Congrats Shannen! This last Saturday, My daughter/ writing partner/best friend married the love of her life.
May you both always live your Happily Ever After!
Love you both - Mom
Showing posts with label Sarah's blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah's blog. Show all posts
Monday, October 24, 2016
Sunday, July 31, 2016
We are fortunate to be getting together with some truly amazing authors for a month long giveaway featuring books with strong female characters. Iris from Unexpected Gifts fits that to a tee so we're joining the party. During the month of August, click here to go to the contest page. You'll find dozens of great books, sorted by genre and heat level. Sign up for newsletter from the authors in the areas you like to read and get entered for over $2,500 in prizes. The promotion goes on for the whole month of August. Sign up, find amazing new books, and get a chance for some cash.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Release Day is Upon Us! Woot!
Unexpected Gifts comes out tomorrow from Decadent Publishing. See your favorite ebook retailer Tuesday, July 19, 2016. Check out a bit of the new novella below.
Such a colossal waste of time. That was the real bitch about all this. Iris had, of course, checked out the company website, and that whole “perfect match” crap was just that. Crap. Despite all the hearts and flowers floating around Aaron and Ramón these days, she knew better. There’s no such thing. Goddess only knew she’d known enough guys to figure that out.
Aaron had one thing right—she did like men. She liked hard, muscular bodies, rough hairy chests, and the hot spicy scent of a sweaty man. For a minute. the image of Mike Connolly the last time they all went swimming in the creek behind the farm popped into her head. Whoa! Where the hell did that come from? Having that picture show up was a little disconcerting, but she had to smile. They all called him Brother Bear for a reason. The guy’d had a thick brown pelt since they were sixteen. So much more appealing than the manscaped pretty boy barflies she’d get if she walked into that fancy lounge in this getup. Give me a real man any day.
Too
bad men like him didn’t really go for strong women. Guys got off on the whole
Lara Croft fantasy of a hot warrior babe, but they didn’t want to bring one
home to Mama. No, the few times she’d thought there might be a point in trying
to get serious about a guy, they always got pissed when she had to be gone for
long stretches doing security work, or when she came home bloody if a job went
south. They all wanted to wrap her up in Bubble Wrap and turn her into
something she wasn’t and wouldn’t want to be. Even Mike, one of the few guys
she could stand being around for any length of time, went back and forth
between treating her like one of the boys and someone in need of a padded room.
Iris
picked her way between icy puddles on the wet cobblestone walk in front of the
hotel. Behind her, a car jerked to a sudden stop at the valet station and the
resulting splash kissed the back of her bare leg with a tongue of freezing
water. Shit! Always aware of her
surroundings, she had expected the car, but the cold water sent a jolt through
her body and her keys slipped out of her chilly fingers. She made a grab for
them but wasn’t fast enough, and she cursed again as they slid into the small
storm drain on the edge of the walkway.
That’s just perfect. Now I get to choose
between flashing my ass to the valet boys while I crawl on the ground in this
ridiculous dress or play damsel in distress and ask one of them to dig for
them. Not cool at all.
Iris stood next to the small iron grate. She could see a flash of silver where
water tumbled over the pile of keys, a few inches below the walkway level. She
pretended to dig through her useless little evening bag. The tiny thing was
barely big enough for condoms, cash, and her smallest tactical knife but
matched the dress so she’d made do.
A
few yards away, valets and hotel guests went about their business. No one
seemed to be paying much attention to her, even in the siren red outfit. Perfect. She reached out with her Gift,
keeping her eyes on the people around her. She felt the cold steel of the
grate. Icy water rolled past, and she felt the freezing cold as if was touching
her skin. Her talent slid over metal pipe rough with ice and dirt. A little farther…got it. She smiled absently at a passing businessman as her braided
keychain slithered up the side of the storm drain and laid itself obediently on
the grate next to her shoe.
