Excerpt Monday

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

This is another one from the archives. It's the third book in a series I started when I was pregnant with number 3. He's six now. :D Right off the bat, you'll catch the POV switch, other than that... great couple whose story is told in the only completed book of the series, book one, Certain Suspicions.

* * *

Francine O' Malley rolled over and draped her arm across her husband's sleeping body. Her hand found his curled up close to his chest and she entwined their fingers. Her cheek rested on his smooth bare shoulder. As the sun stretched across the foot of the bed, she disengaged her hand from his and ran her fingers across his abdomen. At her touch he turned onto his back and pulled her into the crook of his arm.
He slept lightly knowing that she would eventually speak to him. It was a habit that at first had driven him crazy. Still did occasionally...
"Samantha Anderson is back in town."
"Hm."
"Her daughter is five. They're living with Bob."
"Hmm." He lifted one eyelid.
"What the heck is she doing over there? Doesn't she remember being a kid in that house? How could she possibly want to relive that time?"
Jim rolled into her and rested his head on his arm when she spoke again.
"I'm worried about Morgan... "
"He's a big boy now."
"I know that! I just... I can't stand what seeing her again might do to him. He's been so off lately.

Have you noticed how moody he's been?
"When he came to the house the other day, it was the first time in over two weeks. Two weeks, Jim! That's not like him."
"I think that you're going to have to let Morgan figure things out for himself." He silenced her protest with a kiss. "Here's an idea. Why don't you give Sam a call? Find out how she's doing? No matter what her reason is for moving back in with her Dad, she could probably use a friend."
"Do you think he is still violent with her?" Her question tugged a spot in his heart.
"I don't know, Frankie. He's worn out now and doesn't look well."
As was her routine, she changed topics without warning. "I heard from Kevin last night."
"Hmm."
"He wouldn't say where he was."
"...couldn't."
"Right." She shrugged. "He couldn't say where he was located. He sounds well, though. I just wish the Navy would let him tell us what he was doing. He must be overseas." Jim listened to her speculate on her brother's career as a Navy Seal.
"Do you think he stills carries a torch for her?"
"Huh? Kevin? Who... he hasn't carried a torch for anyone. He's still playing the field as far as I know. Not that he has all that much time to do even that."
"Not Kevin! Morgan. I was talking about his thing for Samantha Anderson when we were in high school."
"Oh." Jim wrapped his arms around Frankie. "You lost me there. I think I fell back asleep." He pulled her to himself. "That's enough talk, woman."
Frankie laughed as Jim rolled her under him. "What makes you go a mile a minute one morning and slow as molasses the next?" She was unpredictable and he loved that about her.
She shrugged her shoulders with a smile. "Will you talk to him and make sure he's okay?"
"If I agree to do this will you stop talking?" He nuzzled her neck, a particularly soft, sensitive spot just behind her ear.
"Mmm. I think I could be persuaded."
She rubbed her lips over his and turned his caress into a long, slow, easy kiss.
"I'll do it than."


Links to other Excerpt Monday writers

Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

Excerpt Monday

In case you're curious, I'm implementing Excerpt Monday again. The hope is to be inspired and motivated to have something new with each effort. For what it's worth, this sample isn't new, but it is resurrected. :D You'll catch Music Monday on those weeks when Excerpt Monday isn't being featured.

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate just a writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

The Storm, a story of finding new love...

Molly bumped into the driveway with a joyful skid and stopped in front of her upstairs garage apartment. Petunias hung from the balcony over the two large bay garage doors. The fall of vibrant color inspired her to do something new and life reassuring.

“Hello Molly.” The spirited greeting came from across the yard where Mrs. Pinkerton sat on her front porch. She had owned the house next door for as long as anyone could remember. As a child, Molly would wander through town just for a visit…and would get a cookie as her reward.

“How are you, Mrs. Pinkerton?”

“I’m doing just fine, dear.” She studied Molly with the understanding eyes of a fellow widower. “You look good today. Pretty dress. How’s the new job?”

“It’s been interesting. I never expected to be there so long and I do miss my job at the library, but,” Molly shrugged her shoulders, “I’m happy.”

“So ya are. Good for you. You’ll start seeing men, I suppose.”

Molly smiled. Mrs. Pinkerton insisted she get a man, soon.

She didn’t balk anymore when a friend mentioned her need to find someone new. At times it was annoying, yet she couldn’t stay mad at an eighty-six year old woman, either. Besides, she did get lonely.

