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    Graces' Hope
    Graces' Hope
    Graces' Hope
    Ebook129 pages2 hours

    Graces' Hope

    By Annmarie Raite

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Steve is a reporter for a large newspaper sent on a Human Interest piece to work on a story about the local town of Graces' Hope for a featured piece. Local towns that are great vacation spots. He is not all that thrilled with the job, until he gets to town and meets Madi, the local girl wonder. She runs the used clothing and goods store as a non-profit and helps people in town afford what they normally could not. Her best friend Geri, also works at the store. She is stressed over the normal things in life plus some. She feels stuck in a relationship she is not so sure about anymore. Should she stay with Eric or should she try to better herself without him? While Steve is in town, Madi's high school sweetheart moves back to town. Will Mark be able to win Madi's heart back or will the competition of the reporter, Steve, be to much for him?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAnnmarie Raite
    Release dateMar 26, 2011
    ISBN9781452415680
    Graces' Hope
    Author

    Annmarie Raite

    I love being outdoors. I enjoy hiking, photography, puzzles, writing, and all animals! I love meeting new people and hope my books bring some joy into the lives of others.

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      Book preview

      Graces' Hope - Annmarie Raite

      This book is dedicated to a special person who had to read the rough drafts and my constant questioning of whether they read it yet or not and what they thought about it through the whole writing process. You know who you are! Tanisha! Thank you!

      This book is based on the creative imaginations of the author and is not based on any people living, dead or fictional. I reserve the rights and copyrights to this book. If you are interested in it, please pay the small fee to purchase it. If you are interested in reading other works by this author check out the website at www.annmarieraite.com for future publishing’s.

      Graces’ Hope

      By Annmarie Raite

      Published by Annmarie Raite at Smashwords

      Copyright 2011 at Smashwords

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      CHAPTER ONE

      The church bells woke Madison up, as they usually do at 7 a.m. She got out of bed and began preparing for the day. A very long day if there ever was one. 8 a.m. mass followed by breakfast at the parish and than finally a full day of work. Madison glanced at the clock, realizing it was taking her longer than normal to get ready she rushed into the bathroom, still enjoying the simple fact that it was her bathroom. She didn’t have to wait in line to get ready, or hope that there was a clean towel left for her morning routine.

      She thought about it some more as she finished getting ready. She was now officially a home owner! Madison had started working at a young age, with 7 siblings at home, everyone had to do their share to help keep the house maintained and everyone fed and taken care of. When she wasn’t cooking dinner, or doing laundry Madison was hard at work at the library, the local church, the second hand clothing store where the family got most of their clothes, or at home doing homework. She gave her parents half the wages she earned, keeping the other half hidden until she had enough to start a savings account, not an easy task when you share your room with three other people!

      Madison grabbed her keys and her purse as she left the house, being mindful to lock the door on her way out. As she stepped out of her house, she was again struck by the view that had first inspired her to purchase it. The view of Saint Sebastian’s church from her front porch. The sun lighting up the stained glass windows, inviting all those who walked past to go and join in the mass that would be held soon was still breathtaking to her. This was the reason she chose her charming home, even if it was a little big, ok very big for her.

      Madison crossed the street and entered the church. Smelling the rich aroma that always seemed to linger, long after the incense had been extinguished, she smiled and went to help pass out prayer books to the parishioners who were early for mass, happy to be around people again. It was going to take some time for her to get used to having an empty home.

      Steve couldn’t believe he got stuck with this assignment. He didn’t understand why anyone would care about this small town in the middle of nowhere. Being the low man on the totem pole did not have its advantages. Now he was stuck in Grace’s Hope for the next 2 weeks while he did a series of articles about what small town life was like in upstate New York. He hadn’t left the city in so long, he didn’t know how he was going to handle being in a small town, let alone for two whole weeks.

      ‘Okay Steve, here is the town calendar, a few maps, a listing of all businesses, and the reservation for the bed and breakfast you’ll be staying in. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask the locals. They were more than willing to help you with whatever you need while you spend time there. Just don’t forget, you’re there to write this series. If this is a success, we’ll send Sam over to another town somewhere in New Jersey and see if we can do the same thing there." Kelly glanced up from her desk. She leaned forward placing her hands on the papers Steve was gathering from her desk and looked him in the eyes. ‘I know you’re not thrilled with this assignment, but you are one of the best rookie reporters when it comes to human interest pieces. I couldn’t think of a better person to send to start off our new series about vacations families can take close to home. If you do a good job with this, I promise we’ll do what we can to turn you into a featured writer with our newspaper.’

