DEFYING RULES
I’m back with another snippet of this story after spending two weeks in the wonderful country of New Zealand.
A little reminder: in the previous posts Addy returned home from work to find her house broken in. Ethan drove coincidently drove by and stopped to see how she was going. I moved forward a little to the moment he knocks at her door later that night.
DEFYING RULES is set along the Australian Great Ocean Road and tells the story of Ethan Tomlin, single dad, and manager of a hotel chain.
This is still a WIP, so critique away.
Thanks … and enjoy 🙂
She (Addy) sighed. “Honestly, I’m fine. If anything, I’m disappointed and angry.”
He nodded, fully understanding where she was coming from. It’d probably the same thoughts he’d be having if he were in the situation. Anger and frustration at the fact that someone had intruded on his privacy.
Gently pushing away from him, she looked up and met his gaze. “Anyway, this is the spare bed. Apologies for the mess, but—”
He held up his hand. “No worries. It’ll do just fine for the night.”
“Good night,” she said before heading to her own room.
There was enough space for Ethan’s swag on the floor. It didn’t take him long to unpacked it. Then he went in search for the bathroom.
As exhausted as he was, sleep didn’t come easy. He thought of the past and the many times he’d slept in his swag in Nick’s room after a fight with Skye. Staring at the ceiling, he wondered about her. Where she was or what she was doing with her life nowadays. Did she have a family? Was she married? Did she think of Nicholas occasionally? He thought of Jack, whose ex-wife had left with their son twenty years ago. Jack had pined for his son every single day. Would Nick try to find his mother when he’d be older? Ethan wasn’t able to remember a time they’d talked of Skye. Although he felt guilty at that moment, the situation had never come up, and Nick had never shown any interest. He remembered the time his boy was in Grade 1 at school, and the class activity was to create something for Mother’s Day. The young boy had eagerly crafted a beautiful basket with toiletry items and given it to Emily. Ethan had not only been relieved, but proud as well. Proud of his son to have tackled the situation with such ease.
Despite all the thoughts going through his head, he must’ve fallen asleep after all, because the next thing he knew was, he was jolted out of sleep, woken instantly by a scream from somewhere in the house. Adrenaline shot through him as he struggled to get out of his swag.
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4 stars – NEW BEGINNINGS is a very emotional read, one that is heartwarming as well as heart wrenching. It gives you hope in the act of human kindness and that good things do happen to good people. I highly recommend this book.
Oh man, I’ve had that happen. It’s not a good feeling. Great snippet, Iris. 🙂
That you woke to someone screaming in the house ? Hope all was okay!
Interesting snippet, carried me along in his memories…and then the scream! Question: what exactly is ‘swag’ in this context? Is it a sleeping bag or? Other than that nit, I’m immersed in this story for sure..
Glad you liked it, Veronica. A swag is a “mattress / tent – all in one” kind of thing. Very popular here.
Exciting ending! Will we find out what’s happening next week?
Glad you liked it 🙂 Not sure about next week ….
Hey, you can’t leave us here! We need to know about the scream!
LOL … lemme think about it 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, PT.
I’m curious to know what’s going to happen next.
Glad I got your interest 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Karen.