“I’ve been thinking I’ll wait for your great grandson to come of age. Now he’s a cutie.” Molly loved when Cheryl, Mrs. Pinkerton’s granddaughter, came to visit with her passel of five kids. Sean, the youngest, was a fifteen month blue-eyed wonder who loved to snuggle down on her shoulder. She found herself longing in those moments.

Mrs. Pinkerton studied her.

Leaning on the white picket fence, Molly blushed and laughed. A breeze swept around her legs and she relished the feeling of freedom the wind granted her. “You’ll be the first to know when I find a new man.”

“Humph.” Mrs. Pinkerton shifted in her seat and started rocking again. “I see we’re getting a new neighbor.”

“Really? You mean in Katie’s place?” The landlord had taken the large two-car space below her apartment and made it into a ground floor unit. Sure enough, a moving van sat to the left of the azalea bush.

“How about some pizza, Chief?” A voice drifted from the garage and was loud enough for the two women to hear. A deep rumbling baritone answered, “Get pepperoni and mushrooms.”

Molly winked at Mrs. Pinkerton. “Guess I’ll go say hello. Check ‘em out for you.”

She stopped at her car first to gather her things. In her hands she held her briefcase, thermos, and a bag of collected garbage from her car. Each night, no matter what the circumstances, she liked to pull everything out of her car. A clean slate each morning started the day just right.

She rounded the corner of the garage only to be assaulted by the rising ruckus. The original bay doors had been permanently framed, insulated, and drywalled on the inside. The main living space and kitchen, with ceilings of twelve feet, opened onto a patio directly under Molly’s balcony.

She stood in the entryway for a few seconds before a man rose from the pile of discarded boxes. His smile was immediate and contagious. She took in the chaos of opened boxes, clothing, and furniture before coming back to his face.

He brushed his hands on his jeans as he walked toward her.

“Hi. I’m Jacob.” His smile was sincere and she shifted the weight of her burden so she could greet the man properly. “You must be Molly.”

“Yes.” She smiled, assuming he had spoken to the landlord, or even Mrs. Pinkerton. “Welcome to the neighborhood, Jacob.”

She was still pumping his hand when the second man returned from the bedroom and the world as she knew it came to a grinding halt. She dropped Jacob’s hand. Deacon Bonning in the flesh. “Oh God.”

His smile was devastatingly slow and captivating in a way that Jacob’s hadn’t been. The air surrounding her sizzled and she failed to inhale, couldn’t seem to catch the breath she needed to sustain life.

“Molly.”

Her mind seized with distress. What was he doing here?

...Charlie? Did they know more about what happened to Charlie?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Links to other Excerpt Monday writers can be found on the Excerpt Monday blog.

Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

Excerpt Monday -- The Houseboat

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

~~~~~
Well, I missed the EM list this month. :P Doh! But I'll post anyway. Since it's Nano, I have plenty of crap to share. I'll have to post my excerpt with an R rating because there is a bit of language in it. Hope you enjoy.
With Love,
Bethanne

*

Brother glanced over to check on his sister, sitting on the very edge of the couch and balancing her tv dinner on her knees. Olivia was five today and Dad hadn't remembered in time to bring home a present from Walmart after work.
No surprise, there, though, and he was used to helping out. His dad said he was a effing helper. At school, his teacher even gave him a star for helping clean the erasers.

This time, Brother knew just the thing to make up for his mistake. The storage space under the house had been flooded earlier in the summer so the mud that was the floor sucked his shoes with every step he took to the back wall. His dad could reach the top shelf, no problem, but he had to climb. He breathed a sigh of relief, finding it dry. The bracelet he'd put there after his mother left had turned a funny green, though. He shrugged.

Olivia's favorite color was green.

Someday, he'd thought he would buy her one of those pretty rings from the television, the one with a great big stone on it. It was as big as a chicken nugget!
A roar blared from the screen, drawing his attention back to the wrestling show that came on every Thursday night.

“Dad, maybe we could sing Happy Birthday to Olivia now.”

Olivia stood with a smile and picked up all the trays. She was shy, even with her family, and blushed when her dad looked at her and narrowed his eyes. With a quick look at Brother, she fled the room. He could hear the lid of the trashcan as it snapped back into place.

His dad grunted. Not a great sign, but he did place his beer on the table. “You didn't get no cake, did you, boy?”

Brother's pulse jumped at the accusation in his dad's question. “I-- I made a cake.”

“No cake.” Red-faced, his dad slurred with a frown. “You know goddamned well, 'Livia can't have cake. It'll take the very life from her.”

“No-- no-- There's no sugar in it. I swear. I followed the recipe and didn't add any sugar.” Though his hands shook, he stood his ground. “Just like the doctor said, no sugar.”

“Effin' A, you little pipsqueak.” Looking through the top of his eyes, the bags beneath, dark and sagging, his dad relaxed back onto the couch with an chuckle. “Son of a bitch. They's said you was slow. Pricks, the bunch of them, sitting in their offices and handing out effin' evaluations. So, you made a cake. No sugar.

“'Livia! Come on in here so we can sing you a happy birthday.”

Brother turned and coaxed Olivia from out of the hallway by holding out his hand with a smile. “Sit here. I'll go get it.”

The cake was small and it had risen too much, then fallen when he took it out of the oven. Opening the drawer next to the stove, he pulled out a candle—a pink one. Perfect for a girl. Carefully, he placed one foot in front of the other down the short hall. The cake wobbled as he entered the living room.

“Watch it!”

Olivia's smile gave him courage and he gripped the plate a little tighter as he took a deep breath and started to sing. She sang with him, her eyes shining, her cheeks flushed. The guttural sounds of their father's voice, joining in, startled him for just a fraction of an instant. Brother knew this was a special day, and Dad must have figured it out, too.

With her eyes closed so tight—she looked just like his friend Kim down the street—his sister blew out the candle.

“Did you make a wish?” he asked, teasing her.

Her curls bounced with her answer.

“I got a present for you.”

His dad sat up and eyed him suspiciously. “You steal it, boy?”

Brother took the wrapped gift from his pocket and set it on the table. “I'll cut the cake while you open it.”

She took her time, and he worried when her movements became clumsy. When she wasn't feeling well, she needed his help more. He really was a big helper.

Finally the small package was open. The bracelet looked much worse up here.
He wasn't supposed to cry. That's what his dad said. So he blinked away the prickly feeling.

“It's lovely. Thank you so much.” On her wrist, it could have been gold and he was proud that he'd given it to her, even if it wasn't. The smile she sent him was quiet, as if she understood things he didn't. She touched his arm before coming around the table and hugging him. “Thank you.”

Brother closed his eyes and hugged her back. She gave the best hugs ever.

“Looks like a piece of crap to me.”

With a wink, Olivia ignored their dad. “Let's go outside and play until bedtime.”

Glad to escape the disappointment of that small room, in that dark house, he grabbed his sister's hand and raced toward the front door.

“Aren't ya gonna eat the goddamned cake?”

They slowed but didn't stop.

“Don't forget your sister's medicine! Before bed. Don't forget.”

*

Links to other Excerpt Monday writers can be found on the Excerpt Monday Webpage.

Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

Excerpt Monday

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

~~~~~
Have you ever opened a manuscript after years of hiding it in the closet? I have a few of those. So this month, I pulled the second manuscript in my Lawrence Family Series, Since You've Been Gone--Brian Lawrence, a doctor who thinks he's lost everything there is to lose. With about 3 or 4 scenes to it's name, I think this is one ms that will be fun to rewrite. ...it's rough. Lots of watcheds, noticeds, and stuff. :D Enjoy!

*

Brian worked tirelessly through the morning. His eyes stung and his teeth felt like they were coated with plaster dust. The ache in his shoulder reminded him of his age--thirty-four. Where had the years gone? ...And why couldn't they have taken this Monday with them?

Brian stood now in the cold, winter morning sun outside the burnt out shell of his clinic. The chill felt good on his skin with the sun warming his face.

Lisa stood and watched him, grateful he had finally taken a break. She had seen him fight for the last three hours to save his life's work. He had opened this clinic just after graduating from medical school. It had been a pipe dream that he had worked long hours to make a reality. The destruction of his clinic was that dream gone up in smoke.

She noticed as she walked over with a cup of coffee that through the fatigue he was still handsome. He had the dark hair of his father and she noticed a speckling of gray just at his temples. His eyes were the sharp hazel color from his mother's eyes. He had a distinguished, angular face that suited his career as a doctor. She knew it sounded silly but she couldn't help thinking he looked like a doctor.

Today there were dark circles under his eyes and a defeated anger in them. She had never seen him look so volatile. She raised the mug in a hesitant offering.

"Thanks." He grumbled without even looking at her and turned to his assistant who called his name.

