Taking a moment tonight to post this excerpt from my latest book, GOODNIGHT, MY LOVE, which is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iTunes, Kobo & more. Enjoy!
Excerpt:
“Hey, Gina. You
got your head in the clouds?”
She had been
staring glumly at the phone. That was a possibility, wasn’t it? Tony could
always call the phone at the bakery. He could hang up if Donnie or anybody but
she picked up.
“Hi, Kelly.
Whaddya need?”
Kelly Whelan arched
an eyebrow at her. “How ’bout, ‘Hello, Kelly? Haven’t seen you in while.’ Not
just ‘Whaddya need?’”
Gina glared sullenly
at him and folded her arms across her chest. If he was teasing, she wasn’t in
the mood for that; if he was seriously scolding her, then she wasn’t in the
mood for that, either.
“Hello, Kelly.
Haven’t seen you in a while. Catch any fish out there?”
He rested one
arm on the counter, leaning over the glass. “Yeah, we did. Lots of ’em. Made
some money.”
“Well...good.”
Easing up on the attitude, she grabbed a slice of parchment paper to take a
cookie from the tray beneath the glass counter. “That’s cause for celebration.
Congratulations.”
It wasn’t Kelly’s
fault she was upset over Tony seemingly having disappeared. To make up for it,
she offered him a cookie, one of the ones she knew the fisherman liked, with
the raspberry jam in the center.
His expression
softened. “For me?”
“Yes! Enjoy it.
Congratulations.” She wasn’t apologizing. Maybe she’d been rude—a little—but
he’d been rude, too, and he wasn’t apologizing to her, either. “Anyway, I’m
glad you’re home safe.”
Finally, he
broke into a grin. He also looked better than usual. Not as straggly, like the
other rough-and-tough fishermen. He was wearing a nice shirt and pants, and he’d
gotten his hair trimmed. She had to say, Kelly looked decent, even sort of
cute, when he was clean-shaven and dressed well.
“See any
mermaids out there?” Now she was the one teasing.
“Yeah. One that
looked like a crazy, little Italian bakery girl I know.”
Gina didn’t know
quite what to say to that. She tried to mask the fact that she was mildly
flustered with a laugh.
“Really, did you
ever see anything out there? Anything...like a mermaid?”
Donnie stepped
out of the kitchen with a fresh tray of pastries. He and Kelly exchanged nods
in greeting.
“Kelly, how’s it
goin’?” Her brother smiled.
“Good. Taking a
little break.”
“Yeah? Must be
nice to be rich, man.”
They both
laughed. Donnie didn’t seem at all troubled that Kelly was sharing a
conversation with her. He liked the fisherman. Kelly was his neighbor and he’d
known him for years. They’d hung around together, though Donnie was a couple
years older. There was mutual respect between them.
Why couldn’t
Donnie have liked Tony as much as he liked Kelly?
Because he’s
not even trying. Maybe he’s jealous because a lot of guys are jealous of Tony.
He’s handsome and he’s had a lot of girlfriends, so naturally the other guys
are all jealous of him.
“I haven’t been
lucky enough to see one myself. But I’ve heard stories from fishermen who swear
they’ve seen them out there.”
It was slow that
morning. Gina welcomed the downtime, since many days she was busy and barely
had time to catch her breath.
To Kelly’s
credit, too, he wasn’t treating her like a silly kid. He even came across as if
he were enjoying their little talk.
Gina felt
comfortable to be herself at that point. “I believe them. I believe they’ve
seen them.”
“Hey, so do I.
Just because I haven’t seen one myself, doesn’t mean something’s not out
there.” He grinned. “I’ll keep in mind you like mermaids. If it’s possible, if
I ever see one, I’ll get my picture taken with one for you.”
That made her giggle.
“Get her autograph on the picture, too, if you can. Not—not getting anything
today?”
“Cup of coffee.
That’s it for me today.”
“Okay. The
usual? Two sugars and light with cream?”
“You got it.”
Was he impressed
that she knew that? Gina remembered how all the regular customers took their
coffee. It was nothing special, yet she did pride herself in that.
“Uh...I heard my
sister saw you this weekend. Getting ice cream at the beach?”
Gina had just
finished pouring his coffee and placing the carafe back onto its burner when
she heard those words. Instinctively, she glanced at the door, almost expecting
Donnie to emerge at that very moment.
“Yes, it was
nice to see her,” she said, quickly changing the subject. “How is your mom? I
don’t see her much. Or your other sister and brother. I always seem to be here,
you know?”
Please, God,
don’t let him say anything.
