Flesh & Bone: An Inspirational Contemporary Romance (A Guitar Girl Romance Book 2)
Page 21
Frau Weiss’s frown deepened but she didn’t challenge or contradict her husband. Eva wondered if the elder Weiss had wished he’d done things differently.
Sebastian rubbed his chin and cleared his throat. “We have to go now, Papa, but I’ll come again soon.” He patted his father’s hand, then walked around the bed to give his mother a quick hug.
He nodded to Leah. “See you later.”
“Bye, lovebirds.”
“That was awkward,” Sebastian said once out of earshot.
“Your sister’s nice,” Eva said.
Sebastian chuckled. “My mother’s a tough nut to crack. It’ll take time to warm up to her. But my papa… has changed.” He slowed to catch her eye. “It means a lot to me that you got to meet him.”
“I’m glad I came.” She was. Another fear—hospitals—faced and conquered.
They rode a taxi back into the Neustadt. “Do you want to do something tonight?” Sebastian asked. He gazed down on her like he was afraid he was asking too much. Eva had made it clear that they needed to take things slow and already in just a few short days, she’d met the family.
But she wanted to see him again. She wasn’t ready to say good-bye for the day. “Okay.”
Sebastian let out a breath like he was surprised, but he didn’t want to scare her by showing it. “What do you feel like doing?”
“Let’s go to the Blue Note.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Now he stood in their living room conversing comfortably with her parents and Eva had to shake her head and grin. She never thought she’d see the day when her mama and papa would approve of her dating Sebastian Weiss.
He was still on house arrest, which meant they couldn’t go far, but the Blue Note was within range and in walking distance. She hadn’t been there in forever. Plus, she had a surprise.
Sebastian rested his arm over her shoulder and opened an umbrella over their heads. Eva leaned into him, carefully navigating the damp sidewalk with her cane.
Sebastian shook the rain off the umbrella before collapsing it as they entered the pub. Maurice greeted them with a hearty hello.
“Thanks again for letting Hollow Fellows rehearse here,” Sebastian said as he shook his hand.
“Hey, it’s not being used in the mornings anyway, so why not.”
He pointed to an empty table in the corner and winked at Eva as she walked by. “So good to see you smiling again, ma Cherie.”
They ordered beer and appetizers and watched as the house band played.
“They’re not bad,” Sebastian said.
“They’d probably die if they could see that you were in the house.”
“Best if I keep in the shadows. It’s been nice being out of the spotlight for a while. I hope to make that last as long as possible.”
The band ended their song and Eva and Sebastian looked up to see Maurice at the mic.
“It’s not open mic night, but the band has agreed to do me a personal favor and allow a friend of mind to come up to do one song. Please welcome Eva Baumann.”
Sebastian gave Eva a confused look.
“Just wait,” is all she said.
The crowd applauded politely as she made her way to the front. She had planned ahead and had her papa deliver her Duncan Africa for her earlier that evening.
“Hello, everyone,” she said as she strapped on her guitar. “Thanks to the band for letting me hi-jack their set. Yes, give it up for the band.” She waved her arm and the audience erupted in appreciative applause.
“This is a new song,” Eva continued. “I hope you like it.”
She stared at the dark corner where she knew Sebastian sat. “This is for you.”
You went out of your way
I went out of my head
I shut you out
You pursued me instead
It took some time
But you knew from the start
I’d open the door
And you’d go straight into my heart
She was tempted to close her eyes, but she kept them steadied on the corner shadow. Pressing through her nerves, she sang out:
Your love is sweet
Just what I need
You have won me over
To my surprise
I realized
You had won me over
You have won me over
Heart to heart
A good head start
And it flew from there
You took me where I’d never been before
Truth for truth
That’s when I fell for you
Love came down
And took me higher
Than I’d been before
Your love is sweet
Just what I need
You have won me over
To my surprise
I realized
You had won me over
You have won me over
The song ended, and a surprised crowd watched Sebastian Weiss jump on stage, carefully remove Eva’s guitar and spin her around.
Eva squealed. “Does that mean you like it?”
He smiled. “I love it. And I love you.” He kissed her, and the room around her disappeared into the brightness of the lights. Somewhere in the peripheral, the audience cheered.
“That’s Sebastian Weiss! Hey, Sebastian!”
She pulled back and laughed. “Your cover’s blown.”
“This…” He kissed her again. “Is worth it.”
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Want more of A Guitar Girl Romance?
Heart & Soul
book 3 in A Guitar Girl Romance
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Read on for chapter 1 of HEART & SOUL!
