Flawless: (Fearsome Series Book 4)
Page 56
“That would be nice. Does he live in Hera or nearby?”
“He’s kind of a sad man. We’ve only spoken on the phone. For the past three months, I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. He asked me if my wife was happy. And he asked about her health.” Peyton pauses. “Because he’s been worried about her for a long time.”
A soft gasp escapes from me. I search his face. He’s nervous about telling me this. With good reason.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him you’re very healthy and very happy. He told me about losing his first child. He told me how he thought he was teaching his oldest daughter how to play the piano, but he realized she had no interest in reading music because, as he discovered, she could play by ear. He said he loved his daughters and was delighted when his … when you came home from school and played the piano for him every day. You made him happy.” He waits, gauging my response.
“Oh my God.” My lower lip trembles.
“He said he hurt his family, and he regrets that.”
“How much does he regret it?”
“Deeply.” Peyton takes my hand and cups it in both of his. “I really did reach out to him because I simply wanted to get you a nice piano. It evolved from there. We’ve been talking every week. He is deeply flawed, sunflower, but I like him. He wasn’t trying to be someone other than the man who he is. I assumed he would help me find the right piano to buy, and then we’d be done. Instead, we kept up the phone calls. We spoke this morning, when I told him the piano was being delivered today, and I offered to fly him up here and put him in a hotel sometime—it doesn’t have to be yours—and only if you agree to it.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m ready to see him.”
“That’s all right. You don’t have to know.” He lays a gentle kiss at my temple. “You think about it. You have enough going on with this place. It’s the busy season. No one expects you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
I nod. “Maybe late autumn would be better.”
Peyton gazes at me with loving tenderness. “That would be nice.”
“Maybe you could get him a room at Mohonk. Maybe he can stay here—I don’t know.”
“All you need to know is that I love you.” He kisses my cheek, then puts the key to the library in my hand. “This is yours. The key, the room, and the piano. It’s yours. You can play here anytime. I bet the guests would love your performances.”
“I like that idea. Did you actually reserve the suite tonight?”
“We have the suite. Happy anniversary, beautiful.”
“Happy anniversary. I didn’t get you anything.”
“You’re giving me what I want tonight.” He grins. “There’s another gift. You get that one tomorrow.”
“Why tomorrow?”
“It’s at the house. It’s an upright. Not as flashy as this one, but you need one at home, too.”
“My thoughtful, amazing husband. I wish I had gotten you something.”
“How about I say being with you every day is my gift?”
“That’s so corny. So sappy.” I laugh. “You’re easy to please. I’m going to wait to play this tonight after dinner. We’ll bring everyone in here to see this work of art you’ve given me, and my first song will be for you.” I kiss him, but the peck turns into a full-on, heart-thumping kiss as we wrap our hands around each other, groping for more.
Peyton pulls away, breathless. “You need to stop molesting my mouth or we’re going to have to go use that suite now.” He shoves a hand down the front of his jeans and adjusts himself.
“You know what? We can be fashionably late to the dinner,” I exclaim, standing quickly and banging my thigh hard against the piano. “We’re going to the suite now.”
Wincing, Peyton is still adjusting himself, and then I accidentally step on his foot. His soft canvas Converse is no match for my steel-toed boot, and he groans in pain.
This is no time for injuries!
“Let’s go! Now!” The pain in my thigh takes my breath away, and I begin to collapse. Peyton lunges forward and catches me. My extra weight on his foot causes him to curse.
“We excel at bad timing, but we’ll get to that suite.” He winces when he takes another step. “Eventually … But I dread the staircase. And let me be very clear. I’m not carrying you up two thousand steps. It’s every man for himself.”
“I’ll make it up to you in bed. I just need to get off this leg.” I howl when my tender thigh bumps his leg.
We both laugh at our predicament, at the intended seduction suite that promises an evening of cold packs, aspirin, and maybe some attempts at sex, likely very gentle and ungraceful.
Together, we limp and shuffle our way toward the library door, laughing and holding on to one another.
