Well…I
am super excited to bring to you a whole new story!
True
Love Waits has been finished for some time, but life screamed for my undivided
attention and I had to put it on the back burner for a while.
But,
now I’m back to writing and in full swing.
True Love Waits is a stand-alone book and is in no way related to the
Love Lights books.
I
do not plan on a sequel or series to go along with this story…however, I am a
woman and it is my prerogative to change my mind…which I do frequently.
So…here
is the blurb and a couple of excerpts to keep you company until it is
released on Valentine’s Day. And, what a
sweet, sexy gift for your Valentine. I
do hope you enjoy.
Synopsis:
Marti Willis left her hometown of Leesburg, Virginia
eleven years ago to chase her life time dream of becoming an editor at one of
the most prominent publishing companies in New York. After graduating from NYU,
she landed her dream job and married a friend from college. After six years of
a rocky marriage and learning she couldn't have children, she divorced her
husband and moved back home to take over her mother’s book store. Running into
her old flame, Brad Mason, was foremost on her mind. They had been madly in
love when she left for New York and Brad wanted to marry her. But his life was
in Leesburg, so Marti made the tough decision to break ties with Brad and
pursue her dream. The fact is, she's never stopped thinking about Brad and how
much she wished she'd stayed. But not being able to have kids was something she
didn't want for him. He had his heart set on having a family and she couldn't
take that away from him. He'd be much better off without her.
Brad Mason had never loved any other woman but Marti
Willis. He kept up with her life through her mother. When he learned that Marti
and her husband divorced, he knew deep down that she would come back to him and
they would be together. He began making plans for their future before he'd even
seen or heard from her. He'd always known they were meant to be together. It was
just a matter of time, and now that she's returning to Leesburg, the time has
come to claim her as his own once again. His patience has paid off and now he
can have the family he's always wanted.
When Brad and Marti come face to face, the old flame
ignites uncontrollably and Marti finds herself struggling to keep her distance
from him. Brad is relentless in his pursuit of her and all he can think of is
taking her home with him and never letting her go again.
Marti falls under Brads spell and into his bed only
to break his heart once again with the revelation that she can't have children.
Brad is shocked and speechless, causing Marti to run away in despair and with
yet another broken heart.
Will Brad be able to overlook having a family and
love only Marti, or will his dream of having a family tear their love apart for
good?
Excerpt:
Marti was getting very
tired on her long drive back home to Leesburg, Virginia from New York. She hadn’t had a good night sleep in two
months and her nerves were a jumbled mess.
Her recent divorce from her husband of six years and leaving her job as
an editor, at one of the most prestigious publishing companies in the state of
New York, didn’t help matters.
Her mother owned the
local bookstore in town and was struggling to run it by herself. Marti agreed to move back home and help her
with it, hoping she could talk her into retiring. Marti could use the change in pace. She always loved working in the store with
her mom and dad. Her dad died her
sophomore year in college and her Aunt Maggs helped her mom with the store for
a while. She was her mom’s older sister
by ten years. When she developed Dementia
last year, she moved into the Senior Center and was unable to help at the
bookstore.
Marti sighed and
glanced at her Golden Retriever sitting in the passenger seat taking in the
sights. “Well, Dixie, we’re almost
home.” Dixie looked at her with her
tongue hanging out and smiling lovingly at Marti, or at least she liked to
think she was smiling at her. Marti
stroked Dixie’s head.
“It’s just you and me,
now, kiddo.” She scratched behind the
yellow dog’s floppy ear. “You, me and
mom.”
She smiled when she saw
the little café just outside of town.
Memories came flooding back to the last time she was there, sitting in
the corner booth with him, her first
love, Brad Mason. She sighed with regret
as she remembered their last words.
“You’ll forget about me and fall in love with
someone else.” Brad had said as he held her left hand with both of
his across the table, his fingers running across the gold ring on her finger. “No,
I won’t.” Marti argued, placing her
other hand on top of his. “I love you, Brad. And I will never love anyone else!” She squeezed his hands tight. “Come
with me! We could marry and live in New
York!”
Brad dropped his gaze
to their hands, then brought it up to look deep into her eyes. “My
life is here, Marti. I’m starting my new
job tomorrow. It’s what I’ve always
known I would do. It will get me to
where I want to be. I want to own my own
company, get out of my father’s shadow.’’
Marti smiled as a tear
fell down her left cheek. “I know.”
She sniffled, knowing that this was good bye for them. “I’m
not coming back, Brad.” His brows
furrowed. “What do you mean, you’re not coming back? What about us? I want to marry you, Marti.” Marti couldn’t look at him. She hadn’t told him she wanted to stay in New
York after she graduated and work for Wisdom House Publishing. Her hands started shaking and she felt
nauseated. She didn’t want to leave
Brad, but she’d dreamt of living in New York since she was six years old. “I’m
sorry, Brad. You know I’ve dreamed of
living in New York. I just thought,
maybe, you would come with me.” She
sighed heavily as his eyes closed in disappointment. “I understand if you don’t. Let’s not fight about it now. We can talk about it later. I have four years at NYU to get through. Who knows how I will feel about New York
after that?” She shrugged, not
believing she would ever want to move back here after living in the Big Apple.
Marti snorted. “So much for not moving back home,
huh?’’ She asked Dixie as she pulled up
to the café. She pulled her brush from
her purse and brushed out her long fine blonde hair. “I’m hungry.
