Last month, Dianne shared with us the updated versions of the first two books in her Crystal Falls series. Today she joins us with book, 3, Violets for Vanessa.
Welcome back, Dianne! Tell us why you wrote Violets for Vanessa...
I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks (literally) in poverty and abuse. So, I related to Vanessa Gallagher when she showed up in Lilacs for Laura and Roses for Rachel. As the girl from the wrong side of the creek, her story begged to be told. Laura and Rachel's older brother Chad needed a heroine of his own, and with his soft spot for underdogs, Vanessa couldn't have been a better fit. Vanessa is beautiful but doesn't know it. She's shy and reserved, but determined and feisty and strong. Vanessa grows up impoverished and abused, but she's not afraid to step out of that downtrodden existence to make a new life for herself, protect her mother, and fight for love. Vanessa Gallagher is my favorite kind of heroine for what she's been through and what she becomes. That's why I wrote her story.
Oh My Goodness, I'm sure a lot of people can relate to Vanessa's story. Give us more please...
I hope so, Pam and my greatest desire is Violets for Vanessa gives readers hope that they can overcome whatever they are going through. Below is the blurb and exerpt...
Blurb: Struggling to be free of her abusive father, Vanessa Gallagher cannot resist handsome contractor Chad James. Although she fears being controlled by another man, his kind encouragement comforts her and his kisses leave her wanting more. When Mr. Gallagher meets his doom at the bottom of a cliff, police suspect Vanessa’s mother. Will Chad help absolve her? Who will uncover the truth in an unexpected turn of events? And will Vanessa ever choose love over independence?
Excerpt: Dark clouds masked the hot July sun as a whining rattle descended upon Vanessa Gallagher. Picking wild violets on her walk home from work, she looked up to see a rusted white car break over the horizon.
On the wrong side of the rural Ohio road, the car wove toward her at breakneck speed. The driver’s scraggly white beard tilted forward as his head leaned back, swilling a beer.
Vanessa dove for the ditch. Gravel sprayed her from the edge of the road as her father’s car whizzed past. The beer can whipped from his window and bounced across the pavement.
Fear rose in her chest as clouds crashed above her. Clyde Gallagher hit the bars but saved getting drunk for fights with her mother. Ominous dread clutched Vanessa. She leapt from the ditch and broke into a run.
A piercing clap of thunder startled her. She tripped and fell to her knees on the rough asphalt. Jumping to her feet, she dashed toward home, ignoring the trickle of blood pooling in her shoes.
With an approaching rumble, a big blue beast of a pickup roared toward her. Her heart skipped a beat when she recognized the handsome driver.
He nodded.
She kept running until the truck slowed to a stop. Out of breath, she paused beside the enormous tires. Waist-high, raised white letters read Mud Luggers.
Chad James leaned his head out the window. Country music blared from inside, singing Who’s Your Daddy?
“Need a ride?” Chad asked.
Her stomach flipped and her heart thudded.
“Yes!” she blurted, in a hurry to see her mama.
Yet she cringed at this gorgeous hunk driving up to that shack with the peeling paint and rotting steps. Everyone in Crystal Falls knew where she lived, but he didn’t need the close-up view.
Chad jumped from his truck and noticed the bleeding knees beneath her black skirt.
“Did you fall?” His voice held genuine concern as he looked into her eyes. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, but I’m fine. I’m in a hurry to get home.” Heat flushed her neck and face, hot to her natural platinum hairline. She had to be as red as a raspberry. There was no hiding a blush like this with skin as Scottish pale as hers. Self-conscious under his scrutiny, she wore no makeup, and her plain long hair hadn’t been professionally cut in her twenty-five-year lifetime. How she wished she were prettier, more outgoing, good enough for a man like Chad James.
“Trying to beat the rain?” Chad raised a seductive eyebrow.
Like an omen, the truck reverberated into low idle, and a flash of lightning lit the sky, followed by a thunderous boom. Rain poured from the heavens, drenching them in an instant.
“Too late,” she yelled over the din. At least the shower cooled her heated face.
“Come on.” Laughing, he ushered her to the passenger side of his truck.
He opened the door, a courtesy that made her stare up at him in surprise.
“Hop in!”
Conflicted between her distrust of men, her attraction to Chad James, and her need to get home quickly, she scrambled to climb in the truck. Her foot slipped on the wet step. She careened but Chad caught her by the waist and hefted her up.
Unnerved by his touch, she ducked just in time to miss banging her head. He shut the door and ran to the driver’s side.
In one smooth motion, he was behind the wheel. Rain dripped from the bill of his black ball cap. A lock of dark hair slipped onto his forehead as he jammed the shifter into gear. The truck growled awake and lurched forward. He turned the truck around.
“I hate to see a pretty girl all alone on the road.” He winked at her before shifting into second.
Pretty? And was that a wink? Vanessa’s heart floated to the sky. She’d had a crush on Chad James forever. Actually, since the day she started working in her dad’s bait shop.
Chad had been her first customer. The wiggling worms kept wrangling out of the stinkin’ foam cup. Her father humiliated her, as usual, but Chad showed her how to scoop them up.
Unafraid to touch her, Chad gently guided her hands. Then he looked her straight in the eye, right into her soul, without a speck of pity. She had been eight years old, and she’d never forget it.
Very few people looked her in the eye, none without pity.
In no time, her family’s wooden cabin came into sight looking like a step back to the forties. A sign the length of the sagging roofline read BAIT in weathered red paint.
