Holidays with Jane: Thankful Hearts
(ebook available on Amazon.com. Paperback coming out soon!)
It’s time for crisp weather, colorful leaves, and a Thanksgiving feast. The authors of the Holidays with Jane series bring you Holidays with Jane: Thankful Hearts with six modern-day adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels. Join your favorite heroines around the fire with a cup of hot apple cider for heart-warming takes on these classic stories.
"The Construction of a Heart"
by Melissa Buell
Elizabeth Bennet credits the success of Bennet Homes to her close-knit family, however dysfunctional they might be. The Meryton Chamber of Commerce calls on local businesses to host the annual All-Town Thanksgiving Feast. Unfortunately, Elizabeth is paired up with pretentious businessman Will Darcy of Pemberley Estates, her main rival in the construction business. Will Elizabeth be able to fill up her Thankful Jar this year?
In my short story for
HOLIDAYS WITH JANE: THANKFUL HEARTS, I reimagined PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen. If you've read my blog at all or you know me IRL, you know that PRIDE AND PREJUDICE is my favorite novel. Do you know how hard it is to reimagine your favorite novel into a short story?! It's hard, guys. The struggle is real. But I got through it with copious amounts of coffee, tea, and brownies at Panera Bread. I owe much to the wisdom and enthusiasm of Jess and Rebecca. (Thank you!)
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In my story, I write about a "Thankful Jar" and also about food. Lots of food.
THANKFUL JAR
I love the idea of a "Thankful Jar" for the month of November. Every day, write down one thing (or several!) that you are thankful for and add it to your jar. On Thanksgiving, read the things you are thankful for as you eat your Thanksgiving feast. Some might be silly, some might be romantic. I want to remember that we have so many blessings and much to be thankful for. Will you start a Thankful Jar this year?
ALL THE FOOD!
One of the many things to be thankful for at Thanksgiving is the FOOD! (Am I right?) My mom's family is from the Midwest, which means we have all of the best food. Butter. And gravy. More butter. We've added different dishes over the years as my generation has learned to cook and bake but we always have the old standbys: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, and PIE.
Oh, pie. I love pie at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Especially with Reddi-Whip. (Homemade whipped cream is great but Reddi-Whip is awesome.)
We always have pumpkin pie and pecan pie. Sometimes there's a random apple pie or cobbler thrown in. My sister-in-law told me about five years ago that she saw a recipe from Paula Deen for Pumpkin Pecan Pie. My seester and I both don't love pumpkin pie so we were excited at the idea of something different without being too weirdly different. I found the recipe and I've been making this pie for Thanksgiving ever since.
Link to Paula Deen's Pumpkin Pecan Pie recipe
Link to Pinterest Board of "Holidays With Jane: Thanksgiving Food
Now that you've read about being thankful and pie, here's an excerpt of my story! (And keep reading because down below is the Rafflecopter link for the giveaway that I'm hosting!)
EXCERPT:
"The Construction of a Heart"
The first time they had met
was at the Chamber of Commerce “Salute to Summer” mixer at the end of August.
Elizabeth, Jane, and their younger sister Lydia were scheduled to take turns
manning the Bennet Homes booth that evening. Elizabeth and Jane took great
pride in setting up an attractive booth at each Chamber event.
As she and Jane approached the booth just before the
mixer began, it was obvious that someone had ignored the schematic that
Elizabeth herself had developed that kept similar businesses from being next to
each other.
The table in the booth next to them was overloaded with
glossy tri-fold brochures, plastic scale models of houses, and a laptop with a
gallery of high impact photos flashing on the screen. Sterling silver trays
held macarons and chocolate tarts while urns with gourmet coffee burbled away.
A Lucite sign proclaimed “Pemberley Estates Welcomes You!” in purple letters. A
blond man and a brunette woman were chatting quietly outside of the booth,
gesturing towards the coffee urns.
Elizabeth glanced over at her humble homemade lemon
squares and peanut butter cup brownies with chagrin. The blue gingham
tablecloth and collection of white porcelain cake plates looked charming along
with their framed photos of houses they had rehabbed into a “Bennet Home.” Charming
compared to classy? No, Elizabeth shook her head. They can make fun of my booth but I’d rather be personal and homespun
than fake and plastic any day. I need to make the best of the location and meet
our new competitors.
“Are you ready to meet our neighbors?” Elizabeth
whispered to Jane.
The blond man in front of the Pemberley Estates was
already making a bee-line towards them. He extended his hand with a friendly
smile.
“Hello, I’m Chase Bingley,” he said as he shook the hands
of both sisters. “We’re new in Meryton and so happy to be a part of the mixer.
