I’ve been so wrapped up in my latest WIP that I didn’t
realize how close we are coming to ending 2014 and starting 2015. It’s seems like
it was just yesterday that I was typing “THE END” on A Cry For Hope. It’s hard to
believe it was a whole year ago and since then I have introduced you to two
other book couples as well: Will & Gabby and Becca & Mason. To say that 2014
went by in the blink of an eye is an UNDERSTATEMENT. I hope you enjoyed the
books and the characters that I introduced you to this year during my writing
journey and I hope that their stories stay with you for a very long time. I met a
lot of awesome new readers this year as well! So, going forward into 2015 I
hope to keep improving my writing by making you laugh, making you cry (because
you know I love to do that to you guys)
and making your heart skip a beat. Thank
you all for continuing to read my books and for loving them as much as I do. I
got great stories planned for you in 2015!! Until then, here are my favorite
moments of 2014:
A Cry For Hope
An hour and forty-seven
minutes later, I was turning down the long and winding road that led to the cemetery.
I pulled my car off to the side and walked up the hill that led to Charlie’s grave.
I looked around and was thankful that I was all alone. The late morning sunlight
was beating down and the sweat was already streaming down my face, but I didn’t
care. I needed to be with my Charlie. I placed the cupcake that my mother had made
just for him on his headstone and sat down on the ground. “Grandma made this just
for you, Charlie. She misses you so much. We all miss you so much. I can’t believe
that a whole year has passed already. It seems like just yesterday. I hope you know
how much I love you and that I am so sorry that I couldn’t be there for you that
day. You were my world, Charlie, the reason that I existed, and I’m trying to keep
going without you, but it’s so hard some days.”
I couldn’t hold
back anymore and soon found myself unable to breathe through my sobs, finally admitting
to myself, after a whole year, that my little boy was really gone and never coming
back. I wrapped my arms around my legs and buried my face in my knees. I rocked
back and forth, trying my best to calm myself, slowly lifting my head when I felt
someone standing over me. My heart raced and my stomach dropped when I looked up
and saw Jamie’s beautiful eyes staring down into mine.
“Jamie,” I whispered,
crying even harder at the sight of him.
He bent down beside
me, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me closer. He kissed me on the top of
my head as my tears continued to flow.
“He’s really gone.
It took me a whole year to come to that realization, but our baby is really gone
and he’s never coming back,” I whispered, trying to catch my breath.
A Will To Change
I followed behind her, trying my best to hide my laughter when I
noticed that her shirt was still on inside out. I had noticed the tag when she
had whisked past me to answer the door earlier, but being the nice guy that I was, I didn’t want to
embarrass her in front of her date. I figured what would it hurt if she went
out with her shirt on inside out? I found it hard to believe that she had sex
and put her shirt on the same way again. She was totally playing me so I was
going to play right along with her. I sat down beside her on the couch. “So,
give me details.” I had to bite my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing at
the stunned look that stretched across her face.
“What!? No, I’m not giving you details.”
“Why not?”
“Umm, because I’m just not!” she said,
picking up the remote, nervously flicking through the channels.
“Well, I know one thing. He must not be
much of a boob man.”
“Why?” she asked, crinkling her forehead.
“Because you obviously didn’t take off your
shirt.”
“Umm…yeah, I did, if you must know!” she replied with an overly
animated jerk of her head.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really!”
“Oh, so I guess the shirt you have on is meant to be worn inside out then?
Because it was inside out when you left, too.”
Her jaw and head dropped as she looked down
at her shirt. I couldn’t contain my laughter. “Will! You let me walk out of
here with my shirt on inside out?!”
I held my hand up in defense. “Well, I
didn’t want to embarrass you in front of Eugene.” She pushed me back on the
couch and was no longer able to hold back her own laughter. She began to tell
me all about her failed date, and I did my best to try and not seem happy about
it.
“Go ahead, have at it!” she said.
“Have at what?”
“Telling me ‘I told you so’.”
“Now, Gabby, I would never do that to you.”
I busted out with laughter once again.
“That’s okay. You won’t be laughing when I
become a lonely old cat lady. I’m going to start collecting one cat for each
year that I don’t have sex. At this rate, I’ll have twenty-nine by the time I’m
sixty.”
“Gabby, you kill me!” She sighed heavily.
“Movie?” I asked.
“Sure. I just want to get into my pajamas,”
she said, standing up from the couch and sounding a little defeated.
“Hey, Gabby?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t think you’ll have twenty-nine
cats. Twenty, maybe, but not twenty-nine.”
She picked up the pillow from the couch and
tossed it at me. “You’re such an ass!” she smirked.
“That’s my girl!”
Blind Side of Love
“So Becca, have
you ever been to Louisiana?”
“Nope. Can’t say
that I have!”
“Do you want to go?”
I asked. She looked up from her ice cream, looking a little surprised. She
shrugged her shoulders, clearly waiting for me to elaborate. “My sister planned
a last minute anniversary party for my parents next weekend and I would love
for you to come.”
“Oh, umm…..” It
was too soon for her, and I instantly regretted asking her when I saw the look
on her face.
“No big deal if
you don’t want to. I just thought maybe you would want to get away.”
“No, I do and
thank you so much for asking. It’s just…I would have to make arrangements with
Linda to see if she could take Lilly and –”
“Becca, really
it’s okay; I understand it’s last minute. It’s not a big deal. I just thought
I’d put it out there.”
She sighed
heavily and nodded. “Well thanks for thinking of me.” She forced a smile,
staring off into space like she was deep in thought, before finally breaking
her silence. “Mason?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you tell
your family about me?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Do they know?”
I shook my head
in confusion. “Do they know what?”
“That I’m blind.”
“Of course.” She
looked down at the table and her eyes filled with tears. “What’s wrong, Becca?”
“Nothing.”
I reached over
and grabbed her hand. “Becca, please tell me; what are you thinking?”
“Well, why would
you want me?”
“What? Why
wouldn’t I?
“You’re so good
to me, you have this great personality and I’m fairly certain that you’re not
bad to look at either, so why would you want to be stuck with someone who can’t
even walk down the street without a dog or holding someone’s hand? You deserve
so much better than that.” The tears were now streaming down her face and I
felt like I was taking a slow bullet to my chest.
I lifted her
hand to my lips and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “Because when I look
at you I see so much more than just a blind girl. You make me happy, Becca. You
make me feel things that I haven’t felt in a very long time. So to me there is
no one better; you’re the best there is. I wish you could see what I do when I
look at you. Please do not ever think that you are not good enough.”
I took her ice cream cone that was melting all over
the place and threw it in the garbage. I handed her a napkin and she wiped off
her hands. I could still see so much doubt all over her face and I hated it. I
stood up and grabbed her hand. As she got up, I took her face in my hands. “If
I have to tell you all day, every day just how special you are until you
finally believe it, I will. I will do whatever it takes for you to see yourself
exactly how I see you.”
Hope we made your 2014 in the book world memorable!!
Love
Hope & Jamie
Will & Gabby
Becca & Mason
See you in 2015……
Melanie & Ben, Carrie & Jason, Gia & Cam
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