Not Mine to Take
Page 23
He stares at me as if I’ve lost my mind.
“But…”
His eyes flare. I bolt up, settle two joined fingers over his lips, silencing him. I hear a gasp.
He doesn’t get it and he never will.
In that moment, everything is crystal clear. I know what I have to do. For me…
“No, Charles. I won’t be that person. I’m not that person. There’s something you can do for me, though,” I say.
He’s crestfallen.
“Okay. Name it,” he concedes. He’s a businessman. A politician. He knows when to hold, and when to fold.
“When my novel is finished and the police have wrapped up their investigation, I want you to sell Tern Lodge and Tern Island. You and I, we don’t belong here anymore. This place holds too many memories, I guess. We’ll share the proceeds. I’d like to buy a place in Brooklyn. No doubt you’re going to need funds to mount your election campaign. It’ll be the best for both of us. How does that sound?’’ I say.
He nods. Smiles wryly. Leans forward and pecks cheek. It stings my stitched eye, and I wince.
“Ouch.”
“I’m sorry,” he says.
An apology! That’s a first…
We stand and face one another across an awkward silence.
After two minutes, he shrugs, “I suppose I’d better be going.”
“Yes,” I say. “I suppose you better had.”
I watch him leave the way he came and smile to myself.
When he’s out of sight, I settle into the rocker and get comfortable. I sit and watch the seagulls soaring across a cloudless, azure sky. When I close my eyes, it accentuates the low whoosh of the ocean meeting the beach.
Without thinking, I lower my hand toward the deck beside the rocker. My hand dangles forlornly in the air. I can’t feel her. I look down expecting to see Bella. The firm hand of realization chokes me. Though Bella’s gone forever, she’ll always be with me.
I fight the tears. I don’t want to cry.
“Tomorrow, girl, I’m going to dig out the phone number for the dog rescue place. With any luck they’ll have a puppy just like you were, the day we first met.”
It’s time to move on.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Christine. I write standalone psychological thrillers under the pen name, C.B. Cox. I am passionate about writing, life and love. My writing and life partner is Keiron.
Keiron is the author of the Wardell & Watts British Detective Series, which includes the novels: Promises, Promises; With Menaces; Murder at Devils Bridge, and the Amazon № 1 Best Seller - Beyond Absolution. Keiron’s standalone thriller - The Celtic Cross Killer is an epic P.I. thriller spanning three generations and crossing continents.
Amazon LINK to the above TITLES CLICK HERE
ALSO BY C B COX
Not Hers To Take
All lives are precious. Are some lives more precious than others?
Ruby Rivers is lost…
Betrayed by the man she loves, ostracized by her wealthy mother and high-flying sister, Ruby runs away to a world populated by drug users and abusive men.
When her mother dies prematurely, Ruby finds the strength to rebuild her shattered life and start anew.
But life is never that simple… Ruby has something precious… Something people want…
Who can she trust?
Her sister? Best friend? Her lover?
Who stands to gain the most from Ruby’s death?
AVAILABLE JULY 2020
Not Theirs To Take
What do you do when it’s time to move on, but your past won’t let you?
Fifty-one-year-old Manhattan restaurant maitre de Gina Tate is dying inside.
Denied an equity stake in the Michelin starred restaurant where she has worked for thirty years, Gina decides the time is right to chase her dream of owning a seafood restaurant on Maine’s picturesque coast.
Keen to progress and complete The Point At Larch Point, Gina finds herself confused and disillusioned by husband Greg’s sudden, stubborn reluctance to move the development forward. After a furious argument, resolving to go it alone, Gina leaves New York without Greg.
Alone in a dilapidated boathouse on an isolated headland, with too much time on her hands, haunted by her past, and with the local community closing ranks around her, Gina’s supercharged imagination runs wild…
The fine line between what’s real and imagined, the past and the present, blurs…
When she discovers four girls have gone missing in the local area over the previous decades, Gina asks around…
Her dream becomes a waking nightmare…
A waking nightmare that only one person can break…
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2020
For more information, visit our website:
www.indiumbooks.com
Or my Facebook author page - C B Cox Author
THANK YOU
I hope you enjoyed reading NOT MINE TO TAKE as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would be forever grateful if you could take a moment to leave A REVIEW ON AMAZON. Just PRESS THE LINK BELOW (if you are reading an ebook)
Not Mine To Take Review Link
Reviews help other people to find my books and help me to keep writing. I love hearing from readers. You can contact me via my facebook page, C.B.Cox Author, or via my website. Here’s the link to my WEBSITE.
www.indiumbooks.com
As a THANK YOU, I would like to offer you a FREE SHORT STORY - MURDER AT DEVIL’S BRIDGE when you sign up to my PRIVILEGE CLUB. All you have to do is follow this link and instructions. It’s FREE to join and you can leave at any time.
www.indiumbooks.com
HAPPY READING!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
People think that writing a novel is a solitary endeavor. That’s half the truth.
There is a group of special people whom, without whose help, none of this would have been possible:
Keiron, my soulmate, editor in chief and partner in crime. Your imagination holds no bounds. You took my draft manuscript and honed into a novel that I, we, are immensely proud of.
Jenny May, your eye for detail and nose for a great story helped to smooth out the rough edges. I’m eternally grateful.
Lynn and Mick Clarke thank you for you ‘very’ early feedback and motivation. We took onboard every word.
I would also like to extend a warm thanks to my ADVANCE READER GROUP. Your input has been invaluable and I look forward to developing our relationship over the coming years. THANKS AGAIN ALL.