The first book in my Fearsome Series has an undiagnosed autistic heroine, the second book has a bipolar hero, and the third book has an over-the-top, inappropriate, snarky heroine who was written to humor me during a difficult period in my life. With this book, I decided to flip all the characters from the way I originally outlined them and make their lives even more difficult. The heroine shares my personal experience of mitral valve prolapse, and I gave the hero constant obstacles, so he doesn’t get to be a knight in shining armor who saves the damsel in distress. And the antagonist is really more of a modern-day Glinda the Good Witch with a twist.
Regarding mitral valve prolapse, mine was diagnosed a few years ago, and like Talia, I had to have my heart valve repaired as soon as possible. I was in the middle of raising two young children, one of whom is autistic with severe issues, and, in addition, I was dealing with my own challenging behaviors which put me on the autism spectrum alongside my son.
I was terrified to have open heart surgery, and despite all of my OCD-DEFCON-1-level research, planning, and preparation—to help my family through my hospitalization, or the worst-case scenario of my death—I carried around a significant amount of post-surgical trauma which I still have today. But unlike Talia, I had an amazing husband who sat by my hospital bed, day and night, and put up with an un-medicated wife who yelled at him for breathing too loudly. I was, indeed, horrible to him. Fortunately, I still have that amazing husband, and it’s his humor that shines through in Talia’s witty vocabulary gaffes because English is also his second language.
So to spare the reader, I removed a whole chapter from this book which was devoted to Talia’s hospital ordeal. It was laced with amusing incidents, but I decided that nobody needed to read about blood bags and all the other grim details. No matter how cathartic these scenes were for me to write, they would be a miserable read for anyone else. Hence, the chapter was cut. You’re welcome.
I have to point out that my mitral valve surgery at Mount Sinai in New York City only represents my experience, so I don’t claim to be an expert on the topic. That said, a big shout out to the talented surgical team who saved my heart and the amazing nursing staff who kept me alive.
I also want to mention Harmony because I didn’t just want to wing it with this character. I chose to base her on my friend, Dez, who gave me permission to craft Harmony in her likeness in every way. I definitely didn’t want Harmony to be the other woman or a villain. That would have been too easy, and too lazy. After consulting with Dez on her background, I was able to shape Harmony in an authentic way and avoid stereotypes. At least, I hope I did her character justice. In the story, she is the person with the strongest education and the greatest wealth, but more importantly, Harmony is vital to Talia’s and Peyton’s personal growth by way of her compassion and generosity.
As far as our hero is concerned, I wrote the first draft in 2015, and at the time, I was worried that I was making the hero stumble and fail too much. However, in light of real world headline news over the last two years, I knew I wanted Peyton to be a man who screws up and exposes his own vulnerabilities before he could, or would, evolve into a real hero. Peyton is not a hero because he saves the heroine—because he
doesn’t—his hero status is defined by how he supports the people he loves.
In the end, I hope my intentions for the characters come across in ways that are relatable.
Sincerely,
Sara
I owe endless buckets of love and gratitude to my readers. Thank you for spending your precious time on my stories, and thank you for all of your kind messages.
To Emma - You’re always there for me. Even when you’re supposed to be taking care of yourself, you manage to lift me up. You are awesome, woman.
To Anima, Michelle, and Becky - Your beta reads help me tremendously. Thank you for stepping into the murky depths of my messy, first drafts.
To Alisha and Damon - Thank you for the beautiful cover and for all the stunning new covers you designed for the whole series.
To Kris - Thank you for coming back to work as an editor. I love working with you.
To Elaine, Eliza, and Jovana - Thank you for all of your hard work and making my book better.
To bloggers and reviewers - Thank you for your support and sharing your passion for reading with the world.
To my husband and kids - Thank you for putting up with me.
To Dez - Everything.
Much love,
Sara
S.A. Wolfe spent many years working in corporate finance and television advertising, but she always wanted to be a novelist. After 12 years of participating in autism-related programs for her son and working with professionals in the ASD field, she was inspired to write her first contemporary romance in 2013 (Fearsome) with a heroine who has Autism Spectrum Disorder.
You can find her on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/sawolfe24/
Visit her website at: https://sa-wolfe.com/
(All Standalone Novels)
Fearsome (Book 1)
Freedom (Book 2)
Faithful (Book 3)
Flawless Book 4
Table of Contents
Synopsis
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Epilogue
Author's Note
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Books by S.A. Wolfe