Lisa bit her lip and watched him walk away--not too tall, strong through his shoulders and powerful legs... and a passion that she remembered in the quietest moments of the morning before waking. She sighed when he lifted another pile of scrap wood over his shoulder and she glimpsed the tattoo riding his left hip.

In the last several weeks, Brian faced one trial after another. He had to be close to some sort of breaking point and prayed that he would find the strength to survive when his world finally obliterated around him.

She’d been through the same after she lost the baby. Her marriage, which had been preceded by a shotgun wedding, had slowly disintegrated around her. She had cried herself to sleep more times than she wanted to remember in those first six months after the baby had died, but she and Brian had become two separate entities, each ignoring the other's pain.

Dissention had ruled their home until the night Brian had almost died, and Lisa had run.

She was a fool then. Was she being a fool now?

*

Links to other Excerpt Monday writers can be found on the Excerpt Monday Webpage.

Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

Excerpt Monday

Monday the tenth brings something new to Romance in Writing. Excerpt Monday. What's an excerpt? A snippet of something bigger. This blog-round runs the gambit--works in progress, short stories, blurbs, and even poetry. One Monday a month [I think] to share a bit of the craft with other writers, friends, family, readers.... If you're here because you like to read, please take another minute to visit one more blog! Links to other Excerpts will be listed after mine.

~Shake the Sugar Tree~

They slept together in his king-size bed.

Thad woke early, shifted, and pulled her close to his chest. She took a deep breath, knowing she should probably get up instead and put some space between them. Damn reasonable and safe, though. She'd waited too long to let go, even if for just a short moment in time. She traced the Celtic cross that covered the smooth expanse of skin at the top of his arm. This symbol meant something to him.

“Morning.” His voice a gravelly whisper in her ear, she shivered against him, wondering if she could take it when he finally left. If. If he left. The thought was a warning of what happened when she placed too much hope in expectations. She pushed it aside. She didn't want to dwell on the what ifs this morning.

He kissed her in that soft spot under her ear, before sliding out from beneath the covers. She hid her smile when he turned and brushed her hair off her face. She stretched at his touch. “What are you doing,” she whispered.

“I'm getting up to go to church.”

She frowned, her senses coming alert and her heart pounding. Would he leave her behind? Did she want that?

He smiled and shrugged. “I won't be long.”

“You don't want me to go?”

“You don't have to go.”

Her frown deepened as she evaluated her reactions—disappointment, relief, apprehension. He crouched in front of her so they were face-to-face. “Do you want to go?” he asked, taking the blanket on her shoulder and pushing it down to expose her back. His magical fingers traced circles from the top of her spine to the small of her back.

She would have sighed if he hadn't caused desire to override the tenderness of the gesture. “If you keep doing that, we won't be going to church anytime soon.”

He kissed the slight indentation of her shoulder blade. “So, you'll go?”

Burrowing her face in the pillow, she nodded her head with a groan.

“Well, hurry up. I want to get there early enough to talk to Father Stephen.” He swatted her backside as he crossed to the bathroom.

She yelped then laughed. “I'm up,” she muttered. “Gotta go to church. I found the only man in all America who goes to church every Sunday. I'm sure of it.”

© 2009 Bethanne Strasser

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.

So, to kick it off, your hosts:

Mel/Alexia Reed, Urban Fantasy (R)
and
Bria Quinlan, Rom Com (PG)

Joining us this week:

AJ O'Donovan, Poetry (PG13)
Stephanie Draven, Paranormal Romance (PG 13)
Heather S.Ingemar, Dark Fantasy/Poetry (PG13)
Babette James, Fantasy Romance (PG 13)
Cynthia Justlin, Romantic Suspense (PG 13)
Kaige, Historical Romance (PG 13)
Julia Knight, Fantasy Romance (PG13)
Ansha Kotyk, Middle Grade Adventure (PG13)
Adelle Laudan, Contemp orary Romance (PG 13)
RF Long, YA Paranormal (PG13)
Caitlynn Lowe, Epic Fantasy (PG13)
Shawntelle Madison, Paranormal Romance (PG 13)
Crista McHugh, Contemporary Erotic Romance (PG 13)
Bria Quinlan, Rom Com (PG)
Leigh Royals, Historical Romance (PG 13)
Megan S., Paranormal (PG13)
Dara Sorensen, Historical Paranormal (PG 13)
Bethanne Strasser, Contemporary Romantic Suspense (PG13)