Fragments of Ash
Page 28
“Stop. Please stop telling me why I shouldn’t want you. It hurts.”
“I’m just trying to say that . . . you can do better than me.”
“No,” I said softly, “I can’t.”
And finally—finally—I saw it in his face, at the way he was looking at me like something so beloved, he’d give it up rather than trap it. He loves me, and I am wanted.
“I love it that you make beautiful things,” I told him, turning his words around. “I love the house that we share. I don’t need you to support me—I just need you to love me. I need you to let me love you.”
“Are you sure?” he asked me, his hands clenching and unclenching the wheel.
“All I want,” I said, reaching over to take his hands in mine, “is the life we have together. I don’t know how it’ll look a month from now, or a year from now, or five years from now. I don’t even know who I’ll be five years from now. But right here, right now, all I want . . . is you.”
He unbuckled his seat belt and mine and pulled me into his arms. “Thank God, thank God, thank God,” he whispered over and over again until his lips found mine, and we made out on the side of the highway. Finally Bruno started barking, telling us he was impatient to go home.
Home.
Gus and Jock have rented this house to us on a five-year lease with an annual fee that covers the taxes and nothing else. It’s ours, Jock told us, for as long as we want to live here together. It’s our home, mine and Julian’s, I think as the timer on the kitchen buzzes.
I place Tig’s journal on the table beside my chair and head inside to take my pies out of the oven.
Blessed Virgin sent me my diploma in June. Two months ago, in September, I enrolled at the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, where I attend college-level classes three days a week.
One of my favorite things to do is experiment at home. Today’s bounty includes a pumpkin spice pie with a lattice top and an apple–raisin pie with an oatmeal crust. Sometimes I even make baked goods for Jock and Gus to sell at the gallery. Between Julian’s ornaments and my muffins, we’re going to take over the place. Noelle, with her sharp business acumen, approves.
“Is that pumpkin pie I smell?”
I turn around and feel it—as I always do—in me, around me, and through me . . . how much I love this man standing behind me.
“For later,” I say, turning to face him.
His arms are covered with diamonds, and his eyes are soft with love for me.
As his hands land on my waist, he drops his lips to mine, but our kiss is short-lived as Bruno sandwiches himself between us.
“I think someone wants a walk,” says Julian with a chuckle. “Come with us?”
“Of course.”
As the porch door swings shut behind us and we leave the spicy smell of waiting pies behind, I lace my fingers through Julian’s and think of how sweet life can be when you are loved, when you are wanted, when you are safe.
I squeeze his hand and hold on tight.
My sweet life is just beginning.
THE END
A LETTER FROM KATY
Dear Reader,
Since my first modern fairytale, I have always donated part of my royalties to a nonprofit organization that could benefit from a little extra money.
YEAR
TITLE
BENEFICIARY
2014
The Vixen and the Vet
UCLA Operation Mend
2015
Never Let You Go
Operation Underground Railroad
2016
Ginger’s Heart
The Ridgefield, Connecticut, Fire Department
2016
Dark Sexy Knight
The Prospector Theater
2017
Don’t Speak
P.E.O. International
2017
Shear Heaven
Locks of Love
I am proud to share that 5% of the gross profits of e-book and paperback sales of Fragments of Ash, for purchases made before and throughout October 2018, were donated to the Women’s Center of Greater Danbury.
From their website:
Each year, the Center serves over 20,000 individuals from our area communities. Our free and confidential services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Center’s key areas of focus include emergency shelter and support services, counseling and advocacy, crisis intervention, and community education, primary prevention and training.
That there are over 20,000 women and children in the town neighboring my own who require assistance breaks my heart. That the Women’s Center is there to provide it, humbles me.
Please know, dear readers, that some portion of the money you spent on purchasing this book will go toward saving another woman from an abusive household. I hope you will hold your head high with pride.
Thank you so much for reading my books!
Love,
Katy
Xoxo
For more information about The Women’s Center of Greater Danbury,
please click HERE.