How ‘bout you?” She turned to
face the dog and tousled her head playfully.
“Bet you could stand to
take a quick walk, too, huh?’’ Dixie let
out a bark in agreement.
Marti stood next to the
oak tree daydreaming about Brad kissing her for the first time behind it as
they hid from their parents. It seemed a
lifetime ago since they were fifteen and crazy in love. She giggled as she ran her fingers along the
indention in the bark, remembering him carving their names on the old tree a
week later. How did things go so wrong between us?
She thought regretfully. If I had only come back, we’d probably be
married with five kids. She
snickered. Yeah, right! I can’t even have
kids! Tears welled in her eyes as
she softly caressed Brad’s name then the forever he’d promised her so long
ago. He
was better off without me. She told
herself with a heavy heart.
“Marti?” A man called from the parking lot. Marti looked up with wide eyes and saw him
climbing off a Harley and slowly walking toward her.
“Brad.” She whispered under her breath.
Of course, Marti refuses to have a relationship with
Brad. But, will she be able to resist
his touch…his immaculate charm? Find out
on Valentine’s Day!
Brad caressed her
shoulder and kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of strawberry
in her soft hair. He lifted onto one
elbow and looked down at her with a lazy smile, brushing his fingertips across
her forehead and down her cheek.
“Welcome home,
Marti.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’ve missed you so much.” He said softly. Marti could only smile and gaze into his big
blue eyes. Brad smiled. “You know I’m never gonna let you go, don’t
you?”
She smiled crookedly
and twisted the hair from the light patch on his chest. “I’m sorry, Brad, for everything.” She murmured.
He softly pressed his
finger to her lips. “Shh. I won’t have any of that. Let’s leave the past where it belongs. We belong here, now. And, now we can have a future together.” He slid his hand down between her breasts and
down to her belly. He leaned over to
kiss her just above her belly button.
“And, now we can have a family.”
He didn’t see the terror in her eyes.
He was staring at her belly while caressing it. “I can’t wait to see you carrying our baby.” He chuckled and turned to face her while
saying, “Of course, not right away. I’m
not ready to share…” He stopped as he noticed
the fear in her eyes and how pale her face was.
He felt her trembling. He sat up
quickly, kneeling beside her with her face in his hands.
“Marti? What’s wrong?” He caressed her temple with his thumb. “Did I hurt you? Are you sick?” She just looked ahead, staring at nothing in
particular. Brad began to panic. “Marti?
Please, baby, talk to me.”
Marti looked at him
with a blank expression. “Marti, sweetheart,
you’re scaring me, please!”
Tears fell down her
cheeks as her eyes focused on his. “Oh
Brad. I love you so much.” She stared at his face for a moment and
watched his fear turn into a smile. She
hated that she would take that beautiful smile away from him.
“I love you, too,
Marti.” He said happily as he embraced
her. She pushed him away and confusion
swept over him like a dark cloud.
“Marti?”
She took a deep breath
and prepared herself for the blow.
“Brad, we don’t have a future together.”
His face dropped and he went pale.
“What?” His eyes shifted from left to right in panic. “There’s no reason why we can’t, Marti. I love you, you love me. You’re divorced and now living here. What possible reason would you have for
saying that?” When she looked away, he
thought he understood. “Is there someone
else? Again?” He asked in anger and tremendous fear.
“No. Of course not.” She said surprised he thought that she would
sleep with him if she was with someone else.
Brad narrowed his eyes
at her. “You aren’t considering going
back to Mark, are you?”
“No.” She snapped.
His mood softened and
he cupped her neck. “Then, why would you
think we have no future together? What’s
holding you back?” He asked with a
comforting smile.
Marti sighed and rolled
off the bed, taking the sheet with her and wrapping it around her. "The reason Mark and I split up was
because I can’t have children.” She
muttered softly, turning her back on him.
Brad started to stand, but froze at her revelation. Marti winced at the silence, knowing that
everything had just changed with that one statement. Without looking his way, she collected her
clothes and disappeared into the bathroom.
Brad sat there, shocked
that he would never have a beautiful little blonde princess that looked just
like Marti, or a blue eyed slugger of a son that wanted to be just like his
daddy. His dream of a family with Marti
had just been crushed. He stood and
pulled his sweats on that he had laid out before his shower and went to the
kitchen for a drink. He knew he should
go to Marti, but he needed a few minutes to process this news. Its life changing and he needed to clear his
head before he could possibly take one more step forward.
Marti stood in front of
the mirror staring at herself blankly.
She’d realized that Brad had clammed up like he always did when he was
deciding whether to be angry or not. One
thing about Brad was his level headed thinking.
He always thought before he spoke, especially in sticky situations. He was known for not ever jumping the
gun. She knew he was assessing the
situation and his final conclusion would be to find someone else who could have
his children, just like Mark did.
She quickly dressed and
splashed her face with cold water. If
she knew Brad, he was standing in the den at the fireplace, one of his calm
places to think, so she would sneak out the back door undetected and leave him
to his thoughts and his decision without her interference. The idea of a life without Brad she’d gotten
used to, but now it seemed so much harder than eleven years ago when she left
him behind. She knew this was it for
them, there was no returning from this.
Her heart was breaking and she wasn’t sure she’d ever recover.
And, of course, Brad wasn’t about to let her
go. Not after waiting all these years
for her to return. It’s time to show her
who is in control here…where she belongs…whom she’s always belonged to.
Watch
for more exciting news of “True Love Waits”
