A happy Friday to everyone! I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. I thought I'd start it off by sharing an excerpt with you from my most recent romance novel DESTINATION WEDDING.
Just to give you a background, James Martin is Clair's ex husband who left her after 20 years of marriage to marry a younger woman, Diane. He's on his way to the Bahamas for his daughter's (Mandy) wedding. He has yet to see his daughter or Claire until he is on the smaller plane that flies from Miami to Marsh Harbour. Enjoy...
Excerpt from Destination Wedding:
From his seat at the back of the plane, Jim could watch everyone
in the wedding party. He'd purposely boarded the plane early so he could get on
without any questions from Mandy. Soon enough, he'd have to explain why Diane
wasn't with him. He just wasn't sure yet what he was going to say.
To admit to his daughter that he'd failed at his second
marriage after leaving her mother for Diane left a lump in his throat. What an
idiot he'd been. The grass hadn't been greener on the other side. In fact, it
had been brown, prickly, and downright nasty. When he'd left Claire to start a
new life with Diane, he'd thought it would be a life full of love, laughter,
and carefree fun. Boy, had he been wrong. The minute he'd said "I
do," Diane ran over him like a steam shovel. She wanted a brand new house,
brand new furniture to fill it with, and expensive vacations. She wanted to
change the way he dressed, the way he cut his hair, the way he ate, and even
the way he walked. What the hell was wrong with the way he walked? Diane became
a living nightmare. And the fact that they worked in the same office and that
he was her superior didn't help matters. She thought she could reign over him
at work like she did at home. But the worst part of all, she'd done everything
she could to keep him away from his only child. That had hit Jim hard. When
Mandy began planning the wedding, Diane flat-out refused to go on the island
vacation and attend the wedding. They fought over it endlessly. He literally
had to bribe her to agree to go to the engagement party by giving her a
ridiculously expensive diamond necklace. It was all too much for Jim. When
Diane refused to go to the wedding during their umpteenth argument six months
ago, it was the final straw for Jim. He gave her an ultimatum. Go to the
wedding with him, or leave. She chose to leave, thank God. As bad as it
sounded, he'd actually been relieved.
Jim looked up in time to see Claire staring back at him. He
gave her a small smile and a wave, which made her turn around instantly. Jim
sighed. He'd really screwed up his life the day he'd left Claire. True, their
marriage had been faltering and it had seemed like their work life had become
more important than their relationship. Looking back, however, he realized that
it had been his fault completely since he'd let himself become distracted with
a younger woman at work while Claire had stayed true.
Jim watched the back of Claire's head as she seemed to be
rocking in her seat and chanting something. Then he saw Mandy turn around in
her seat and say something to her mother. Jim wondered what Claire had been
doing. She seemed nervous. He'd secretly watched her as she'd boarded the plane
with the rest of the group and was amazed at how young and vibrant she looked.
She'd grown out her sandy blond hair a little and she looked like she'd lost a
little weight. Not that Claire had ever been overweight; she'd always looked
neat and trim. But today, she looked amazing in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
Since the day they met in college, Claire had always been a smart, confident
woman who knew what direction she was heading. Jim had always envied that about
her. But today, she looked nervous, almost vulnerable. He wondered if she was,
or if it was just his imagination.
As the plane landed in Marsh Harbour, James decided he'd
keep his divorce to himself for as long as he was able. There was no sense
dumping that information onto a fun family vacation and Mandy's special day.
He'd make up an excuse for Diane's absence. He was pretty sure that no one was
going to miss her anyway. He sure as hell knew he wasn't going to.
###
I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Destination Wedding. DW will be on tour in June, so be sure to check back and follow along.
Cheers,
Deanna
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