By
Constance Phillips
A NEXT DOOR category
romance,
43k words, sweet
contemporary romance,
from Turquoise
Morning Press
After eight years,
Hailey is back in Caseville Michigan. Just months after her mother’s death, her
siblings want to put their father in a nursing home and rent out the family
farm. If that wasn’t enough, the prospective tenant is Nate, the high school
crush she left behind the day after they acted on their mutual attraction.
After high school,
Nate Jenkins planned to leave small town behind, but life dealt him a different
hand of cards to play. He’s now back in Caseville, raising his daughter, and
running his family’s diner. His daughter’s speech disorder has been improved by
therapeutic horse riding and if he can lease the old Lambert farm, he can get
her a horse of her own. The only standing in the way is Hailey, the same woman
who left him eight years ago without even saying goodbye.
Can they get over all
that’s unspoken between them?
Buy Links:
Turquoise Morning Press - http://www.turquoisemorningpressbookstore.com/products/all-that-s-unspoken-by-constance-phillips
B&N - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-thats-unspoken-constance-phillips/1117740801?ean=2940148866978
Excerpt:
Only when she heard the
bell above the door ring out, was she able to unclench her fists and let out
the breath that had tightened her chest. She’d seen Nate lingering around the
edge of the counter with her plate of pancakes in hand but didn’t want him to
approach her now.
She really didn’t have
it in her to deal with him.
He came forward anyway,
and set the plate in front of her. After a hesitation, he asked, “Can I sit for
a minute?”
Her eyes fluttered
closed, but she gestured to the chair. She heard it scrape against the old worn
tile and could feel him just inches away from her.
“I’m sorry your dad’s
health is on the decline. I’ve always really liked him. It stinks, you know.”
She took a deep breath;
maybe they could talk as old friends and ignore the complications of the night
they’d spent together. “I don’t think he’s that bad. Jake and Kelly are
overreacting.”
He twisted his hands on
his lap. “I can see how you would think that. Some days when I see him, he’s
sharp as nails. Others….”
Her phone vibrated
against the table. The habit to check the ID won out against the desire meet
Nate’s stare. An eight-hundred number flashed, twisting Hailey’s stomach into
knots. Another bill collector wanting to take the money she was trying to
stretch just a little further, hoping to get through a few more weeks. She hit
the button to ignore the call.
“I overheard what you
said about your dad wanting the property to stay the same,” Nate said. “I’ll
take real good care of the place and won’t change a thing. I love that farm the
way it is.”
That brought her
attention back. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve been talking to
Jake about renting the house.”
She took in his deep
brown eyes and almost black hair. It was cropped short like he was trying to
beat-the-heat, even if the average temperature this week was somewhere around
ten degrees. Much shorter than he wore it in high school. The neatly trimmed
beard and mustache were new too.
He looked older. More
settled.
How ironic.
They’d both thought
this small town would smother them back then.
For a fleeting moment
it comforted her to picture Nate cooking in her family’s kitchen, and then she realized
it wouldn’t be her house anymore. She’d be on the outside looking in. “It feels
like everything is being taken away from me.”
His body stiffened as
he pulled back. “It’s not like I’m stealing it. I’m going to pay you for it.”
“This isn’t about money!”
“Then what is it
about?”
She reached for her
purse and fumbled for her wallet with trembling hands. “Everyone seems to think
that just because I don’t live here, I don’t have a voice, but you’re all
wrong.” She threw a twenty-dollar bill on the table. “I didn’t leave the
planet, I moved to New York. I didn’t abandon my family, but it feels like they
think so. I’m sick of being treated like an outside in my hometown, in my
family home, in my own life.”
She stood and tried to
turn, but he grabbed her wrist. Looking back would weaken her resolve—Nate had
always had that effect on her—but she did it anyway.
“Please, it would mean
a lot to Lori…and me.”
His daughter. The child
he’d had with someone else. She couldn’t stand the thought of the two of them
in her living room without her.
Why did it hurt so
much?
It wasn’t as if he left
her. She’d pursued and claimed the future she’d always wanted.
Hadn’t she?
If everything she’d
attained had been all she ever wanted, why was it tearing her in two to know
Nate had gone on with his life without her? It wasn’t as if she’d expected he
wouldn’t. She should be happy he was settled. Instead, it made her long for
that place next to him even more.
A lump formed in her
throat, making speech impossible. Instead, she headed for the door.
“That’s right, Hailey.
Run away. It’s what you do best!”
His words stopped her,
and she twisted back. “I what?”
“Run. Away. When the
pieces of your life don’t come together like a neat little puzzle, you scatter
them all around you and stomp out of the room.”
She bristled at the
venom in his voice. “That’s not what happened.”
“Oh, no. You handled it
so well, just breezed out of town with no concern for those you left behind.”
They weren’t talking
about her father or her house anymore. This was about how she’d reacted eight
years ago, when the feelings got too real.
Just as they were now.
“I care, dammit!” She
let out a long exhale. “I always have.”
Guest Post
Guest Post
Acquiesce, More than Surrender
When I saw the list of suggested topics for this blog, favorite word
leapt off the page. At first, I thought, “hmmm, do I have one?” Not more than a
moment passed before I realized I, in fact, do.
Acquiesce - to assent
tacitly; submit
or comply
silently or
without protest;
agree; consent
The first
time I heard the word was in the lyric of a Rick Springfield song, I
immediately zeroed in on it as a “pretty” word. It rolls of the tongue in a way
that sound and feels almost exotic. It must have made a huge impression because
I’d be willing to bet it’s made its way into every book I’ve written.
But that
shouldn’t be too surprising if you think about my brand.
Powerful stories of passion and
surrender.
When I was
trying to decipher what my brand was, I began to look at my writing for a
common theme, and found it was that moment of surrender. In most all of my
books there is a moment when one character acquiesces to themselves and their
love interest. They surrender whatever version of reality they’ve been gripping
tightly and accept a new future, no matter how much doing so may scare them.
Some might
look at the word acquiesce or surrender as a bad thing. A moment of weakness,
maybe. I disagree. I think letting go of fear and anger and acquiescing is a
positive thing. It might be opening yourself up to pain, but without the risk
you’ll never know the reward.
In All That’s Unspoken, both Hailey and
Nate have their own moments of surrender.
Around the
first turning point, Hailey accepts that her father’s health isn’t what she
believes it is. He can no longer care for himself.
Following
the black moment, Nate acquiesces to the fact that he doesn’t want to live his
life the way he has been. He wants Hailey.
Do you
have a favorite word? If so please share it and the comments and tell me why it
has become your favorite.
Author Bio:
Constance Phillips lives in Ohio with
her husband, daughter, and four canine kids. Her son, now on his own, is
planning a wedding, reconfirming that romance still lives and breathes.
When not writing stories of finding
and rediscovering love, Constance and her husband spend the hours planning a
cross-country motorcycle trip for the not-so-distant future…if they can find a
sidecar big enough for the pups.
Author Links:
website: Http://constancephillips.com
twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/CPhillips
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ConstancePhillipsRomanceAuthor?ref=hl
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6470282.Constance_Phillips
pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/phillipsconnie/boards/
Wattpad:
http://www.wattpad.com/user/ConstancePhillips
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