Almost As Much (The Cherished Memories Book 3) Read online

  ALMOST AS MUCH

  Book 3 in the Cherished Memories Series

  By

  Linda Ellen

  Synopsis

  The long awaited final installment of the series that began with the 2014 Lyra Independent Fiction Contest Romance Category Winner, Once in a While.

  It’s now 1955…

  Vic and Louise Matthews are living his Bold Venture and raising their family. Together with Louise’s son Tommy and their own two boys, along with Louise’s mother, Lilly, they have settled into a comfortable life.

  With Vic working seven days a week to make his dream a success, they have realized Almost as Much happiness as they had hoped for, but Louise unexpectedly finds herself becoming frustrated and dissatisfied. As problems between them grow, each one steadfastly searches for answers. Finally, in desperation, Louise makes a decision that sets in motion an event that will change the dynamic of their lives forever.

  Follow this hard-working couple as they weather accidents, robberies, and misunderstandings – as well as joys, triumphs, and answered prayers.

  Will that magnificent love that began on a dark rainy night in 1937 truly prevail? And will the event that Louise longs for become a reality?

  Heartfelt, delightful, riveting, and at times comical, Almost as Much is an inspirational tale awash in historical references, while thoroughly portraying the reality of a family striving to live the American dream in Louisville in the 1950’s.

  Continuing the story of Vic and his Louise, Almost as Much touches on the funny times, the sad experiences, the frightening events, and the magic that life can be when two people love one another and love their family and friends. It’s a fond voyage through the wonderful days of the 1950’s.

  Reviews

  “A truly heartwarming read! Oh, the memories! This book was a refreshing walk down memory lane for me. Even if you weren’t around in the 1950’s you’ll still enjoy everything about this book and the series. What intrigues me most while reading it is that it’s based on true events. You can even go to Linda Ellen’s Pinterest page and see pictures relating to the book with the real people. That, to me, is fascinating. The book is so well written that you feel you are there with them. You cry when they cry, and laugh when they laugh—or at the “I Love Lucy” style antics that sometimes appear in the book. I laughed at some of the scenes, especially one about taking a trip in a stick-shift vehicle that the driver had never driven. I could picture it all. Hats off to Linda Ellen for sharing her family stories with us. What a delightful romp, and I’m sorry to see the series end. After reading book 3, I want to go back and read the other two again! One thing for sure, I fell madly in love with Vic. He wasn’t a perfect person, but he sure tried hard to be. Wouldn’t we all love to be loved like Louise was by Vic? This was a truly unforgettable book. Thank you, Linda Ellen.”

  ~Romance Author Barbara Goss

  “I couldn’t wait to dive into this 3rd of Linda Ellen’s trilogy. As each chapter delved into more of their relationships and struggles, Linda’s writing made me feel as if I was being pulled back in time and sharing the experiences with them. My heart beat faster at each danger and I couldn’t contain the laughter during the carefree moments. I struggled with Louise and her burning desire to have what she feared she wouldn’t have, through to her steadfast belief that her dream would become a reality. I felt for the family members when her obsessions affected them. Mostly I enjoyed how this family got through many struggles, some life threatening, but their love never wavered.”

  ~Beta Reader Judy Glenn

  “Every time I enter the world Linda Ellen has created I feel like I’m going home. Home to characters that feel like a family I’ve been away from and get to visit with again. Getting to follow Vic and Louise as they traverse the hardships and the blessings of life invariably seems to mirror something very close to my own. There is always hope in these stories, and always truth. And underneath it all, there’s the excitement and humor of an era gone by; an era of music, classic cars, and family holidays that were done up like they never will be again. With these stories and this book, especially, those times live once more.”

  ~Author Venessa Vargas

  Almost as Much

  Book 3 of The Cherished Memories Series

  Written by Linda Ellen

  Copyright © 2016 by Linda Ellen

  Trade Paperback Release: August 2016

  Electronic Release: August 2016

  www.facebook.com/LindaEllen.Author

  ISBN: 978-0-9909044-5-8

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is appreciated.