She
crouched quickly and picked up her keys before sauntering into the hotel. She
headed for the elevator according to Madame Eve’s instructions, making sure no
one had noticed her application of telekinesis. Yet another reason why the old
happily-ever-after wasn’t for her. If her being a trained mercenary wasn’t
enough to send any normal guy running off with his tail between his legs, being
Gifted would surely finish the job. No matter what Mr. Romantic Ramón wanted to
think, hoping for more than a quick bang was pointless. She’d have to make that
clear to her blind date at the start. Happily-ever-after
is a fairy tale for children, and there’s no such thing as true love.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Coming soon from Decadent Publishing! A Gifted/1NS story.
Unexpected Gifts
Having paranormal Gifts in a world that fears what it doesn’t understand is tough. Luckily, Iris Kosta is tough too. She’s already lost her twin brother to Homeland Security's paranoia and greed; add in her job as a kickass security operative and it makes for a lonely life. Which is too bad, because Iris likes men – a lot. She makes do with plenty of dates and hook ups, convinced there’s no such thing as true love.
Mike Connolly does believe in true love, and its name is Iris. Too bad she’ll never see him as anything but one of the boys. When he finally despairs of getting anything more than friendship from her, he reaches out to Madam Eve for help in finding a woman who can eclipse his obsession.
Thanks to meddlesome relatives and
Madam Eve’s talents, both Mike and Iris find themselves the recipients of some
unexpected gifts. Let’s hope they can survive long enough to enjoy them.
This novella from Decadent Publishing's 1Night Stand series features some of the same Gifted characters you met in Healer and Sweet Fire. This time it's Cousin Iris's chance to find love and danger (and a sexy man.) Release date Tuesday, July 19th, 2016.
We'll be posting teasers and excerpts and giveaways throughout the month. Watch this space for more.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Sarah and Shannen's top book picks
Hello ladies and gentlemen. My name is Sarah and I am a
bibliomaniac.
That’s right, I admit it. I’m hopelessly, desperately addicted to
books. Mostly it’s romances that eat my life, though I’ve been known to snap up
other kinds of books just as recklessly. Gay, straight or ménage, contemporary,
paranormal, science fiction, from vanilla to kink to “OMG, can they really say
that in print?” I love them all. When I’m not reading books I’m shopping for
books, or surfing the web looking at author websites or reviewer blogs, just in
case some wonderful new book should come to my attention. My addiction has been known to seriously get in
the way of my own writing (not to mention my sadly neglected housework.) No matter how sternly I tell myself that my
time would be better spent writing and promoting my own books instead of
reading someone else’s, the siren call of my Kindle still pulls me away and
devours my brain, along with the shreds of my self-discipline.
I used to be open about my
obsession, with paperback books scattered all over the house for my family to
trip over, box up, and complain about.
The advent of e-books has allowed me to take it underground and my addiction
now rages completely unchecked. I won’t go into exactly how many e-books I
currently have on my reader but suffice it to say that my husband has no
idea. Only Amazon knows for sure.
Whether due to Nature or Nurture,
I’ve managed to pass my obsession to at least one of my children. Shannen is nearly as addicted to reading as I
am, though at any given time her taste is a lot more eclectic and less focused
than mine has been of late. As hard as
it is to choose from among our vast shared library, we’re offering up some of
our favorites, in case you’d care to have a look. I hope you come to love them as much as we
do. Since I’m also a writer forever in
search of fans of my own, I’m going to help out my fellow authors by giving
you links to the author’s web page
wherever I can find it, and to the book on Amazon if I can’t find an author
site. Buy, read and enjoy.
Sarah’s top picks -in no particular order:
Claimings, Tails and Other Alien
Artifacts and the other two Liam and Ondry books by Lyn Gala (the series
doesn’t seem to have a name but I love all three books and I keep hoping for at
least one more.)
Almost anything written by “Gangsta
of Love” Sean Michael
Tell Me It’s Real – TJ Klune (rumor
has it there’s a sequel in the works. I so hope that’s true.)
