Spotlight: Getting to Yes by Tim Hunniecutt
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Step into the sun-soaked embrace of 1978 Florida where nineteen-year-old Chris, a hopeless romantic, is determined to find something real.
Told from the perspective of a young man trying to make sense of his growing familiarity with women, their wants, their needs, as well as his own, Getting to Yes is a heartwarming and unexpected look at one of life’s most significant experiences: falling in love.
As Chris continues to learn about intimacy, we continue to learn about Chris through colorful, and often humorous vignettes of women that have come and gone.
And then he locks eyes with Chloe. And Chris knows this is what he’s been missing.
But is love ever simple? Rarely.
Step into a poignant, sweet, and nostalgic ode to the beauty of finding your way in this heartwarming adventure where love blooms and emotions unfold.
Getting to Yes captures the essence of innocence, the bittersweet taste of heartbreak, and the enduring power of hope when it comes to matters of the heart.
Excerpt
The red bandana framed her round face, and I focused on it. She had shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes—“Cow brown,” she would describe them to me later. She had high, plump cheeks like a child that, combined with her radiant, flawless skin, gave her a look of innocence. She looked fifteen, not nineteen or twenty. I recognized a barely perceptible warm haze coming from her dewy skin, like a warm glow off the fluorescent lights on the room’s ceiling. How could such a thing even be possible? I wanted to doubt what my eyes detected.
Astonished by what I saw, I could not tear my gaze away. She looked up at me, and it provoked my only possible response: I started smiling, and I could not stop.
I stood transfixed with only my smile speaking. It announced that she had dazzled me. She smiled in return and seemed to share the same inability to stop. We stood silently, smiling at each other. Our attraction became so evident that all the other girls and customers noticed, and the smiles spread.
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The whole drive home I spent wondering about her. Did I see her glow? What did that mean other than I’m crazy? I had been enamored by beautiful girls before, but never had a girl attracted me with such force. As I thought about her, I kept smiling. Nothing came easy for me in love. My past experiences taught me that it only fails and hurts you. Despite that history, Chloe dazzled me so much that I resolved to ask her out as soon as an opportunity arose.
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About the Author
Tim Hunniecutt's earliest memories include a love of words which he expressed by writing poems and stories for family and friends.
Tim attended Florida State University, where he studied Psychology and English. Home for the summer after his first year, he met a girl and fell in love. The love she gave him inspired this story.
Tim lives with the same girl, now his wife, in Lithia, Florida. He loves traveling, playing escape games, spending time with his grandchildren, and ballroom dancing with her.