  Although this book is a work of fiction, the story was partially based upon events in the lives of the author’s family. Names were changed or details altered; characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Brands are used respectfully. Details regarding Louisville as it was in those days were taken from the memories of those who lived then, as well as photographs and other documents.

  The following story contains themes of real life, but is suitable for all ages, as it contains no explicit sex or profanity.

  Cover design by Kari March Designs

  Cover photography by Linda Bullock

  Formatting by BB eBooks

  Editing by Venessa Vargas

  Proofreading by Kathryn Lockwood

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Synopsis

  Reviews

  Copyright Page

  CHAPTER 1 – A Little Trouble in Paradise

  CHAPTER 2 – The Celebration

  CHAPTER 3 – The Decision

  CHAPTER 4 – An Empty Nest and an Answered Prayer

  CHAPTER 5 – The House in Buechel

  CHAPTER 6 – Unexpected Visitors

  CHAPTER 7 – The Robbery

  CHAPTER 8 – A Little Nudging From Above

  CHAPTER 9 – Christmas in Buechel

  CHAPTER 10 – The Longing

  CHAPTER 11 – The Flirt, The Bigot, and The Fight

  CHAPTER 12 – The Reconciliation

  CHAPTER 13 – Duke and The Wasp Nest

  CHAPTER 14 – We’ll Be Seeing You, Billy Boy

  CHAPTER 15 – The Scare at the Fair

  CHAPTER 16 – The Beginnings of Obsession

  CHAPTER 17 – Elvis, Thanksgiving, and The Close Call

  CHAPTER 18 – The Crash

  CHAPTER 19 – The Rodeo Ride & The Baby

  CHAPTER 20 – The Admission

  CHAPTER 21 – The Attack

  CHAPTER 22 – Desperate Prayers

  EPILOGUE

  Dedications

  About the Author

  ‡

  CHAPTER 1

  A Little Trouble in Paradise

  August 1955

  Louise Matthews carefully removed the hot cake pan from the oven. Straightening and reaching over the open door, she placed it next to its twin on the stovetop.

  Glancing at the clock on the wall by the doorway, she nodded in response to her thoughts. Everything’s under control; I’ll have this cake frosted and ready for the party when Vic gets home… “I hope he’s on time tonight,” she muttered under her breath.

  It had been a year since Vic opened the station, thus fulfilling his life-long wish of experiencing his own Bold Venture. After so many years of b
eing jobless, or working for low pay, and for bosses that didn’t appreciate him, Vic was finally master of his own livelihood. None of his jobs had ever seemed completely secure – there was always that fear that someone or something could come along and hi-jack it. Now, the amount of money he brought home depended mainly upon how long and hard he worked – and how many customers he had – not the whims of those in authority over him.

  But what an arduous year it had been; way over and above what Louise had been prepared to endure. She couldn’t withhold her sigh of frustration as she thought about the grueling hours her husband put in, working so hard to make Louisville’s newest Phillips 66 service station a success. He wanted so much to make everyone proud, and to please the company’s board of directors. Deep down, she knew he longed for the coveted Manager of the Month award – and why not, even the esteemed Manager of the Year title. He deserved them.

  “They dang well ought to give it to him, he’s worked hard enough for it. His customers see him more than his family does,” Louise grumbled as she moved around the kitchen preparing food for the party and striving to push away the loneliness her husband’s absences caused. She missed the early days of their marriage…the romantic gestures…the sweet-nothings whispered in her ear as she cooked a meal or did the dishes…and the longing looks across the supper table when they couldn’t wait for little Tommy to go to sleep so they could be alone to snuggle, among other things.

