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BLURB:
Returning to Fern Lake after ten years for the funeral of his cousin and teenage enemy, Simon Parker learns his high school sweetheart is nine months pregnant and seven months divorced from his cousin. Their meeting is complicated by her labor and driving her to the hospital. An attempted cheek kiss lands on her mouth and those old feelings resurface. Dana Collins responds to the kiss but Simon walked away ten years before when she refused to go all the way. In those ten years he has never tried to reach her. Her marriage to his cousin lasted less than two years and she knew she’d made a mistake. Can this pair put the past aside and let the embers of an old love be rekindled?
EXCERPT:
As he finished a
second slice, a persistent buzz annoyed him. Not his cell or the burner phone.
What the hell. Who would call on the land line? Only one person ever did. He
dashed to the kitchen and grabbed the receiver of the wall phone.
“Hello.”
He recognized the
voice. Was she calling the way she always did on a major holiday or his
birthday? “Aunt May, guess you remembered.”
She gasped. “I’d
forgotten. Happy Birthday.”
Simon’s hand
tightened on the receiver. He heard huskiness in her voice. Had she been
crying? “What’s wrong?” The sound of her blowing her nose reached him.
“It’s Randy.”
What had his
cousin done to make his aunt cry? There had been several calls from her over
the years when Randy had been in trouble. “Tell me.”
“He was killed in
an automobile accident last night.”
Simon wished he
was close enough to offer her comfort. She'd always been strong and Randy had
been her most troubled child. “When?”
“Around midnight.”
“Where?”
“He and his fiancé
were on their way from dinner at the Club.”
Simon felt like
he’d been kicked by a mule. A memory of the winding road from the building high
on the hill outside Fern
Lake
“Fiancée? What do
you mean?”
Though he and his
aunt had talked on Christmas Day, his cousin hadn’t been mentioned. Had he
missed something? About three years ago, Randy had married Simon’s high school
sweetheart. “I thought he was married.”
May cleared her
throat. “He and Dana divorced seven months ago.” She sighed. “Their parting
shouldn’t still upset me since he didn’t treat her nicely.”
Simon sucked in a
breath. A dozen memories from the days when he’d lived at the Grantlan mansion
crowded his thoughts. He shoved them away. Anything that happened back then
would stay there. Moving forward was his style.
“Did he abuse
her?” He couldn’t contain the question.
“Not in a physical
way.” She paused. “His drinking and womanizing were painful for her. She
received little support when she tried to get him to seek help. Robert didn’t
approve of the marriage. Neither did Patricia.”
“What do you want
me to do?”
“Come for the
viewing and stay for the funeral. There are things we need to discuss.”
My Places
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2 comments:
Great ending hook...
You've done a good job laying the groundwork for us to realize this could be a life-changing phone call.
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