Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
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.
FRANKIE LOPEZ: A close, charismatic friend of Tamika’s who got cast in all the leading roles in his high school’s plays and whose mother always hosted the cast parties. He was thrilled to recently be the young and dashing emcee of Spruce’s first bachelor pageant.
MS. DELILAH “LILA” JOY: The theatre director at Spruce High who has a very on-and-off relationship with her husband John. No one knows from week to week whether they’re still married, taking a break, separated, or just plain divorced. Is eighth time the charm?
CALE & EDISON: Eccentric brothers who own and operate the barbershop. Cale’s son CJ—for Cale Junior—lives in north Texas working as an engineer after graduating college.
LEE & GENE MARVIN: The Marvin brothers run the market, but don’t always have the best produce. Lee is the kinder one everyone hopes to interact with to score secret discounts. Gene is the older, grumpier one who probably just needs some love in his life.
LAY OF THE LAND
SPRUCE, TEXAS
The central setting of the Spruce, Texas series, a small but growing town of friendly faces and way too much gossip. Spruce owes much of its inclusive and friendly atmosphere to the Spruce Fellowship church, led by Reverend Trey and his father Mitch Arnold, as well as the mighty town matriarchs of Nadine Strong, Cassie Evans, Cissy McPherson, and Marcy Whitman. The town recently saw its biggest change with the election of Nadine Strong as its new mayor, replacing Raymond Porter after a long but fairly uninspired run. Many annual celebrations go on in town, such as the Spruce Ball at the McPherson residence every summer, and seasonal parties at the Strong residence for the Fourth of July, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s.
FAIRVIEW, TEXAS
A small but bustling city that is one of Spruce’s closest neighbors. Though there is often a perceived rivalry between Spruce and Fairview, in truth there are many people who share relationships and friends between them. The Strong family have a fine-dining restaurant in Fairview called Nadine’s. Gary Strong’s ranch employs many people from Fairview. Also, Fairview Community is the closest college to Spruce with a number of familiar faces attending, including Hoyt and Tamika.
DREAMWOOD ISLE
On the coast of Texas overlooking the beautiful Gulf of Mexico is this balmy coastal community full of artists and musicians. It is the setting of the Texas Beach Town series, a spin-off from Spruce Texas that chronologically stems from Toby and Vann moving there to pursue their dreams outside of Spruce.
LOCATIONS AROUND TOWN
SPOTS TO EAT AT