  It was a hot afternoon, not a breeze stirring, and Louise paused for a moment to walk over and stand in front of the window fan, with its warm air ruffling the strands of damp hair lying against her forehead. Not exactly a good day to be baking, I guess, she mused with a smirk. But she was determined to bring some joy into the house. The stresses of daily life had become extraordinarily heavy as of late.

  Suddenly, a sound like a herd of elephants approached at a fast clip across the back porch, just before six-year-old Jimmy and nine-year-old Buddy came busting through the back screen door. The boys nearly bowled Louise over as they ran past, the older directly on the heels of the younger.

  “Boys!” she fussed as she held a large jar of mayonnaise up out of the way.

  “Gimme those, you little fart!” Buddy hollered as Jimmy’s teasing peal of laughter rang out. Jimmy was clutching the set of toy bongo drums his brother had received for his birthday in May.

  Lilly chose that moment to step into the dining room doorway, dust mop in hand. The youngsters nearly collided with her. “For Heaven’s sake, boys! Watch where you’re playing, somebody could get hurt.”

  “Sorry Gramma!” Jimmy squealed as he darted around her, nearly making it past before his brother reached out and grasped the back of his shirt, jerking him to an abrupt halt.

  “Get ’yer own if you want to play drums,” Buddy growled as he yanked his prize possession back. “Take ’em again without my saying you can and I’ll pound you,” he added for good measure, leaning over his smaller brother, his face scrunched into a menacing scowl.

  Jimmy, only slightly intimidated, shrugged as he took a half step back. “I just wanted to see if I could do it…as good as you,” he added, his hazel eyes giving off a soft sparkle as he saw a fleeting glimpse of pride ignite in his brother’s eyes.

  However, refusing to give in to his little brother’s charms, Buddy growled, “Well, you can’t. So, keep your mitts off.”

  “Boys, get along!” Louise hollered from the kitchen as Lilly placed her hands on her grandsons’ shoulders and directed them through the house to the front door. “You two go on outside and play – nice. It’s too hot to run roughshod through the house.”

  “But Gramma!” “I’m hungry!” the boys fussed simultaneously.

  “I want a cookie,” Jimmy added, gazing up at his grandmother with his most precocious smile.

  As usual, Lilly softened at the charm of her youngest grandson. “Alright, you two go on out to the front yard and I’ll bring you each a cookie.”

  “Yippee!” they yelled in unison as the screened door banged shut behind them.

  The grandmother turned and met her daughter’s eyes, both of them shaking their heads in heat and adolescent-induced irritation.

  Louise turned to head back into the kitchen, one hand smoothing back the damp, short-cut strands of her hair. Her mother followed her into the room and retrieved two cookies from the cookie jar on the counter. After delivering the items, she returned and opened the utility closet to put away the dust mop.

  “Vic knows about the party tonight, right?” Lilly queried, forgetting that she had already asked the same question three times that day.

  Her back to Lilly as she continued peeling potatoes, Louise nodded. “He promised he and Tommy would knock off around five-thirty and leave the new guy to close up.”

  The older woman snorted softly as she removed the string mop and bucket from the closet. “That’s what he said last night.”

  Louise turned her head and shot an aggravated look at her mother. “He couldn’t help that. You heard him – he wanted to get that big job finished. The customer owns a delivery business with six trucks and promised Vic could have all of his mechanic trade if he got that first job done in one day,” she stated, staunchly defending her husband even though deep down she was fighting her own battle against resentment. It seemed that all her husband did anymore was work – and seven days a week at that.

  Living out Vic’s Bold Venture wasn’t turning out the way she had imagined. She knew she was being unreasonable – her husband was working so hard to provide a home and a good living for her, the boys, and her mother to boot. She knew he loved them all, fiercely…she just couldn’t seem to fight off the encroaching feelings of neglect and disappointment.

  As if reading her mind, Lilly mused as she filled the mop bucket at the sink. “Well, if you ask me, it seems as if Vic thinks he’s married to that station now, instead of a flesh and blood wife and family.”