It was gracious of the event coordinators to include us.” He gestured behind
him. “This is my sister, Carla Bingley.”
Carla
Bingley strode over and looked down at Elizabeth and Jane with a haughty
expression. “Nice to make your acquaintance,” she stated in bored tone.
“Our
booth is right next to yours,” Elizabeth said with a determined smile. “Bennet
Homes. Feel free to have a lemon bar or brownie. They’re homemade,” she added
when she saw Carla’s mouth twitch unpleasantly.
“How
delightful!” Chase said as he stepped forward to pick up a brownie. “I don’t
know the last time I had a homemade treat.”
“That’s
because I have better ways to spend my time,” Carla murmured just loud enough
for Elizabeth to hear.
“Would
either of you be available to introduce me to the other vendors here?” Chase
asked, his eyes fixed on Jane.
Elizabeth smiled as she stepped behind the table. “I have
the first shift at the booth.”
“I’m available,” Jane said shyly. “We can start with
Mayor Lucas. He just arrived.”
“Carla, be sure to introduce Darcy, won’t you?” Chase
asked as he walked away.
And Darcy
is…another sister? I hope she takes after Chase, not his sour faced sister,
Carla.
The community room was slowly filling up with guests
from the Chamber of Commerce and Elizabeth put all thoughts of Pemberley
Estates and their employees away as she handed out business cards and treats. A
dark haired man with dark, brooding eyes walked toward her booth during a lull.
Elizabeth checked her phone and was unsurprised to see that Lydia had texted
her that she would be late for her shift.
Elizabeth
turned to replenish the cake plates with baked goods and found the dark haired
stranger standing in front of her booth, looking at each framed photo
carefully. He glanced up as if he felt her eyes on him. He nodded at her and
said, “Will Darcy.”
She
deposited the fresh brownies on the plate and replied, “Will Darcy do what?”
“Will
I do what?” he asked, a confused expression in his chocolate brown eyes. “No, I
am Will Darcy.”
“Oh!”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I thought you were asking if Darcy would do
something. The Bingleys have a sister named Darcy…” At the look on his face, Elizabeth
knew she had made a mistake. “Wow. Never mind. I assumed a sister when Chase
said to introduce ‘Darcy’ to me. It’s one of those
guys-call-each-other-by-their-last-name things.” She smiled and stuck out her
hand. “Let’s start over. I’m Elizabeth Bennet of Bennet Homes.”
“Will Darcy of Pemberley Estates,” he stated as he shook
her hand in a brief but firm handshake.
“Yes, you are our friendly competition,” Elizabeth said.
“There’s not much of a competition,” Carla drawled as she
stalked over to where Will stood. “We build designer houses. You paint old
relics.”
“We do more than ‘paint old relics’,” Elizabeth said,
struggling to keep her cool. “We revitalize homes that need some love. We match
up our customers with the best home for them. We partner with our customers to give
them their forever home.
Carla waved a well-manicured hand through the air
dismissively. “Take a page from Pemberley’s book and knock the wreck down. It
saves time and money. Not to mention removes an eyesore from the community.”
“Is that Pemberley Estates marketing tagline? ‘Removing landmarks
one at a time.’ That’s not going to work well here in Meryton. We are all
devoted to preserving our history.”
“Mayor Lucas and the zoning commission just approved our
proposal to build on the old bowling alley site off Route 1.” Carla’s dark eyes
gleamed. “We’ll be putting up our model homes in no time.”
“I
wouldn’t call the bowling alley a landmark, exactly,” Elizabeth admitted. “But
I’m still disappointed that the zoning commission would not want to rehab it
into something else.”
“You
are opposed to new buildings?” Will asked. “Isn’t that antithetical to your
construction company?”
Elizabeth
chuckled. “I’m not opposed to new buildings. That would be the kiss of death to
any construction business. We are happy to build anything our customers want. I
personally prefer a building with a history. Old buildings have such character
and charm to them. I don’t want to haphazardly knock them down just to make
room for something plastic and shiny. Steel is great for girders but for a
family room? Not so much.”
Will
Darcy quirked up one eyebrow. “You obviously feel very passionate about this.
Excuse me.” He took out his phone and walked away.
Well, that was awkward. Was it me or was it him? I’m
pretty sure it was him. If only Jane was here to evaluate it. Though she most
likely would have said that he was self-conscious. It doesn’t
matter. We’re not likely to have much to do with Pemberley Estates. She
glanced over to Carla Bingley preening in front of her booth. Not that I want to.
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