FRAGMENTS OF ASH
Playlist
Cinderella (original motion picture soundtrack), Patrick Doyle
Keep in Touch (music from the motion picture), Gabbi McPhee
I’ll Be There, Jess Glynne
We Are Stars, The Pierces
Must Be Something, The Pierces
Crazy, Aerosmith
Dream a Little Dream of Me, The Mamas & the Papas
Ashokan Farewell, Jay Ungar
Dans Le Monde Entier, Françoise Hardy
** PURCHASE MORE OF KATY’S FAIRYTALES HERE **
The Vixen and the Vet
2015 RITA® Finalist
2015 Winner, The Kindle Book Awards
(inspired by Beauty & the Beast)
Never Let You Go
(inspired by Hansel & Gretel)
Ginger’s Heart
(inspired by Little Red Riding Hood)
Dark Sexy Knight
2017 Finalist, The Kindle Book Awards
(inspired by Camelot)
Don’t Speak
2017 Silver Medalist, International Book Awards
(inspired by The Little Mermaid)
Shear Heaven
(inspired by Rapunzel)
Fragments of Ash
(inspired by Cinderella)
Swan Song
(inspired by The Ugly Duckling)
Coming in March 2019
PRE-ORDER NOW!
For announcements about upcoming
a m o d e r n f a i r y t a l e
releases, be sure to sign up for Katy’s newsletter at http://www.katyregnery.com!
PRE-ORDER MY NEXT FAIRYTALE NOW!
SWAN SONG
(inspired by The Ugly Duckling)
COMING MARCH 4th 2019
ORDER NOW
ALSO AVAILABLE
from Katy Regnery
~ PURCHASE KATY’S BOOKS ~
a m o d e r n f a i r y t a l e
(A collection)
The Vixen and the Vet
Never Let You Go
Ginger’s Heart
Dark Sexy Knight
Don’t Speak
Shear Heaven
Fragments of Ash
Swan Song
Coming Soon – Click to Order!
THE BLUEBERRY LANE SERIES
THE ENGLISH BROTHERS
(Blueberry Lane Books #1–7)
Breaking Up with Barrett
Falling for Fitz
Anyone but Alex
Seduced by Stratton
Wild about Weston
Kiss Me Kate
Marrying Mr. English
THE WINSLOW BROTHERS
(Blueberry Lane Books #8–11)
Bidding on Brooks
Proposing to Preston
Crazy about Cameron
Campaigning for Christopher
THE ROUSSEAUS
(Blueberry L
ane Books #12–14)
Jonquils for Jax
Marry Me Mad
J.C. and the Bijoux Jolis
THE STORY SISTERS
(Blueberry Lane Books #15–17)
The Bohemian and the Businessman
The Director and Don Juan
Countdown to Midnight
THE SUMMERHAVEN TRIO
Fighting Irish
Smiling Irish
Loving Irish
Catching Irish
STAND-ALONE BOOKS:
After We Break
(a stand-alone second-chance romance)
Frosted
(a stand-alone romance novella for mature readers)
Unloved, a love story
(a stand-alone suspenseful romance)
Under the paranormal pen name
K. P. Kelley
It’s You, Book 1
It’s You, Book 2
Under the YA pen name
Callie Henry
LOVE IS FOR EVERYONE
A Date for Hannah
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract, and Katy’s first novel was published in September 2013.
Forty books later, Katy claims authorship of the multititled New York Times and USA Today bestselling Blueberry Lane Series, which follows the English, Winslow, Rousseau, Story, and Ambler families of Philadelphia; the six-book, bestselling ~a modern fairytale~ series; and several other stand-alone novels and novellas, including the critically acclaimed, 2018 RITA© nominated, USA Today bestselling contemporary romance, Unloved, a love story.
Katy’s first modern fairytale romance, The Vixen and the Vet, was nominated for a RITA® in 2015 and won the 2015 Kindle Book Award for romance. Katy’s boxed set, The English Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1–4, hit the USA Today bestseller list in 2015, and her Christmas story, Marrying Mr. English, appeared on the list a week later. In May 2016, Katy’s Blueberry Lane collection, The Winslow Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1–4, became a New York Times e-book bestseller.
Katy’s books are available in English, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Turkish. Her books soon will be available in German and Hebrew.
Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two children, two dogs, and one Blue Tonkinese cat create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.
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