Anything and everything ever written
by Mercedes Lackey
Shannen’s Favorites:
Serpent's Shadow - Mercedes Lackey- I also love pretty much every single things she's ever written.
- The seeds of inspiration for a tattoo I now have were planted by this book! When I love, I love hard.
- I laughed so hard I cried when I read this book. I stayed up all night reading it and woke up my partner laughing hysterically.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Welcome Samanthya Wyatt
Welcome to our friend Samanthya Wyatt!
She has an awesome new book out. Lets have a look. Take it away Samanthya.
Thank you Sarah and Shannen for having me here today. I appreciate your helping me
celebrate the release of book 2 in the ‘One and Only Series’.Ever since I can remember, I’ve loved
curling up with a book. When I was young I wrote poems and short stories. When
I graduated, my life changed. I married a military man, traveled across the US
and abroad, settled in the Shenandoah Valley and had a family. Then I found
romance novels. I fell in love with the characters and needed to know
their happy ending.When I couldn’t afford to buy them, I
wrote my own stories. I’ve taken every workshop I could to improve my writing.
I’ve entered many contests. I joined RWA and joined several chapters. Savvy
Authors offered a pitch contest with several editors, agents and publishers.
Coming up with a pitch—25 words or less—is extremely difficult when you’re in a
group with thousands of other authors. But I got the attention of 3 editors and
two different publishing companies. My dream paid off. I signed my first contract
with Soul Mate Publishing.My
characters are fictitious. I have taken real life experiences to achieve the
emotion on paper for my characters. I do a lot of research for the time period,
studying the lingo / slang and culture. With appropriate details, hopefully I
put the reader in the setting.I
find that I get a lot more accomplished if I just sit at the computer and
write. As long as I write something, I just keep going. Later I can delete or
gather tidbits together. And I have deleted whole chapters. But if I want my
story to go somewhere and be a good MS, there has to be GMC. I learned this
from many workshops. I learned how to do character sketches, GMC charts,
plots—everything one needs to bring a story together.
I’m
so excited to talk about “The True One” my sequel, book 2 in the One and Only
Series. In the first book of the series, “The Right One”, Katherine’s brother
is missing. Book 2 is Stephen’s story—“The True One”.His ship in
splinters and his men captured, Stephen is a broken man. Yet the torture he
received by his enemies is nothing compared to the torment he bears from an
angel with lavender eyes.Jennifer left
England full of a young girl’s fantasies of romance and adventure. When she
cares for a near death captain, memories emerge of the family she left behind.
Will the passion they share be enough? He must choose – her or revenge. My
first submission to an editor resulted in a rejection. Being a beginner, I was
not surprised. And I didn’t let it get me down. The thing that impressed me the
most was a comment—what happened to the
brother? She told me the story had holes. All questions needed to be
answered.So
I worked on my story, but decided Kat’s brother was a story all by itself.So
the sequel, book 2, is about Kat’s brother. Why he was gone for two years, what
happened to him, and a love story all his own.Is
there a book 3? Of course. The third book in the series is about Giles. He was
introduced in the first book as Morgan’s best friend—the duke. In the second book, he is asked
to rescue Stephen.My characters in all of my books are fictitious. However, I have
taken real life experiences to achieve the emotion for their situations.Find
out what happened to Kat’s brother in the thrilling sequel of the One and Only
series.
The True One - Captain Stephen
Radbourn accepts an intriguing proposition which results in horror. His ship in
splinters and his men captured, he is a broken man. A band of rebels rescue
their leader from a dungeon, taking the near dead captain with them. Fearing
capture and thinking the tortured man will die, they leave Stephen in the care
of a woman, who he believes is an angel of mercy. A man of passion, with a
trail of satisfied maidens to prove it, he finds his heart captured by the
lovely widow. But she forces him to choose—her or revenge. Jennifer Faircloth departed England full of a
young girl’s fantasies of romance and adventure. Her young husband dies leaving
her a widow to survive alone in a foreign land. When a near death English
captain is dropped at her door, memories emerge of the family she foolishly
left behind. While caring for him, her curious imagination turns to an
overwhelming awareness she cannot deny. He must flee for his life and he takes
her with him—back to England—back to the family she’d deserted. She wants her
family to forgive her, but she wants Stephen’s love even more.I love to hear from readers.
