Potluck Club--Takes the Cake (The Potluck Club Book #3) , livre ebook

Baker Publishing Group - Evans Shepherd Linda , Marie Everson Eva

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

179 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

When the six members of the Potluck Club meet once again, things are about to heat up. Wedding plans and romantic desires abound as Summit View buzzes with rumors and revelations about the past.Has Deputy Sheriff Donna Vesey finally found the love of her life? Will Jack and Goldie Dippel--and their marriage--survive a dangerous mountain avalanche? And will the Potluck Club be able to put their differences aside and help each other survive the storms of life and love? Readers will be hungry to find out in the final course of this popular series.

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	01 mai 2007
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441201096
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0202€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

the Potluck Club Takes the Cake
the Potluck Club Takes the Cake
A NOVEL
Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson

Grand Rapids, Michigan
2007 by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson
Published by Fleming H. Revell a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.revellbooks.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shepherd, Linda Evans.
Takes the cake : a novel / Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson.
p. cm. - (The Potluck Club)
ISBN 10: 0-8007-3074-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-8007-3074-1 (pbk.)
1.Women-Societies and clubs-Fiction. 2. Female friendship-Fiction.
3. Prayer groups-Fiction. 4. Women cooks-Fiction. 5. Colorado-Fiction.
6. Cookery-Fiction. I. Everson, Eva Marie. II. Title.
PS3619.H456T35 2007
813 .6-4dc22 2006100323
To Preston L. Purvis (1931-2006)-my daddy-who loved the stories of the Potluck Club and looked forward to the next installment. I love you and miss you more than I ever imagined possible.- Ree-Baby
Eva Marie Everson
To Eva and all my dear friends of the Advanced Writer s and Speaker s Association. What a team of encouragers you are. How glad I am that you are in my life.
Linda Evans Shepherd
Fiction by Linda Evans Shepherd and Eva Marie Everson The Potluck Club The Potluck Club-Trouble s Brewing
Fiction by Eva Marie Everson Shadow of Dreams Summon the Shadows Shadows of Light
Fiction by Linda Evans Shepherd Ryan s Trials Kara s Quest Tangled Heart
Contents
1. Buttered Biscuits
2. Lisa Leann-Tea for Two
3. I ll Take the Works
4. Vonnie-Blended Family
5. A Brand-New Me
6. Goldie-On a Low Boil
7. I Thought I Thaw a Puddy-Tat
8. Donna-Poached Paparazzi
9. Who s That Girl?
10. Goldie-Sweet Revenge
11. A New Detective in Town
12. Lizzie-Family Upside-Down Turnovers
13. Move Over, John Grisham
14. Evangeline-Spilling Secrets
15. Between a Rock and a Hollywood Place
16. Goldie-Honeymoon Chillers
17. Are You Talkin to Me?
18. Donna-High Altitude Directions
19. What s Good for the Goose
20. Vonnie-Prayer Preserves
21. Apple s of Gold
22. Donna-Recipe for a Rescue
23. Business as Usual
24. Lizzie-Dicey Discovery
25. Coffee with a Mind Reader
26. Evangeline-Frosted Parley
27. A Plot Twist
28. Lisa Leann-Burning Words
29. Death of a Salesman
30. Goldie-Spicy Tea
31. Here Comes Trouble
32. Vonnie-Roasted Revelation
33. A Million Little Pieces
34. Donna-Digesting the News
35. The Great American Novelist
36. Lizzie-Fresh-Brewed Day
37. The Good Egg
38. Goldie-Steamed Encounters
39. Going Home
40. Donna-On the Lunch Menu
41. As He Sat Typing
42. Evangeline-Feasting on Dreams
43. Wonder Where... Wonder Who...
44. Lisa Leann-Party Nibbles
45. Ice Castles
46. Evangeline-Going Nuts
47. Her Good Side
48. Lisa Leann-French-Fried Plans
49. All in All a Good Day
50. Donna-Plum Amazing
51. Reporter s Eye View
52. Evangeline-Heart-Stirring Wedding
53. What the Journalist Saw
The Potluck Club Recipes
How to Have a Christmas Tea
1
Buttered Biscuits
A lot had happened to the ladies of the Potluck Club.
A lot.
Then again, a lot had happened to Clay Whitefield, ace reporter for the Gold Rush News , though neither the job nor the title kept him going. What really buttered his biscuits was keeping his eyes and ears open to whatever was happening to his favorite ladies of Summit View, Colorado. The ladies of the Potluck Club.
Evangeline Benson, chief potlucker, had started the club in the dining room of her home years ago when she and the late Ruth Ann McDonald gathered for coffee cake and prayer. By the time Ruth Ann had passed on to glory, the club had grown, adding Lizzie Prattle, high school librarian and wife of Samuel, president of the Gold Mine Bank; Vonnie Westbrook, retired nurse and wife of Fred; Goldie Dippel, one-time homemaker, now legal secretary and wife of Coach Jack Dippel; and Donna Vesey, a deputy sheriff. Finally, and most recently, Lisa Leann Lambert, Texas transplant, had added herself to the mix.
Back up. The other thing that kept Clay Whitefield on his reporter s toes was the aforementioned Donna Vesey, the youngest member of the Potluck Club.
