Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 571(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
COLE HARDING & NOAH REED: Cole is the handsome, kind, and attentive boyfriend of Noah who works at the Strong Fitness Zone. He was recently one of the three bachelors of Spruce’s first male pageant. Noah, shy and awkward and perpetually living in his brainy head, works as a photographer and editor/storywriter for the Spruce Press. The two are an unlikely but beautifully balanced pair. They have a dog named Porridge.
KIRK & BONNIE: Kirk was a football player and close pal of Tanner Strong’s back in the day, now married to his high school sweetheart Bonnie and living together in Spruce’s trailer park. The two have a rowdy nine-year-old boy named Kirkland Junior.
MINDY & JOEL: Mindy, a dry-humored childhood friend of Billy Tucker’s, used to work at Biggie’s Bites, but now has her hands full with a pair of twins who recently turned three. Joel is her weary but happy husband who works at the auto shop and reeks of grease at all hours of the day, bless him.
THE KINGS
TYRONE & OMAR KING: Tyrone is an ex-cop, married to Omar, who is the town veterinarian and Samuel Buckley’s boss. They live quite a bit of ways from town, almost in Fairview, with their nearest neighbors being Gary Strong and Lance & Chad.
KELSEY KING: After suffering too much time in the foster care system, her dream came true and she was adopted by two gay men: Tyrone and Omar. She is a close friend of Toby’s and tries to visit him and Vann often at their beach town home in Dreamwood Isle.
DEAN KING: Tyrone’s brother and one of the three bachelors in the recent Spruce Pageant. He frequently visits Austin to spend time with his girlfriend Candace, and things are looking serious.
SPRUCE’S “WEALTHY FAMILY” TRIFECTA
CASSIE EVANS: She is a very wealthy woman living in a large, luxurious house on the edge of Spruce with her husband. She funds Lance Goodwin’s fashion design studio Goodwin Designs. She has a son and daughter, Fabian and Vanessa “Nessie”. Vanessa is dating Robby, a notorious lady’s man who sings for the church choir, and Cassie isn’t too thrilled about that fact.
MARCY WHITMAN: She doesn’t tend to make a big presence in town, keeping mostly to herself. Her husband Jack Whitman is the principal at Spruce High.
CISSY MCPHERSON: She lives on a large plot of land on the outskirts of Spruce with her husband and son. At the end of every summer, the McPhersons host the annual Spruce Ball. Just recently, they hosted Spruce’s first male pageant.
FAMILIAR FACES AROUND TOWN
TJ MCPHERSON: Cissy and Tim’s son away at college, known around town for his sweet personality and popularity. When home for winter or summer break, he works at the T&S Sweet Shoppe.
MARYBETH: A sweetheart and shameless gossip who works at the Spruce Clinic and can’t get enough about what’s going on in everyone’s lives but her own. Little is known about her ex Jack, who left her and her daughter Jeanie to pursue a music career on the road—as well as countless groupies, rumor has it.
DR. HENRY EMORY: He runs the Spruce Clinic and is the boss of Marybeth, Carla, and the other nurses, including Trey Arnold.
ROBBY: A member of the Spruce Fellowship Choir and boyfriend of Vanessa “Nessie” Evans, though her parents don’t much approve since he has a past of going through women like tissue paper. He’s determined to prove himself worthy of her hand someday, though it seems like a mighty uphill battle.
BURTON: Another member of the choir with a bit of an inferiority complex, he works begrudgingly at the Spruce Press alongside his difficult-to-please father who runs it. He recently mustered up the courage to ask his crush Cindy out on a date, and now they’re kind of an item. Let’s hope it lasts.
JEREMIAH & HAL: Two other members of the choir—friendly, easy-going, and just plain love to sing.
ROBINSON: The fussy, perpetually agitated, alleged leader of the choir, though half the time he’s not at the rehearsals. He shows up every Sunday and sure does sing with perfect pitch, though.
MR. LEMON: He’s the general manager at the Spruce Cinema 5, and while he’s pretty much as calm as can be, you don’t want to press your luck with him; he’s also a stickler for the rules and will check your ID on an R-rated movie no matter how old you look.
VINCE: A long-time employee at Spruce Cinema 5 who recently was promoted to supervisor, though he claims he’s essentially just a glorified usher in a tie.
TAMIKA: Magnetic, bright-eyed, and confident recent high school graduate who did theatre with Toby and Vann. She works now for the Spruce Press and is a friend of Noah’s. She also has a close friendship with fellow alum Frankie Lopez, whom she was rumored to be dating, but Tamika put that silly gossip to rest.