-looking, so they probably hadn’t run in the same crowds.

The man chuckled at her noncommittal expression. “It’s Peter Duvall.”

“Good Lord!” The obnoxious, scrawny kid with the thick glasses and long hair had turned into a self-assured, gorgeous man. She hadn’t seen him in, what, six years? Not since he’d dropped by her parents’ house over Christmas. She wouldn’t have recognized him if he’d sat down beside her and pelted her with beans—which he’d once done at a National Honor Society banquet.

His face crinkled with amusement, and he extended his hand for a shake. Bemused, Winnie placed her hand in his.

“You look great.” He wrapped his warm hands around hers, squeezing in a meaningful fashion. “How the heck have you been?”

(c) 2009 Jody Wallace
http://www.jodywallace.com/

*****

More arrivals here:

Vivian Arend Ashley Ladd Leah Braemel Taige Crenshaw Shelley Munro TJ Michaels Juliana Stone Eliza Gayle McKenna Jeffries Lauren Dane Juliana Stone Kelly Maher Shelli Stevens Victoria Janssen Moira Rogers