Jillian Chantal

It’s that time again. Tuesday Tales. This week, the word prompt is glue. Since I’m writing about a barbecue, I almost put in that the heroine’s lips were glued together by BBQ sauce. 🙂 Hopefully, I did better than that. LOL

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Before she could tell me what the celebration was about, a guy I hadn’t noticed before came out of the house carrying several bottles of champagne. “I brought this but maybe next time, Levi can splurge and we can toast him with Dom Perignon.

Levi laughed and called out, “Tell you what, Nigel, if it’s a success, I’ll do exactly that.”

“What’s going on?” I asked again.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know. I thought you were a long-time friend of the family,” The girl by Del said.

I tried not to get offended. After all I was a long term friend, but Levi and I hadn’t spoken in a while.  Other than when he came upon me while I was digging up treasure in my grandmother’s yard. “Well, I am but as we’ve been busy establishing our careers, I haven’t seen much of him.” I pushed my chair back to go see what the cake said. If this chick wasn’t going to tell me what the celebration was about, maybe the cake would clue me in.

I walked over to his mom as she wielded the knife. “Isn’t it exciting that my son is going to have one of his screenplays made into a movie?”

My shocked eyes that I knew had to be bugging out of my head were glued to his mom’s face. All I could say was, “What?” I didn’t even know he was interested in writing screenplays. How did I not know this? I guess I only thought I knew him.

“It’s so exciting, isn’t it?” His mom kept slicing and plating the cake as she talked. Her face glowed with pride.

The guy with the champagne came up to me. “It’s not very dignified to drink this stuff from a red Solo Cup, but it’s in keeping with a barbecue and with my buddy, Levi’s aesthetic.”

“Not judging by the interior of his home. He seems a bit more dignified than Solo Cups.” I grinned as I took the proffered drink. 

“Hold on to that until we’re ready for the toast.” He moved on, cups in one hand and bottle in the other.

I looked at Levi’s mom. “Let me finish cutting that so you can be over there with your son for the toasts.”

“I think we can leave it for now. I’ve started the serving. If anyone else wants some, they can help themselves. She took my arm and dragged me over to where the crowd was gathered around Levi.

The writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt boil this week. I’m still in my contemporary buried treasure story. The heroine is at a barbecue.

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“As I live and breathe, it’s Heather. My dear, it’s so good to see you.” Levi’s mom dashed over and embraced me in a hug. “Levi didn’t tell me you were coming. He probably thought I’d never believe it.” She let me go and grinned. “I probably wouldn’t have either. You voluntarily showing up at Levi’s house after all the silly pranks between the two of you over the years. I’m so glad the two of you have finally decided to play nice with each other.”

“I didn’t even know he lived here. This house is something, isn’t it?” I wanted to know how in the world he afforded this place, but it was none of my business.

“It sure is. He’s done a wonderful job updating it, don’t you think?”

“He did do wonderfully well. I only got a glimpse into some of the rooms as I walked through, but what I did see was lovely. I have to confess, I didn’t think he had such good taste.”

Mrs. Brown laughed. “I know what you mean. I like to think I had some influence over him over the years, but I admit I’ve been a bit surprised by the way things turned out as well. I’ll get him to give you a tour later. He’s very proud of what he’s done here.”

“As well he should be.” I sniffed the air. “It sure smells good out here. Can’t wait to dig in.”

“I tried to talk him into a low country boil, but he said he’d rather have the barbecue.”

“Either would have been great, but boiled potatoes, shrimp, crab, sausage and corn is quite different than ribs and chicken on the grill.”

“And we have burgers for those who don’t like traditional barbecue sauce.” Levi walked up and stood beside his mother. “Glad you came.” He nodded at my shirt. “And wore your favorite tee as well.”

“Levi, I’m so happy you invited Heather. I haven’t seen her in a while. Once you get everyone settled in, she’d like to see what you’ve done with the house.”

I didn’t want to correct his mom that it was her suggestion for the tour as I did want to see the house. I just wasn’t sure I wanted Levi to know just how much I wanted to see the other rooms.   “Plenty of time for that. What’s the ETA on the grub?” I asked. “I haven’t eaten since my grandmother gave me a cinnamon roll this morning.”

The writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt flower this week. I’m still in my contemporary buried treasure story. The heroine is on her way to a barbecue.

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Since I wasn’t finding anything much that would help me, I decided to search the other last name but when my eyes caught the time at the bottom corner of my screen, I let out a squeal as it was past time for me to get ready for the barbecue. I wanted to wash my hair as I’d been sweating in the back yard and digging around the past two days. I didn’t want to go to a party full of people with hair that made me look like a nasty pig who couldn’t stay out of the mud in the sty. 

I closed my browser and dashed to the shower, taking off items of clothing as I went. I liked to let my hair air dry instead of using hot air on it but it looked like I would have to blow it dry today. “Stupid girl. Too curious for your own good.”

Once I was clean, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a Whitesnake t-shirt. It was well-loved but still in pretty good shape. It would be fun to see Luke’s face when he saw it. He’d bought it for me as a joke because he thought I would hate it. But I actually love the band. I laughed as I remembered how he almost passed out when I made a big deal over the tee and started singing their song, Straight for the Heart. His expression was priceless and I could still see it in my mind’s eye.

I put on my makeup and waited as long as I could before I dried my hair, hoping it would be dry enough not to pouf out like someone from 1959 with a bouffant, back-combed, teased hairdo. This was why I usually wanted natural drying. 

Of course, the hair ended up looking extremely poodle-like. I twisted it into a low chignon and pinned it in place. No way was I going to this party looking like that chick in Young Frankenstein after the monster and she got together. Nope. Nope. Nope. 

