Early One Morning (Love in Oahu Book 1)
Page 34
His arms were crossed over his bare chest, and his messy sun-tinted amber hair brushed the lashes of his golden eyes. Once upon a time Cara had truly loved the man standing so handsomely before her, but Duncan had destroyed it.
Somewhere inside, Cara knew she was partially to blame for their failed marriage, but for the life of her, she couldn’t fathom what she’d possibly done to deserve this.
She shook her head and snorted sarcastically. “You aren’t seriously going to try to convince me to stay?”
Duncan’s overconfident grin curved at the corners of his soft lips. His face was freshly shaven, and Cara knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the encounter with the Blackjack bitch had been planned and executed flawlessly. It left her wondering if he intended for her to catch them.
When he spoke, his voice came out like silk and laden with sexual overtones. He reached out and gently touched her cheek. “Babe,” he cajoled. “Don’t make me beg. You know I can’t live without you.”
Cara narrowed her eyes and glared at him. His self-assured attitude made her ill. The urge to punish him for all the hurt and humiliation she endured during their marriage was overwhelming. Cara drew in a calculated breath and let the tension flow out of her body. Her gaze softened. She looked deeply into his eyes and stepped into his waiting arms.
Victory was written all over Duncan’s face. His sultry eyes closed, and when he leaned his philandering lips down to meet hers, Cara grinned. Her eyes narrowed. She was now the predator, and she had him within her sights. Cara forcefully drew her leg up and bashed her knee into the heart of his cheating-ass groin.
Cara left Duncan doubled over, clutching the source of his virility in pain and cursing profusely.
15 W Gibson
All that was left was to figure out where Bree was going to put the mountain of memorabilia she’d brought from her parents’ home.
Everyone had claimed their share of mementos. Grown grandchildren found it hard to part with the silliest things. The deck of Old Maid and Go Fish were their most prized booty. Many of the cards were bent, some were missing, and the edges were torn and tattered, but the memories of the hands played with their grandparents remained intact.
Suzy was the hugger, the lover, the strict grandma who wouldn’t let you get away with a thing, all while plying you with popsicles and chocolate. Being an extremely smart man, Jimmy wisely kept the popsicles coming for his grandkids after Suzy’s passing.
Bree pulled her wandering thoughts back to the task at hand. Way up at the top of the heap, she spied a shoebox. It had always been in the bottom drawer of her mom’s dresser, but Bree couldn’t recall what was inside. She smiled to herself, tackling that tiny box seemed doable.
She pulled it down and slowly made her way out into the living room. She sat on the carpet and lifted the lid.
Now she remembered.
Inside were love letters from her father written while he was in the Navy awaiting her mom’s arrival in Guam. The year on the top envelope was dated 1954. Running a quick history lesson through her mind, Bree concluded that peacetime prevailed, but it was probably close enough to the end of the Korean War that the United States would have still been on heightened alert.
Bree picked up the top envelope and carefully withdrew the yellowed pages. She read her father’s words and was taken back in time. She felt like a child again sitting at the dining room table listening to all the stories her parents ever told.
March 1954
Twenty-one-year-old Suzy Franks stood outside the office building where she worked at the Port of Stockton and pressed the first letter from her husband lovingly to her heart. She hated being so far away from her Jimmy. They fought so hard to be married before coming of age, and it was inconceivable for him to be torn from her now. They were lucky to receive a heads up that his draft number was about to be called. That bit of forewarning had given Jimmy the opportunity to enlist into the Navy before his branch of service was no longer an option left up to him.
Suzy’s man was the ultimate dreamboat. From the first moment she saw him at a high school football game, she knew he was the one for her. Jimmy’s photograph had been in all the papers for his record-breaking swim of the one-hundred yard backstroke the previous week. His broad shoulders, slim waist, and crooked smile made Suzy wish she lived in the neighboring town and went to school with the attractive athlete.
Strolling around the dirt track with her girlfriends in their straight cardigans and pleated skirts set off a round of cat calls from boys of the opposing school and bolstered Suzy’s confidence. Against the advice of her girlfriends who warned she was about to get snubbed by the swimming all-star, and despite the fact that Jimmy was speaking to another girl, Suzy walked up and introduced herself.
Jimmy’s tanned face turned red and for a few moments he seemed unsure of what to do, so Suzy nervously kept talking. She told him how impressed she was with his new swimming record and how much she thought of him. Every word she spoke stroked his sporty ego, and it wasn’t long before she had Jimmy Franks eating out of the palm of her hand. They spent the rest of the evening together. Suzy taught him how to smoke cigarettes and blow smoke rings just like all the movie stars, and Jimmy taught her how to kiss soft and slow...with tongue and everything.
Fallen Leaf Collection
The Kissing Ball
Sparks fly when the non-profit One in One-Fifty and Melissa Ellison team up to create mistletoe magic for the town’s Christmas dance. The hanging spheres of kissable kindness kickoff holiday happiness and ornamental optimism, but all is not what it seems. An evil elf lurks in the shadows and conspires to prey on those most vulnerable. Will Melissa find the miracle she needs to protect the ones she’s grown to love and respect?
Negative Eight
Wedding day dream or disaster? Dani Ellison has hooked the man of her dreams, but the rough and tumble girl is no match for the groom’s rich and controlling mother. When Aunt Corrine sees the feisty bride accepting defeat, she recounts the day Hurricane Gail blew in, bent on destroying her special day.
Sierra Mist
Determined and forceful, Jessie Marcus, finds herself embedded within a world full of secrecy and deception. Two men want and need her, one sinister and deceitful, the other mysterious and watchful. Clues quickly unravel to reveal an unimaginable phenomenon happening up on Catamount Ridge. The burden falls to her to stop the supernatural forces that threaten her home and family.