Please visit my website here: www.samanthyawyatt.comI invite you to lay the worries of the
world off your shoulders and get lost in the pages of a romance, where you
embark on a journey with the hero and heroine, become involved in a dream,
plunge into a world of fantasy, and live an adventure your heart can share.
Enjoy an excerpt from The True One:
He
was dead.He
had to be. For serenity enclosed him. Fresh air cloaked him. A cloud of
softness wrapped him. Comfort would mean he’d gone to heaven, when he had been
destined for hell. Slowly, Stephen became aware
of soreness, then stinging, then blinding pain. Sure signs of hell.The
lilting voice of an angel drew him to an unbelievable place of calm. The
honeyed sound soothed his mind to a state of ease. Alleviating his anxiety. Diminishing
his pain. The most enchanting dream he’d ever held. He opened his eyes with excruciating
sluggishness. The first glimpse of light splintered his skull with a sharp
stabbing. He slammed his eyes closed with a long groan. He’d been denied sunlight
for so long, he thought never to see the light of day again.His
insides still stuck to his backbone. He breathed as deeply as his broken ribs
allowed, then grounded his teeth over the agonizing ache. Slashing pain shot
through his jaw stirring more memories. Oh yes. That had been broken too.A
bed? He took a moment to grasp his surroundings. Unfamiliar hands. Gentle
hands. He thought he’d felt movement at one time, dreamed he was in a wagon. Flashes of torture penetrated his skull—men
with curved knives and jeweled handles, shackles, a pit for a prison cell. He
struggled with the bonds squeezing him when the sweetest sound of an angel
pulled him from the dark fog. Reassuring hands swabbed a wet cloth over his
feverish skin and coaxed him to swallow. Blessed relief to his parched lips.
Now he lolled in a bed.With
a sense of unease he pondered his situation, wondering what state of play
brought him to this consequence. He inhaled, taking in pleasant air. No stench.
No slimy creatures. Where was he? At this point he didn’t care. As long as he
no longer suffered the Raj’s torture.Slowly,
and more cautious this time, he lifted one lid to a narrow slit. The swelling
around his eye had gone down considerably. He glanced down to find a hand-sewn
quilt, like the ones his mother made. Definitely a bed. Which also resembled
his English heritage. Had he somehow been transported back to England?He
rolled his head against the pillow’s softness. His mind wandered restlessly
through a mirage of shadows. His ribs were on fire. He searched the room. A
window stood open and the thin covering wavered as if the wind blew gently to
make it dance. A crude piece of furniture beyond the bed with items scattered
about. To the right a door. He wondered who was on the other side. Friend or
adversary? He closed his eyes for a moment, seeking relief. Ignoring the pain
in his skull, he turned his head to the right and saw the delicate creature in
his dream. An angel of mercy, with dark hair falling about her shoulders. Long
sweeping lashes brushed velvety cheeks. Instant awareness surged through his
body. At least the devils hadn’t killed that part of him.On
the heels of that thought, he wondered if she were a maid or the wife of some
possessive husband. If she were his wife—perish the thought—he would never
leave her alone in any room with a strange man, incapacitated or no. Especially
not in close proximity of a bed.And
he was naked. Bare as a new baby’s bottom.
Available
at Amazon December 17, 2014.You can also find Samanthya Wyatt on Soul Mate Publishing, Hearts
Through History, facebook,
goodreads and Amazon.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Sweet Fire is out!! Woot!
It's release day! Sweet Fire is now available in both ebook and paperback formats on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and direct from Dreamspinner Press. Woot!
