My kids* and friends who visit open my cabinets and gawk. Wow. Lots of coffee mugs. I like to have a souvenir from places I visit, so why not something useful? Mugs can be so much more than containers for coffee and tea. They are great for ice cream – hold the handle and your hand won’t get cold! Hot soup or cold. Loose change bucket. Flower vase. Marble holder. Pencil/pen cup.
Jack, patriarch of the family Peace, is a mug collector. I’m sure he got that from me. He found another use for his. I imagine my kids will be grateful that I never thought of this until I was writing the book…
Keeping the Family Peace – teaser #5
Nick stared into the kitchen just in time to catch Emma’s scorching glare. His stomach knotted. She turned away quickly and tried to extricate herself unsuccessfully from Taylor’s grip. Nick dug his fingers deeper into the carpet.
Sam threw a questioning look toward Anne. “New York?”
“I’m going to live there one day. It’s my favorite city.” Anne’s green eyes sparkled. “Haven’t you seen the captain’s coffee mugs?”
“Ah.” Sam nodded, glancing toward the kitchen. The line-up of cups hanging beneath the cupboards wasn’t easy to ignore. “I know he’s a collector. Are they in alphabetical order?”
“Order of admittance to the Union,” Taylor said. “Great way to learn a bit of U.S. history.”
“Don’t laugh,” Jack called out. “It worked, didn’t it?”
Jo quartered a tomato for the salad she was preparing and slid it into a bowl. She leaned against the counter. “New York, 1788. Ohio?”
“Eighteen-oh-three,” Taylor said. “Iowa?”
“Eighteen-forty-six.” Jack pointed to Emma. “Wyoming?”
Emma, with her stiff upper lip, finally detached herself from Taylor and stalked into the kitchen. Jack clipped her chin playfully as she walked by and Jamie offered her a bite of his cookie. Her face softened for a moment then she leaned across the counter. “Eighteen-ninety,” she said, eyes fiery and once again fixated on Nick. “South Carolina?”
Jo snickered at her choice of the first state to secede from the Union, earning her own glare from Emma.
Secession. Betrayal. They went hand in hand. “Seventeen eighty-eight,” Nick said, knowing she felt that he’d betrayed his faith in her judgment. “Emma—”
David and Sam started clapping, interrupting Nick but catching themselves when Emma whirled away. Nick smacked his fist against his thigh and exhaled deeply.
* * * * *
NOVEL UPDATE
JW Manus has my notes from my review of the Kindle-version proof of the novel. Wait until you see the wonderful formatting she’s done. When, you ask? Getting closer…unless Jaye spots something really horrific as she makes one final sweep.
YOUR TURN
Do you have other uses for your coffee mugs? Do you have a collecting obsess–er, I mean, passion?
~~~
* My kids don’t gawk now. They’re used to my collecting. They’ve even added to it. Oh – that reminds me, I haven’t bought a new reindeer for the Christmas tree this year.
Leave a Reply