Chad pulled into the weedy gravel parking lot, past the makeshift clothesline filled with dripping clothes. She cringed at the leaning outhouse, complete with a crescent moon in the door and wasps’ nests in the eaves – a remnant of her childhood.
The embarrassing blush returned. Anxious to check on her mother, she offered a nervous, “Thank you for the ride.” She reached for the door handle while the truck was still rolling.
“Anytime – Big Blue at your service.” Chad caught her eye with a heart-stopping grin. Then his jaw dropped as he looked past her.
Her head spun to see her mother slumped in the doorway. Blood trailed from her nose and one eye swelled shut.
The big truck skidded to a stop. Vanessa bailed out in the rain and rushed to her mother’s side.
“Get me...inside,” Darla Gallagher choked. Her graying blonde hair stuck out in wet clumps and her rubbery limbs struggled to gain footing.
Vanessa tried to prop her up, but Darla lifted from her grasp. Tall, strapping Chad James cradled her mother in his muscular arms and carried her into the house. Back straight and strong, he gently laid her on the sofa. He inspected her arms and legs. “Is anything broken?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Darla covered her face with one hand. “I tripped and fell running in from the rain.”
Vanessa recognized the lie and acutely felt her mother’s shame. Chad turned to her, brows furrowed and eyes full of compassion.
“Would you like a ride to the hospital?”
“No hospital,” Darla growled.
“No but thank you.” Heat rose to Vanessa’s cheeks. She hurried to the kitchen and grabbed a clean towel. “I’ll keep an eye on her, but I’m sure she’ll be all right.”
“Okay.” Empathy poured from Chad’s voice. “How can I help?”
“You’ve done enough.” She smiled uneasily. “I’ll take care of her from here.”
“If you need anything, call me.” His knowing eyes were unconvinced. He dug a wallet from his back pocket and handed her a business card.
Chadwick Builders – Custom Homes Built to Your Specifications. His name and address were printed at the bottom with his office number, cell phone, and a fax line.
His warm hand squeezed her shoulder, and he caught her eyes.
“Anything, anytime – really.”
Dumbfounded, she tucked the card in her pocket and nodded dismissively. At the sink, she turned on the faucet to wet the towel.
Seeming hesitant to leave, Chad looked at the muddy footprints on the cracked linoleum floor. His shoulders slumped. “Sorry about that.”
“No problem.” Ashamed to her core, she wanted him to leave, but he pulled out a handkerchief and wiped bits of mud on his way out the door.
Awed by his considerate kindness, Vanessa watched through the window as she wrung out the towel.
Long legs clad in jeans disappeared around the chrome bumper. Black work boots trudged past the front tires. The big blue truck dipped slightly as he climbed in. He looked over with a tentative half-smile.
Heart pounding with longing, uncertainty, and fear, she hurried away to tend her mother. How long before her father returned?
“You can’t let him keep doing this to you, Mama. He’s getting worse.” She dabbed drying blood from her mother’s face. Hand-shaped bruises marred Darla’s arms. Vanessa lifted her mother’s shorts over a purple mass on one thigh. It spread clear to her hip. Biting back angry tears, she checked her torso. Relief washed over Vanessa when she found no bruises that might suggest internal injury. “We’re getting out of here. Soon. I almost have enough money saved.”
Darla’s moans joined the comforting rumble of Chad’s truck, punctuated with eerie growls of thunder in the distance.
Big, black Mud Luggers rolled past the darkened living room window. Airbrushed white letters screamed across the tailgate: Rebel.
Vanessa reached in her pocket to reverently touch the embossed lettering on his card. Fragile hope tugged her heart. Would he really come back if she called?
Did she really want him to?
Long ago, she vowed never to be controlled by a man.
Unlike her mother, she’d make her own decisions and take care of herself. First, she’d get away from Clyde Gallagher as soon as she could. Once she had an apartment, her ticket to real freedom would be buying a car. No man could stop her then.
Love was a nice notion, but men stole your independence – not to mention your dignity and self-worth.
Love or independence – she couldn’t have both.
What an excellent excerpt! Thank You for sharing. Now tell us more about yourself and where we can find you and this wonderful book...
Thank you, Pam here are my bio and links...
Dianne Miley writes to share God’s hope, love, and grace. Her Crystal Falls Series includes: Lilacs for Laura; Roses for Rachel; Violets for Vanessa; and Sunflowers for Sarita. She contributed short stories to three anthologies: A Holy City Christmas; Charleston Light; and When You Pass Through Waters. She also authored a non-fiction book, Time to Enjoy Your Blessings. All books, as well as her blog can be found on www.diannemiley.com.
When she's not writing or reading, Dianne enjoys time with family and friends. She and her husband have two married children and two adorable grandchildren. She also enjoys cooking, gardening, flower arranging, tea parties, the beach, and her wrap-around porch. She founded a nonprofit, Sanctuary of Unborn Life in Charleston, South Carolina to help pregnant women in need. She now lives near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Find and Follow Dianne at the following SM sites...
Violets for Vanessa can be found at Amazon for Kindle (Free in KU) and in Paperback
Wonderful! We certainly wish you the best of luck and God's blessings.
Thank YOU, Friends for visiting Saturday Spotlight. I pray your Easter weekends is Blessed and Happy.
Be sure and check out Dianne's other books, Roses for Rachel and Lilacs for Laura as well as Violets for Vanessa.
Until next time, take care and God bless.
PamT
