Linda Atchison is a character in the ONtv series, Harpers Falls: New Beginnings. She is played by Melinda Sward, best known for her role of troublemaking socialite (and twin sister of Fancy Crane) Pretty Crane on Passions.
Fashionably dressed caterer[]
The oldest of the Atchison's three children, Linda is one of the more self-sufficient people in Beacon Hill. She is very enterprising.
Besides owning her own catering business, Catering by Linda, which does a great business in the Beacon Hill area; she is a partner in Sheila Watkins Designs, along with Sheila Harper Watkins; Cynthia Archer; Clarissa Smythe and Christina Burkhardt.
Although she is a Bostonian through and through, Linda took classes at UCLA in Hotel and Restaurant management, which helped with her catering business. During those years, she met and became friends with Aaron Atherton. Although she wasn't a part of his Greek community circle of friends, they were still good friends. It was during that time she also met his troublemaking girlfriend (later wife), Jennifer Barrett. She still hates her to this day.
At first, relations with her father, Ralph, were very frigid, due to the unbelievable manipulations of her younger sister, Libby and her former sister in-law Alexandra Chadwick.
Those two ran the roost in the Atchison home, reducing Ralph to a mere acquiescent lump and terrorizing Brad, Linda's brother and Alexandra's husband.
Linda, however, wasn't intimidated by either Libby's rants and raves, or Alexandra's conniving, and hiding the fact that she was a prostitute. Linda managed to do what she could and not let things get to her.
She and Brad had a very close bond, due to a promise that she had made to her mother, Dawn, that she would look out for her whiz-kid but very naive brother.
Linda and Sheila bonded after the devastating events of Sheila's cousin, Dylan's spouse, Alex Corwin's death, which Libby had ordered. Now the Atchisons and Harpers are very close friends and allies.
Finally having had enough of Alexandra and Libby's manipulations and control of the family, Linda and Sheila went to all the major television stations in Boston, and blew the whistle on Alexandra and Libby by publically revealing Alexandra's prostitution.
Eventually though, Linda patched things with Alexandra and Libby. Libby is now Dylan Harper's best friend, and she is still close to them. Linda is the caterer of choice for the Harper family.
She also works with newcomer Elaine Schreiner, who owns a diner style restaurant called Elaine's Eats. She also gained a new friend in Elaine's dizzy sister, Aviva Schreiner.
Linda is the taste-tester for Elaine's cooking, and vice versa; while she and Aviva talk a lot about Classical music (both share a love of classical, while Linda is more into Opera).
Linda has also gained the attention of one Shane Washburn, himself an Opera singer. They date infrequently, because they are both very shy, and are more driven towards their respective jobs than they are in any dating relationships. Shane also has a crush one of his singers at the Opera, which Linda understands.