      Steve nodded, bent down to finish gathering his work and put it into his briefcase. When he was finished organizing everything, he glanced up and sighed. ‘That’s really nice of you Kelly, and I know you’re going out on a limb to help me. I really do appreciate it. I’m just nervous about this. I haven’t been outside the city in so long; I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle everyone actually being nice to me.’

      Kelly laughed, ‘Not everyone in the city is mean, and you’ve just met a lot of the wrong people!’

      Steve smiled and nodded his head, ‘I probably have. Hopefully I don’t have the same bad luck in Grace’s Hope that I had when I first moved here.’

      ‘You’ll do fine, just remember to do what you always do. Take notes on everything and go to everything, no matter how small or corny the event is… you need to attend and put it into the articles. Remember, we expect at least one 60 word article a day, and one 120 word article for the Sunday editions.

      ‘Don’t worry Kel; I could do that in my sleep.’ Steven winked at her to emphasize his joke.

      "That’s what I’m worried about; we need something the readers can actually understand!’ Kelly teased back. ‘Now get going, the only thing I want to see from you for the next two weeks are articles emailed to me on a daily basis from Grace’s Hope.’

      "Aye, aye captain!’ Steve snapped to attention and saluted Kelly before he walked out the door. Everything he needed to bring with him was packed and waiting in the taxi, he looked at his watch. Three hours to go before he reached the middle of nowhere, otherwise known as Grace’s Hope. He took the elevator to the first floor, wondering if Grace’s Hope even had any elevators in its buildings. Probably not, most small towns had ordinances about the heights of buildings.

      Goodbye Steve, enjoy your stay at Grace’s Hell… I mean Hope! Gerald smacked his knee and laughed. Steve waved, Bye Gerald, I’ll be sure to send you postcards… if I can find any! They both laughed as Steve counted his work bags and walked out the door. Gerald shook his hand and went back to watching the security cameras, wondering how Steve was going to fare doing two weeks in a small town trap.

      The taxi driver glanced in the rear view mirror, "you finally ready to go?’

      Steve smiled, ‘All set, let’s get the show on the road.’ As the taxi pulled away, he thought, first thing on the agenda; get a rental car… if Grace’s Hope had any!

      Cleaning up after almost 200 people was a lot easier then the ten she took care of at home. The parishioners were more apt to throw out their own garbage and clean up after themselves. With a breakfast happening every week after mass, they had gotten to the point where the clean up routine was so quick, most of the time Madison was out and at work earlier than she expected.

      She walked next door to the church, unlocking the doors she began her daily routine of opening the store. Dress for Success was a non-profit group that she started when she was in high school and was able to bring more people on so that the non-profit could expand and get a location to help more people than just she could handle.

      You’re early again? Girl, you need to get a life! Geri laughed and playfully shoved Madison, than began to help her open the rest of the blinds and set up for the day. I’m early because this is the only quiet time I get between little Erik and Big Erik. What’s you’re excuse?

      The Smiths donated around 6 garbage bags worth of clothing last night, I want to get it sorted out and washed so that it can be put onto the sales floor today. She gave us a lot of great clothes that will really help. Madison said, hoping that Geri had forgotten the date.

      Oh yeah? I think between the two of us we can manage that. Geri grabbed one of the bags and began sorting the clothing on the laundry room table. As they worked, they both kept glancing at each other. Geri threw her hand sup and said, Enough! I need to know. What happened?

      What do you mean what happened? Madison asked, as she kept sorting the clothes, trying to keep a straight face.

      You know what I mean. When you’re high school boyfriend called. What happened? Are you guys going to meet when he comes back to town? Maybe go to dinner? Finish what you got started a loooong time ago? Geri threw out, arms folded in front of her as she pushed for an answer.

      Well, he’s supposed to get here this afternoon so I figured I would give him some time to get settled in before we met up again, but… Madison bit her lip, holding back a smile as she kept her eyes down she rushed on, he wants to see me again tonight for dinner. At the Diner we used to eat at when we were in high school. A smile spread across her face, lighting it up. She threw down the clothes she was sorting and said, I can’t believe after all these years he wants to meet up again. I heard he was quite a successful lawyer now.

      Wasn’t he the one who broke up with you because he thought he wasn’t good enough? Geri glanced at Madi and smiled. Maybe he went out to find success so he could once and for all feel like he was good enough! She jumped up and down, Damn girl, you need to put you’re sexy clothes on tonight and win him back! Imagine not having to work again for the rest of your life. Just lounge around and let him provide for you! Geri smiled, imagining that lifestyle for herself.

      Madi laughed, "I wouldn’t be happy. I enjoy what I do. Plus I could never

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