Michelle Cushing

From a Vine Michelle Cushing

Treasure is peculiar. Sometimes we don't have to dig. As unassuming as a sweet olive vine, twenty-year-old Joy Baxter has always loved digging in the dirt, hoping to find buried treasure. Her desire to discover hidden secrets led her to one goal-become an archeologist. Not necessarily a lofty goal, but for Joy it has its share of complications. As a community college student in the small town of Wenton, Georgia, she dreams of exploring the world, much to the chagrin of her family. Her overprotective mother, apathetic older sister, and promiscuous younger sister believe Joy should stay in Wenton and raise a family. Before she decides what to do with her future, Joy's life changes when thirty-two-year-old Efram T. Corbet, a famous, wise-cracking artist from New York, moves to Wenton. Like a cross vine, Efram is both arrogant and cocky on the outside, but peaceful and spiritual on the inside. Like a root slowly making its way into the earth, Efram weaves his way into Joy's life, moving from curiosity to friendship to love. Having found his muse, Efram paints her portrait, but Joy uncovers something much more valuable through him-the courage to be an explorer, regardless of what others might think. When she is invited on an archeological dig in Egypt, and the chance to study at a big university, Joy is caught between her love for Efram and her lifetime of dreams to be fulfilled. From a Vine is a story about passion-the kind we get from finding our muse and following its call. Witty, inspiring, and romantic, this remarkable work of literary fiction takes readers on a journey as aromatic as a garden, filled with flowers and plants that give the story an air of life and beauty. One can almost smell and feel the earth as Joy holds a clump of dirt in her hand, knowing what she wants from life.