Precipice of Doubt

by Mardi Alexander

Pip sighed loudly.

  Charlie looked back and forth between them. “I swear, if you two don’t cut the bull and spill the beans, Cole and I may be forced to kill one of you or, at the very least, do some serious harm.”

  Cole raised her beer to Charlie. “Right on, sister. What she said.”

  A weighted silence sat between them for the briefest of moments before Jodi broke it. She looked to Pip. “So. You gonna?”

  Pip shrugged. “Might as well. And you?”

  “I’ll do it if you do.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Cole stood up. “Oh, for pity’s sake! Someone put us out of our misery. Please.”

  Pip turned to Charlie in the chair. “When the Parliament of Australia started to look like they were going to pass marriage equality, Jodi and I had a thought that maybe, to help with the visa thing and all, it might be worth considering. But now your visa is through, well, I guess this”—Pip pulled a small velveteen box from her trouser pocket and with deft fingers opened it one-handed to reveal a band of white gold, sparkling with diamonds—“can wait for another day.”

  Charlie was able to put two and two together—the ring, marriage, the visa. Jodi’d never seen Charlie so rattled before. Her hands shook as she wrapped them around Pip’s smaller ones as they held the ring case together.

  “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  Pip fingered the box. “I was going to, but then—”

  “Yes!”

  The smile fell from Pip’s face. “What?”

  “You heard me, Pip Atkins. Yes. Yes, yes, yes.”

  Jodi was conscious of Cole’s hand squeezing her thigh harder and harder as she waited to hear Charlie’s answer. Jodi leaned forward and hugged her.

  Cole held out her hand and waved it at Charlie. “Show me! Show me.” Charlie obliged and they held their heads close to admire the shine and setting.

  Cole swivelled to face Jodi with a smile like a thousand-watt bulb, her excitement bubbling over. “Did you see it? Oh. Isn’t it beautiful?”

  Jodi scrunched her nose up and struggled to keep her face impassive. “Yeah. It’s nice.”

  Cole whipped around and stared open-mouthed at her. “Nice. Really. You couldn’t be a little more enthusiastic?” Her voice was a dramatic whisper.

  “Well, I could, except for two things. I went shopping with Pip, so I’ve already seen it.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “And it’s nice. But”—Jodi squirmed in the seat until she had what she was looking for—“personally, I think mine is nicer.” She flipped open a matching velvet box and held it before Cole—a white gold ring with intricate knotwork, the centre of each knot inlaid with a ruby.

  Cole looked back and forth between her and the ring. One hand flew to her chest. “Oh my God.”

  “No. Just me. Cole Jameson, will you live with me, love me, marry me, and help me to make as wonderful a relationship as your grandparents had?”

  “Wha—?”

  “Will you be my wife?”

  Cole looked at Jodi, then to Pip and Charlie, who nodded and smiled at her. She stared wordlessly at Jodi, the stretch of silence almost doing Jodi’s heart in as she waited to hear the one thing she suddenly realized she had been waiting most of her life to hear.

  “Yes.”

  Jodi never gave Cole another breath’s chance to say anything else before sealing the answer with a crushing kiss. She couldn’t think of anything more perfect than to celebrate life and love with the people who were most important in her world, who knew the preciousness and precariousness of life, and who now, more than ever, had the blessing and light to shine on a love that was boundless.

  Cole and Charlie compared rings, grins and shining eyes full of emotion. Behind them Pip and Jodi grinned and raised fresh beer bottles in toast of their success and cunning plan. “We should go shopping more often, Pipsqueak.”

  “I reckon that’s a cracker of an idea, Stretch.”

  Epilogue

  Jodi stepped out of the caravan perched on the hill slope. She had a chilled bottle of white wine in her hand and a plate of cheese and cracker biscuits in the other. She leaned over Cole’s shoulder to top up her wine glass.

  Cole raised her head as Jodi bent down to pour the wine, a smile lingering on her face. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

  Jodi moved closer and captured Cole’s lips in a soft and lingering kiss. “You’re welcome.” She sat down on the camp chair next to Cole. Their hands met and fingers intertwined as they sat side by side, leaning slightly into each other, looking over their new block of land with the perfect river view.