  “Mama! That’s not fair. And I don’t want to talk about it right now, it’s too hot to argue.”

  Louise reached for the cake pans, holding them carefully with a towel to cushion against the heat as she began the process of turning the layers out onto the cooling racks. Today was a milestone in their lives and she was determined there would be a celebration. Their friends Fleet and Alec Alder, Earl and Ruth Grant, Doc Latham and his wife Florence, Irene Waller, and even Vic’s brother Jack and his wife Liz had promised to come…whether or not the guest of honor would be there on time. No, he will. He promised.

  An hour later, the cake frosted and decorated, and the food finished, Louise glanced at the clock again, noting the time as Lilly came through the back door with a basket of laundry fresh off the backyard lines.

  “It’s five o’clock, I’m going to go take a bath and get dressed,” Louise informed her mother as she slipped past, untying her apron and placing it on the counter.

  Performing a quick tour of the house to make sure it was ready for company, Louise eyed the living room with Tommy and Buddy’s bunk beds and double chest of drawers nestled against one wall. She was satisfied that everything looked as neat as could be. Surely their friends understood the logistical problems of six people living in a one-bedroom house.

  When they had first moved into the little house at Thirty-Eighth and Herman, Lilly and Tommy had shared the bedroom, and Buddy had been less than a year old. He had slept in a crib in the corner of Vic and Louise’s sleeping area, which they had carved from the back half of the large dining room. Now Grandma and the youngest shared the one small bedroom.

  Hard to believe that much time had passed.

  Retreating behind the curtain separating their sleeping area from the rest of the dining room, Louise quickly gathered her necessities and scurried into the bathroom for a cool, quick bath. As she soaked for a few blissful minutes, she could hear Lilly giving the boys orders, probably to change into clean clothes. Speedily washing her hair, Louise gave it a quick rinsing and then stepped out of the tub
to dry off.

  Back in her room a few minutes later, Louise stood in her underclothes and combed her hair at the mirror, relishing the breeze from yet another window fan. Running her fingers through the shortened locks, she grimaced at the unaccustomed brevity of the strands.

  In a way, it felt kind of good to be in fashion for a change; after all, it was 1955 and the restrictions of the Depression and the War years had lifted. However, she still had mixed feelings about her decision to have it chopped off, at Fleet’s insistence – and Vic’s expression when he had first seen it hadn’t helped. She could tell he was a bit shocked and disappointed. He’d always told her he loved to run his fingers through her smooth sable hair. The only consolation was that this shorter style was much cooler against her neck in the late summer heat.

  Picturing her grinning friend with her new short hairdo as she had practically dragged Louise into a nearby salon to get hers cut the same way; Louise shook her head with a rueful half smile. That Fleet, she’s always been able to talk me into just about anything.

  Fleetwood McDougal, now Fleetwood Alder – had been Louise’s best friend since they were girls in school, in spite of the fact that Fleet, as she was affectionately known, was a full three years older. Oh, the wonderful times – and mischief – they had gotten into together. Most of it still unknown to Lilly…and Fleet’s own mother and grandmother, Blanche and Myrtle McDougal. Louise frowned when she thought of those women – Fleet’s family – and she shook her head sadly.

  Fleet had been raised on Seventh Street – in a notorious section where many of the houses sported a red light on the porch. Her mother and grandmother had both made their living doing what was unseemly to the decent people of the city – at least the females of the city, and many of the men. Those who chose to frequent such houses and women, well…

  Louise shook her head regretfully as she thought of her friend now without a mother, grandmother or father for that matter, since Fleet had never even met the man. Blanche had caught pneumonia the previous winter and passed away down at the old City Hospital, and Myrtle had come down with a fast-acting case of tuberculosis. Although the authorities had taken her out to Hazelwood Sanatorium for treatment, they hadn’t caught it in time and she had quickly followed her daughter in death.