Check it out and come visit us on our blog tour. Today we have an interview on www.queerscifi.com and tomorrow we take over the Dreamspinner Press blog for a full day of book release excitement and a yummy giveaway. Don't miss it.
Buy on Amazon
Buy on Barnes and Noble
Buy from Dreamspinner Press
Between Homeland Security's Gifted Agenda and the bigotry
of a fearful populace, having paranormal Gifts is a dangerous thing.
Pyrokinetic Aaron Flores knows firsthand how difficult it can be to control his
power. Still, he runs his bakery and never gives up on finding his Happily Ever
After. When Aaron's cousin asks him to check on her former EMT partner, Aaron’s
chance has finally arrived. He's determined not to let anything stop him from
catching (and keeping) his man.
Ramón
Del Rio spent three days at the tender mercies of HOMSEC agents when his former
partner was taken. He wants nothing to do with a Gifted guy, but Aaron is
nothing if not persistent. He's a pastry chef after all, and the way to a man's
heart really is through his stomach. The physical passion they share is the
icing on the cake. Just when Ramón decides that having Gifts might not be a
deal breaker, someone close to Aaron decides his fire needs to be put
out—permanently. Ramón will have to face his fears to save them both.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Check out this new release from our friend and fellow Dreamspinner author Tempeste O'Riley.
We just bought it and are reading it tonight but since it's from Tempeste, it has to be awesome.
Kaden Thorn, a dental surgeon who lives a quiet life, has no hope of finding the love he craves. A vicious gay bashing cost him the use of his legs and confined him to a wheelchair. He has given up hope of finding a Dom or even a nonkink partner to love him. When his best friend practically forces him to attend a dinner party, the last thing he expects is a strong Dom who can see beyond his wheels.
Deacon James is an architect and a demanding Dom, but he has spent the past couple of years without a sub or partner. When an employee invites him to a dinner party to meet his girlfriend, Deacon smells a setup but agrees anyway. He prides himself on being an excellent judge of character, and when he meets the younger dentist, he sees past the chair and finds a sweet submissive man who more than piques his interest.
Kade's fears and demons continue to haunt him, challenging Deacon to use everything he's learned as a Dom to earn Kade’s trust and submission. Deacon's determined, though, willing to battle all of it to have Kade by his side and at his feet.
Click here to buy it from Amazon
We just bought it and are reading it tonight but since it's from Tempeste, it has to be awesome.
Deacon James is an architect and a demanding Dom, but he has spent the past couple of years without a sub or partner. When an employee invites him to a dinner party to meet his girlfriend, Deacon smells a setup but agrees anyway. He prides himself on being an excellent judge of character, and when he meets the younger dentist, he sees past the chair and finds a sweet submissive man who more than piques his interest.
Kade's fears and demons continue to haunt him, challenging Deacon to use everything he's learned as a Dom to earn Kade’s trust and submission. Deacon's determined, though, willing to battle all of it to have Kade by his side and at his feet.
Click here to buy it from Amazon
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Our release date is January 2 and we'll be visiting several other websites for interviews and guest blogs in the week following the release. Come visit us. See schedule in another post here.
Between Homeland Security's Gifted Agenda
and the bigotry of a fearful populace, having paranormal Gifts is a dangerous
thing. Pyrokinetic Aaron Flores knows firsthand how difficult it can be to
control his power. Still, he runs his bakery and never gives up on finding his
Happily Ever After. When Aaron's cousin asks him to check on her former EMT
partner, Aaron’s chance has finally arrived. He's determined not to let
anything stop him from catching (and keeping) his man.
Ramón Del Rio spent three days at the tender mercies of HOMSEC
agents when his former partner was taken. He wants nothing to do with a Gifted
guy, but Aaron is nothing if not persistent. He's a pastry chef after all, and
the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach. The physical passion
they share is the icing on the cake. Just when Ramón decides that having Gifts
might not be a deal breaker, someone close to Aaron decides his fire needs to
be put out—permanently. Ramón will have to face his fears to save them both.