  “I think you’re right—this is the perfect place and outlook for the new house.” Jodi gave Cole’s fingers a gentle squeeze. They had been coming up each weekend for the past month and walking the property to work out the ideal place for their house. It was Cole who’d found the place where they were now camped out.

  On a whim, they had bought a vintage caravan and towed it up the small hill to where it was now parked. They had spent the day stepping out and making plans for their new home, as witnessed by a series of pegs in the ground around them and the van.

  Cole gestured in front of her. “Can we have a big sweeping veranda—one that goes all the way around the house?”

  “Can’t see why not.”

  “I want to put some nice chairs and a table on it, so we can sit out here in the evening, like now, and look over the river, the sun setting over the water, and watch the boats go by.”

  “That sounds perfect.” Jodi relaxed into her chair as she looked at the scenic vista before her. The sun glistened with the last of the day’s brilliance on the river’s surface. She turned her head to gaze fondly over at her fiancée. A gentleness and peace stole over her. The depths of warmth was surprising. But whereas once she would have shied away from acknowledging it, now she felt settled. Composed. Whole.

  Cole turned her head, her eyes dark and solemn. “I’ve changed my mind.”

  Jodi jerked her head at the change. “Sorry?”

  “I don’t want chairs on the veranda.”

  Jodi sat up. “Okay.”

  Cole put her glass down and stood, drawing Jodi with her. Cole relieved Jodi of her glass. “I was thinking about a lounge, but it’s not big enough.”

  “It’s not?”

  Cole stepped into Jodi’s space and pressed along her full length, one arm wrapped around Jodi’s neck. She traced Jodi’s jawline and eyebrow ridges with soft, sensuous fingertips. “I want a bed out here.”

  “You do? A bed.”

  “Uh-huh.” Cole drew Jodi’s head closer until only the whisper of their breath separated them. She leaned in the last inch and stole any words Jodi might have uttered as their lips came together. Jodi couldn’t help but smile into the kiss as she heard Cole hum. “Because then I wouldn’t have to stop doing this”—she stole another kiss, her tongue lingering on Jodi’s upper lip, the kiss ending in a playful nip—“in order to take you to bed and show you how much I love you.”

  Jodi chuckled softly. Cole pulled back slightly to look at her, somewhat bemused.

  “You do realize we would be eaten to death by mozzies the moment we got our kit off.”

  “I’m sure you could be motivated to think of something to solve that.”

  Jodi’s hands stole down to cup Cole’s waist and draw her close. She felt the warmth coming up from the land, through their feet, rising up to embrace them both.

  A month earlier, doubt and anxiety had been her constant shadows, but now she was gifted with light and warmth, its nexus centred around the woman in her arms. She began to walk them backward towards the van door. “I’m beginning to feel motivated now.”

  Cole purred as Jodi skilfully relieved her of her clothes as they stepped inside. “I do love a creative mind.”

  Jodi let the door close behind them. “And I love nothing better than a challenge.”

  About the Authors

  Mardi Alexander:


  Mardi lives on a farm high up on the mountain tablelands of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales along with her partner, a myriad of cats and dogs and prerequisite farm animals.

  When not working full-time, Mardi is also a firefighter, firefighting instructor, and a member of a local wildlife rescue service looking after orphaned, sick, and injured native Australian animals. Her current specialties include koala wrangling and raising joeys.

  A finalist in the Golden Crown Literary Awards with her debut book Twice Lucky, Mardi delights in sharing the richness of Australian culture and heritage in her works.

  Laurie Eichler:

  Originally from the US, Laurie Eichler now calls the northern rivers of coastal New South Wales, Australia, home. She lives in a small town alongside the Clarence River with her three dogs, and as a member of a local wildlife rescue organization, more often than not, she has one or more orphaned kangaroo joeys and an assortment of native birds in her care. Recently, she has been able to return to one of her greatest loves, working with horses, specifically Thoroughbreds.

  Laurie has co-authored two books with Mardi Alexander, To Be Determined and Precipice of Doubt.

  In addition, she wrote A Kiss Before Dawn (2016 Rainbow Award), Right Out of Nowhere, Positive Lightning, In the Stillness of Dawn (2015 Rainbow Honorable Mention), After a Time (YA) and The Day Cagney Lost Her Wag (Children) under Laurie Salzler.