Clay got up from the scarred desk in his tiny one-room apartment overlooking Main Street, which he shared with his two gerbils, Woodward and Bernstein. He needed a break from the notes he was tapping into his laptop computer, so he walked over to the single window overlooking the touristy town he called home and peered down to the snow-blown streets below.
He wondered what those ladies of the Potluck Club might be up to now. That s when it hit him. It was Saturday. And not just any Saturday. Potluck Club Saturday. Rumor had it the venue had been changed to Lisa Leann s home so as to blend a baby shower with the monthly potluck and prayer meeting.
Lisa Leann, his newest and most controversial columnist over at the Gold Rush News .
His stomach rumbled a bit as he spotted Fred Westbrook s pickup truck heading down Main Street and turning toward where Lisa Leann lived. Clay cocked a red brow. Fred wasn t alone. But who was that with him?
Could it be... nah... it couldn t be.
Or could it?
Lisa Leann
2
Tea for Two
I had to admire how clever Clay was to stalk his story about Vonnie and her secret son all the way through my front door and into my daughter s baby shower. I could picture his headline now: Hollywood s David Harris s Mother Is None Other Than Our Own Vonnie Westbrook! Ta-da!!
I would have spilled the scoop to Clay myself if it hadn t been so risky. (As the newest and only uninvited member of the Potluck Club, that kind of spill would have gotten me the boot for sure.)
But Vonnie s story is so prime time it might even bring in the TV news trucks from Denver, not to mention the crew from Hollywood Nightly . And to think, it was Summit View s own Clay Whitefield who broke the story.
I made sure I was in earshot as Clay interviewed the players of this little drama as they sat in a corner near the fireplace.
First there was David, the son of Harmony Harris, the actress often considered the queen of the Hollywood musicals. Her frenzied fans had hounded both her and her secrets, trysts, and fortunes her entire career. Much as they did with Elvis, the press continued to unravel the seams of her private life even after her recent death to cancer. Their fascination with her was centered in part on the who of David s father. In fact, the names of her most famous male costars were often linked to his paternity. So, this revelation that David was actually Harmony s adopted son would cause a sensation.
And to think David s birth mother was none other than our own ho-hum Potlucker Vonnie Westbrook, Sunday school teacher and retired nurse. Astounding.
As it turned out, Vonnie had been secretly married to a Latin hottie, a Joseph Ray Jewell, who d been killed in Nam. And to think, poor old boring Fred, Vonnie s current husband of thirty-five years, had never suspected his dear wife had been married before, much less had a child.
But surprise! He d made the discovery in recent weeks, and now it looked like he was starting to come to terms with it. I mean, he was the one who d picked David up at the Denver International Airport this afternoon and brought him to Mandy s little baby shower. Bless his heart.
I pulled up a chair, with my back to Clay s interview, and took in every word.
Clay asked the questions I would have asked myself, like, Say, Fred, how d it feel when you found out your wife had been secretly married to another man? David, what was it like to grow up with a movie star for a mother? Vonnie, why d you keep your first marriage a secret? Did you really believe your baby died at birth? You know-all the interesting stuff.
I tried to be a fly on the wall, but my other guests kept demanding my attention. That was to be expected, as this was the first time the Potluckers had been over to my luxury condo for a meeting. Of course, I knew I d read the interview in the paper soon enough. But I wanted to see how Clay would translate it into print. And since I was the local paper s newest advice columnist, I had a lot I could learn from such a scoop still in progress.
After Clay pulled his camera from his Jeep and took a few photographs of the reunited pair, I insisted he help himself to a plate of food.
That spark of appreciation in his eyes quickly faded as he watched David Harris make a beeline for Donna, who though dressed in black sweats, still looked adorable, especially now that her buzzed hair was growing out in blonde curls.
When I turned back to Clay, his crestfallen countenance told me it was just as I suspected: he was sweet on the girl deputy. Why, I d seen those two not that long ago locked in what appeared to be an intimate embrace right on the sidewalk outside of the Higher Grounds Caf . Thank goodness my wedding shop is just across the street so I can watch the locals for signs of romance.
It s not that I m nosey, but as a wedding consultant, romance is my business, so knowing about any public displays of affection would only improve my bottom line, if you know what I mean.
While the girls were helping themselves to dessert, I managed to sit down next to Clay. The poor boy could hardly keep his eyes off David and Donna. I kept my voice low. Clay, you look absolutely lovesick.
His eyes turned to me. What? No I m not.
Yes, you are, and darlin , don t be embarrassed. I ve known your secret for a long time now.
His freckles seemed to stand on end. My secret?
Clay, I m a trained professional, so some thi