Excerpt:
Ramón set a pair of tall green
glasses on the table and slid onto the stool at right angles to his own chair,
facing the dance floor.
“So you come here now and then, do
you?”
Ramón’s cheek twitched. “Maybe a
little more often than that.” He scanned the room and nodded at yet another
person waving at him. “Most of the gay contingent of the county’s cops,
firefighters, and EMTs come here. The band has a regular gig here too. They’re
pretty good.”
“I bet they are, but the next time
you say you’ve been somewhere a few times, I’ll have to assume you’re full of
shit.”
Ramón grinned at him and raised his
glass in a toast just as the sound system roared to life. The bass player plucked
out an opening riff that had Ramón jerking his head around to stare at him,
then dropping his face into his hand. Concerned, Aaron put a hand to his
shoulder. What the hell? He didn’t
understand what was going on until the bass player stopped and the lead singer
stepped up to the mike.
“Looks like we have some old friends
in the crowd tonight!” The man’s voice was deep and smoke-raspy, and he was
looking right at their table. Ramón looked up and shook his head, clearly
telling the man no way.
“Del
Rio!” The massive drummer had a massive voice, and the chant was quickly
picked up, first by the band and Ramón’s loud friends at the bar, then by the
rest of the patrons.
“Rio!
Rio! Rio!” Ramón pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a
minute while Aaron stared incredulously. It was obvious as soon as they walked
in that Ramón was well known here, but he certainly never expected anything
like this.
It quickly became clear that the
noise wasn’t going to stop until the man did whatever the hell it was they
wanted. Ramón slid off his chair and touched Aaron’s cheek with an apologetic
smile, then turned and walked quickly to the stage, while the chant turned into
a roar of whistles and cheers. Merciful
gods! Aaron watched in stunned amazement as Ramón, solid, serious Ramón set
one hand on the edge of the stage and vaulted onto it. He stood with his back
to the room for a long moment, plucking in what Aaron assumed was a nervous tic
at the buttons at the cuffs and the front of his shirt.
Shocked as he was to see his quiet
lover leap onto the stage, he was still unprepared for what came next. The
oldies bass riff came again, and Ramón turned quickly around, ripping off his
shirt at the same time. The dark cotton shirt drifted to the stage floor,
leaving Ramón in a thin wifebeater tank that gleamed whitely against his
beautiful copper-brown skin. Aaron tried to swallow with his suddenly dry
throat and gulped at his sticky drink.
Somehow the smooth baritone voice
was the least shocking part of this whole incredible experience. As a soulful
rendition of “Stand By Me” rolled over him, Ramón held his eyes, and the rest
of the room faded completely away.
The first verse and the chorus came
to him from the stage, and then, miraculously, unbelievably, it got even better.
On the second verse, as the rest of the band started a smooth vocal backup,
Ramón took the small headset that the lead handed him and started down the
stage stairs. His eyes never left Aaron’s as he prowled down the steps and
skirted the dance floor toward their small table.
The second chorus came, intense and
soulful, and Ramón’s hand slid down Aaron’s throat and chest, taking all the
air out of his lungs in the process. He struggled to breathe as the
instrumental break gave Ramón an opportunity to lean in and run his mouth
butterfly light along Aaron’s jaw and over the sensitive spot under his ear.
The tiny headset mike his lover wore picked up a faint echo of two pounding
heartbeats that blended seamlessly with the heavy bass line. By the time he pulled
away, it was all Aaron could do to let him go, watching with his heart in his
throat, tears in his eyes, and all the blood in his body in his jeans. The
final chorus brought Ramón back up to the stage, moving back up the stairs with
that panther-like grace that kept the eye of every man in the room riveted to
his magnificent body.