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  Captive by Donna K. Ford. To escape a human trafficking ring, Greyson Cooper and Olivia Danner become players in a game of deceit and violence. Will their love stand a chance? (978-1-63555-215-7)

  Crossing the Line by CF Frizzell. The Mob discovers a nemesis within its ranks, and in the ultimate retaliation, draws Stick McLaughlin from anonymity by threatening everything she holds dear. (978-1-63555-161-7)

  Love’s Verdict by Carsen Taite. Attorneys Landon Holt and Carly Pachett want the exact same thing: the only open partnership spot at their prestigious criminal defense firm. But will they compromise their careers for love? (978-1-63555-042-9)

  Precipice of Doubt by Mardi Alexander & Laurie Eichler. Can Cole Jameson resist her attraction to her boss, veterinarian Jodi Bowman, or will she risk a workplace romance and her heart? (978-1-63555-128-0)

  Savage Horizons by CJ Birch. Captain Jordan Kellow’s feelings for Lt. Ali Ash have her past and future colliding, setting in motion a series of events that strands her crew in an unknown galaxy thousands of light years from home. (978-1-63555-250-8)

  Secrets of the Last Castle by A. Rose Mathieu. When Elizabeth Campbell represents a young man accused of murdering an elderly woman, her investigation leads to an abandoned plantation that reveals many dark Southern secrets. (978-1-63555-240-9)

  Take Your Time by VK Powell. A neurotic parrot brings police officer Grace Booker and temporary veterinarian Dr. Dani Wingate together in the tiny town of Pine Cone, but their unexpected attraction keeps the sparks flying. (978-1-63555-130-3)

  The Last Seduction by Ronica Black. When you allow true love to elude you once and you desperately regret it, are you brave enough to grab it when it comes around again? (978-1-63555-211-9)

  The Shape of You by Georgia Beers. Rebecca McCall doesn’t play it safe, but when sexy Spencer Thompson joins her workout class, their nonstop sparring forces her to face her ultimate challenge—a chance at love. (978-1-63555-217-1)

  Exposed by MJ Williamz. The closet is no place to live if you want to find true love. (978-1-62639-989-1)

  Force of Fire: Toujours a Vous by Ali Vali. Immortals Kendal and Piper welcome their new child and celebrate the defeat of an old enemy, but another ancient evil is about to awaken deep in the jungles of Costa Rica. (978-1-63555-047-4)

  Landing Zone by Erin Dutton. Can a career veteran finally discover a love stronger than even her pride? (978-1-63555-199-0)

  Love at Last Call by M. Ullrich. Is balancing business, friendship, and love more than any willing woman can handle? (978-1-63555-197-6)

  Pleasure Cruise by Yolanda Wallace. Spencer Collins and Amy Donovan have few things in common, but a Caribbean cruise offers both women an unexpected chance to face one of their greatest fears: falling in love. (978-1-63555-219-5)

  Running Off Radar by MB Austin. Maji’s plans to win Rose back are interrupted when work intrudes, and duty calls her to help a SEAL team stop a Russian mobster from harvesting gold from the bottom of Sitka Sound. (978-1-63555-152-5)

  Shadow of the Phoenix by Rebecca Harwell. In the final battle for the fate of Storm’s Quarry, even Nadya’s and Shay’s powers may not be enough. (978-1-63555-181-5)

  Take a Chance by D. Jackson Leigh. There’s hardly a woman within fifty miles of Pine Cone that veterinarian Trip Beaumont can’t charm, except for the irritating new cop, Jamie Grant, who keeps leaving parking tickets on her truck. (978-1-63555-118-1)

  The Outcasts by Alexa Black. Spacebus driver Sue Jones is running from her past. When she crash-lands on a faraway world, the Outcast Kara might be her chance for redemption. (978-1-63555-242-3)

  Death in Time by Robyn Nyx. Working in the past is hell on your future. (978-1-63555-053-5)

  BOLDSTROKESBOOKS.COM

  Looking for your next great read?

  Visit BOLDSTROKESBOOKS.COM

  to browse our entire catalog of paperbacks, ebooks, and audiobooks.

  Want the first word on what’s new?

  Visit our website for event info,

  author interviews, and blogs.

  Subscribe to our free newsletter for sneak peeks,

  new releases, plus first notice of promos

  and daily bargains

  SIGN UP AT

  BOLDSTROKESBOOKS.COM/signup