Sweet Saturday Sample

Thanks to everyone who visits me on Sweet Saturday Samples and I truly appreciate your comments. 
After diverting further into the story to give you a real Valentine smaple last week, I am hopping back to Henri's reappraisal of his enforced holiday at his brother and sister-in-law's riding school for disabled children.

The simplicity of Christmas at the farm had appealed to Henri. The joy of seeing it through the eyes of his three-month-old nephew, Jonathan, intrigued him, and brought a new magic and meaning to the day. Yes, they’d exchanged presents and stuffed themselves motionless with the awesome food Melanie prepared. It was, he knew, a Christmas that would ever remain as one of his most precious memories.

He’d expected to chafe at the lack of a filled schedule. Had wondered what he’d do with himself during this enforced period of inactivity, and laughed at the absurdity.

True, for the first few days, the disruption of his life, coupled with the re-entry of Monica into his orbit, stoked both his fury and sense of disconnection. Used to a life of routine with every moment accounted for, it took several days to acclimatise to the rhythm of the farm.

The sight of his brother’s joy filled him with an unknown sense of yearning he couldn’t identify. Heck, his life was all mapped out for him. One day he’d step into his father’s shoes, marry the woman his parents chose for him, sire the required heir and a spare, and—

His steps faltered, and he reflected back over the last few weeks, since his arrival.

Sweet Saturday Samples

#3 Thank you to everyone ho visited last week and to those joining us all on the second week of the great new Sweet Saturday Samples please enjoy.
While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.
This scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.

* * *

“Perhaps my mother… No.” He sighed. “Why would she keep any photos of me? And where would she get hold of one? Come on. Let’s see if we can find out. I imagine she’ll go back to the house.”

“She may.” The solicitor studied the handle of his briefcase while Ben released the car locks, then settled back against the supple leather of the passenger seat.

“Anything left in the cottage after the funeral automatically becomes part of your
mother’s estate. If she attends the funeral, she no longer has access to the property once she leaves the cemetery. If she hadn’t attended, the ban on access applied at the start of the service.”

Ben swept his gaze from the road to the man beside him and back again. “That’s a bit ostentatious, isn’t it, for a woman with nothing to leave? Why the unusual stipulation?”

"Mrs. Kouvaris was…” Obviously choosing his words with care, Cranborne continued, “a complex woman.” The words dropped into a silence and left much to the imagination.

“So my mother left nothing to the child she took in after sending me to my father’s home in Greece?”

He swallowed the taste of bitterness in his throat.

“And nothing to this Miss Williams who cared for her for the past five years?”

“Quite so.”

“Do you know the identity of the child my…”

Ben hesitated. “The name of the child she replaced me with—do you know her identity?”

“No.” The man shifted in his seat. “I don’t think Mrs. Kouvaris ever bothered to find out.”

Sweet Saturday Samples

#2 Thank you to everyone ho visited last week and to those joining us all on the second week of the great new Sweet Saturday Samples please enjoy.

While The Brat is rated 'sensual' and PG, there is no violence or 'explicit' sex in The Brat. There is some background reference, without details, to child abuse.


This  scene in my debut novel The Brat published by The Wild Rose Press follows on from last week.
* * *

The sound of crunching gravel brought his attention back to the reverend as the manapproached them. “Mr. Kouvaris.” The clergyman extended his hand and held out the sealed envelope.

“I am delighted to carry out this small commission for Miss Williams.” He looked over his shoulder to the open grave, then continued, “Please accept my condolences at such a sad time.”

“Thank you.” Ben took the envelope. What else could he say?

“By your mother’s request, there’s no formal gathering after the funeral, but you are welcome to join me and my wife at the vicarage.” His gaze encompassed them both as his arm waved in the direction of a large house overlooking the graveyard.

“Thank you, but I’m leaving for Greece this evening.” Ben wished himself gone, then wondered aloud, “How did you identify me?”

The clergyman had moved away but swung round with a puzzled frown. “Miss Williams pointed you out when she asked me to give you this.” He indicated the envelope in Ben’s hand.

“I see.” He didn’t, but kept his own counsel. 

"Thank you,” Ben repeated and, with Mr. Cranborne, headed for his hired car.

The man beside him voiced the question running through Ben’s mind. “How did she know who you are?”