The song ended, and the crowd went
wild. Aaron hardly heard any of it as he sat frozen in his chair, gripping his
hideous green glass with one hand and pressing the other to his chest, trying
to get his rioting pulse under control. An erratic flame danced wildly in the
glass candleholder. Suddenly Ramón was there, sweeping him out of his seat and
into his arms to a fresh surge of whistles and cheers from the crowd. The band started
a new song, without Ramón this time, and the two of them moved effortlessly
together on the dance floor. As the space filled up with grinding, gyrating
men, Ramón’s mouth came down over his, and Aaron knew, without a doubt, that
the happily-ever-after he’d been waiting for all his life was right here in his
arms.
Thursday, December 4, 2014
New Release by our friend Ryan Jo Summers
Please welcome our fellow Soul Mate author Ryan Jo Summers. Check out her November 24th release When Clouds Gather!
Click here to buy it on Amazon! What a pretty cover, right?4
Darby Adams has a full, happy life with a successful Bed and Breakfast Inn called
'The Brass Lamplighter', her teenaged son, Matt, and a menagerie of stray pets she
oversees. Then a guest is found dead in one of her rooms, murdered, stabbed to
death. Suddenly she becomes Driftwood Shores' number one suspect. With her
world spiraling out of control, she desperately needs a friend.
The surviving family wants answers so they hire private investigator Sam Golden
to prove her guilt. Busy with his own rebellious, disobedient teen daughter,
Madison, Sam takes the case. He begins in a dial role; in the guise of a much
needed friend for Darby yet still planning to investigate and send her to prison.
Then strange things start happening at the B & B--scary things. Darby leans on
Sam's friendship and he has to seriously question her guilt or innocence, Until
feelings start to develop between them in the heat of the mysteries. Until the day
arrives Sam has to tell her the truth. Until someone kidnaps the children.
Reeling from Sam's confession, Darby knows she has to trust him to get their kids
back. But can she ever trust him with her heart?
Excerpt:
Finding an empty cashier line, grateful for it, Darby piled groceries on
the belt, tossing on a few tabloids for Matt and his friend and then stood,
impatiently drumming her fingers, waiting for the total.
“Eighty four dollars and seventy-three cents,” the cashier announced,
taking a step backward. Her look spoke volumes to Darby. The woman was scared
witless.
She threw down four twenty-dollar bills and a five. “Keep the change,” she
snapped, reaching out to pile the supplies into bags by herself. She’d never
shopped without adequate assistance before. “And yes I am that woman. And no I
haven't killed anyone, yet.” Slamming the bags back into the cart, she shoved
it toward the exit, leaving both her change and a speechless cashier behind.
Stalking out to her car, she noticed the same group of people standing
nearby. Her blood ran cold when she recognized the one who had followed her
inside and grabbed her cart. He whispered something to his pals, glancing up and
grinning as she walked by.
This is a peaceful town. His words echoed in her mind, still seeing his face,
smelling his breath, as he leered close to her, holding her cart hostage.We
don't want no murders going on round here. As if she did! The group collectively
turned to face her, snickering and poking each other in the ribs.
Her parking spot seemed so far away. Behind her she could still hear their
snickers and giggles. She could not get away fast enough. It had to be on the
other side of that big red van.
Rounding the van, her eyes fell on her car, relief quickly washing away as
her heart plummeted in her chest. Stuck to the windshield was a poster bearing
tall red letters spelling out the words 'Murderer Go Home'. Still wet, the
paint ran down the poster, giving the illusion of fresh blood. Her hand going
to her belly, Darby stared at the gruesome sight, her stomach rolling and
pitching as nausea rose from within her.
“Oh, God.”
Suddenly, she noticed something else. Panic welled up inside as she stepped
closer, jaw dropping in shock.
“Oh no. God, no.”
Tears of frustration stung her eyes as she stared at the damage, not able
to believe what she was seeing. Both right side tires were hopelessly flat.
A white-hot bolt of rage
tore through her. She whipped the poster off the windshield, wadding it up and
tossing it to the ground, grinding it into the pavement with her shoe. Giving
in to the mounting emotions, hot tears slid down her cheeks as she stared at
her crippled car.
Now what?
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