On my way out the door, I grabbed my Tulane sweatshirt and tied it around my waist. It would probably cool off significantly when the sun went down and I could use it for warmth. 

Outside, I grabbed a flower from the pale-yellow mum my mom had planted and tucked it into my low bun. May as well be festive with my hopefully tamed monster hair. 

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt mouth. I’m still in the buried treasure story.

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Setting the jewelry on the wood countertop next to the sink, I went to fetch the jar of jewelry cleaner. This was exciting. I loved the discovery of these items and how they looked when they weren’t covered in dirt and grime. 

When I returned, the rolls were in the oven and grandma was holding the gold chain. “This one I would wear to church.”

“It did clean up nicely like the other stuff I found.” I leaned in and inspected the color of the gold. “Looks like 18 carat to me.”

“Me too.” Grandma held it up to herself. “I quite like it.”

“I’d be glad for you to have it.”

“We should first look for the real owner’s family. They may want their things back.”

The smell of the cinnamon rolls baking made my mouth water. “Man, those smell great. I forgot to eat breakfast.”

Grandma laughed. “I bet you knew I’d be baking today. For the social time in the fellowship hall tomorrow between Sunday school and church.”

“Well, I confess, I was hopeful. But I also knew if you weren’t that you’d still have something to feed me.” I winked. “That’s the real reason I came today. Not the jewelry.”

“You can’t fool this old lady, Miss Heather. You can’t trick me. The rolls will be done soon and I predict your grandfather will also be lured into making an appearance when he smells them.”

“Did someone take my name in vain?” Granddad said as he walked into the kitchen. He came over and gave me a hug from the side. “Did you find more gold in my yard?”

“A couple more pieces. I’m thinking about renting a metal detector in case there’s anything I missed. I think the matching ruby earring should be out there, at a minimum.”

“Old Joe down the street has one. He likes to stroll in fields and on vacation at the beach to see what he can find. I’ll ask him if we can use it.”

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt button. I’m working on my buried treasure story.

Check out the other tales here.

“Something I haven’t seen since middle school.” He snickered. “Two girls going at each other. Hair pulling and all.” He shook his head. “Craziness.”

“Oh Lord. Not really? A fight?” I let out a deep sigh. “She’s lost her mind. Unbelievable.”

“Pretty sure she’s got an arrest coming. Mel doesn’t put up with nonsense in his trattoria. Besides, it’s not really the way to land a husband, is it? If Annette really wanted to marry Levi she just blew that out of the water—if she had any chance at all. I mean the guy is all about the women. He just likes the female sex. He’s got a lot of women friends and a jealous lover is a complete turn off for any guy, much less one with a penchant for harmless flirtations.”

This was the most words I’d ever heard Marty string together at one time. “I agree. Levi has always been one to love the ladies. If he ever does settle down, it’ll have to be someone who has confidence in their own appeal and no insecurity when it comes to his ability to be faithful. I doubt such a person exists.”

“To be fair, I always thought you’d be the ideal mate for him. You’re steady and confident. And you can make him behave himself better than anyone.”

I held my hand up like a crossing guard. “God forbid. Button your lip.”

“Why not? He’s attractive, you’re attractive. What’s the downside?”

“Ha. I know way too much about him and have seen him at his absolute worst. There are things he did as a kid that I may never be able to get past.”

“Ahh.  So you have thought about it?”

“Absolutely not. No.” I pointed toward the parking lot. “My car’s over there. I’m going to get in it and forget we ever had this conversation.”

He laughed and turned the other way. “I’m over there. See you Tuesday for the next match.”

I stepped off the curb just in time to leap back as two police cruisers sped into the parking lot, lights and sirens blazing. Oh Annette. What have you done?

This week, the writers of Tuesday Tales are writing to the word prompt gentle. I am working on my buried treasure story.

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The other items I found were a gaudy ring with a huge green stone surrounded by smaller white ones and one earring that was pretty nice, but I didn’t see the mate. I also had more pieces of the box.

I borrowed a piece of old cloth from my grandmother to cover the hole as I planned to look some more the next day and then took my leave with the treasures in her safekeeping. She said she’d be cleaning them overnight.

After my shower, I met with the Sherlock Homies at trivia night. I was ready to compete even if it was an odd evening for it. We normally met on Tuesday nights, but this week was a special tournament for the anniversary of the opening of the restaurant.

 I was glad to see Annette was there. I figured she might still be mad at me but she patted the open seat between her and Brandon. “Come sit by me.”

I took the chair across from the other members of our team, Jason and Marty. “Hey guys. Ready to smash these other suckers?”

Jason laughed. “If you say other suckers, are you also calling us suckers?”

“Of course. We’ve been suckers on occasion. Everyone on Earth has.” I pulled a menu toward me as a gentle breeze from the air conditioner tickled my neck. “Are we splitting a pizza or every man for himself today?”

“I was leaning toward manicotti myself,” Brandon said. “It smells so good and it’s the special of the day.”

“Yeah. That sounds good,” Jason said.

“I’ll spilt a pizza with you, Heather,” Marty said. “I know you like hot peppers so maybe leave those off my part?”

“Cool. No problem.”

The other tables filled up pretty fast and soon after we ordered, we were in the midst of a heated competition. Annette hadn’t said much to me but I didn’t sense any animosity either. After all, she asked me to sit with her so she must not be upset.  I wanted to ask her if she was invited to the barbecue but was afraid if she hadn’t been, she’d go into orbit. So I let it ride.

When the waitress came with our food, Annette finally said, “Levi is having a barbecue tomorrow. Should be fun. I’ll get to meet his mom. I’m so excited. I hope she likes me. That’s so important. I’m very nervous. Do you think she will like me?”

The girl hadn’t taken a breath. Yikes. What should I say?