About the Author
Hope Franke is the inspirational romance author of The Guitar Girl Romance series and other standalone novels. She loves to travel and all the GGR books are set in European places she's lived in or visited. She writes young adult as Elle Strauss and sci-fi mystery thrillers as Lee Strauss.
Hope-Franke-1760694050830328
www.hopefranke.com
hopefranke@yahoo.com
Inspirational Contemporary Romances
A Guitar Girl Romance series
Sun & Moon
Flesh & Bone
Heart & Soul
Peace & Goodwill (a Christmas Novella)
Standalones
East of the Sun
(20th Century Romance)
Jars of Clay
(Ancient Rome Historical Romance)
The Water Song by Andrew Smith
Beyond My Flesh & Bone by Joel Strauss
Sun & Moon (remake) by Bryan Steeksma
Sun & Moon by Joel Strauss
Won Me Over (original) by Trisha Robins
Heart & Soul Chapter 1
Gabriele Baumann-Smith is deliriously in love with her young husband, Lennon.
Except, as it turns out, Lennon Smith isn’t his real name. In fact, he’s full of secrets: a cottage in a southern coastal town of England, an old girlfriend… an identical twin brother.
Callum Jones—not his real name—can’t believe his brother’s widow came to England. He’d warned Mick—Lennon—that an inheritance could put the girl’s life in danger, and he was r
ight.
“Mrs. Smith” is the last thing he needs to worry about right now. She’s beautiful, sure, takes his breath away at times. But when she looks at him who does she see?
Gabriele's heart is battered and bruised. Can one brother fix what the other left behind? And will they live long enough to find out?
The Happy Couple
Gabriele Baumann-Smith.
Frau Smith.
Lennon and Gabriele Smith.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
She was a married woman!
Gabriele grinned down at her super gorgeous husband as he lay bare-chested under a white sheet on a warm late September evening. He threaded his fingers together and wrapped them behind his head exposing nicely-toned arms, and unabashedly watched her through messy, almost black hair that fell across dark eyes. Wearing pink boy-cut panties and a grey cotton tank-top, Gabriele hopped on the bed, her laptop in hand, and sat cross-legged beside him.
“The photographer finally sent us our pictures,” she said with a happy lilt to her voice, and flipped the laptop open. Its base warmed her bare legs as it whirled to life.
Lennon closed his eyes. “Don’t be too disappointed. Pictures are never as good as the real thing.”
“But this photographer came highly recommended.” Gabriele clicked on the appropriate links and downloaded the files. “And I paid her good money.” She held in a squeal. She was so excited to see these. Their wedding day had been perfect. Well, if she conveniently forgot about the tiny black mark put there by her drama causing sister, Eva, and her famous boyfriend.
The laptop screen filled with thumbprint-sized icons and Gabriele clicked on the slideshow. She snuggled in close to Lennon. “Here we go!”
The first few shots were of the gathering crowds in the park on Drie König Strasse. Some captured the black clock tower of Three Kings Church that poked the sunny, late August blue sky. Gabriele recognized almost everyone. She zoomed in on the faces of her childhood friends, family friends, and distant relatives.
“There’s Onkel Alphonse and Tante Ruth. They came all the way from Freiberg. It was so good to see them again.” A wave of sadness filled her when she recalled that Lennon wouldn’t be able to pick out a familiar face. The whole ceremony had been for her sake since Lennon hadn’t any family, something Gabriele found hard to imagine. He was an only child of only children. She almost burst into tears when he told her about the car wreck his parents died in. No wonder he didn’t want to go back to England.
Lennon would’ve been happy to have had a simple civil ceremony with just the Baumann family present. “The honeymoon is the part I’m looking forward to,” he’d said with a mischievous grin, but he gave in, somewhat begrudgingly, so she could have her own fairytale wedding.
The next several shots were of her in the upper room. Pre-service close-ups— her hair had been expertly styled with a fat rod curling iron, and decorated with diamond-like zirconia pins that reflected the lighting. Her chiffon gown draped beautifully along her body landing delicately on the grey tiled floor.
The next collection of photos was of her friends fussing over her. Julia looked like a movie star with her short-dark hair pinned and curled, and with all that make-up on, Gabriele barely recognized her. There were a couple of Eva standing demurely nearby. She wore a lovely sage-green satin dress with daring, spaghetti strap sleeves. Daring for her anyway. Her long, straight, milk chocolate brown hair was curled and pulled into an up-do. She looked beautiful, yet pensive as she leaned on the white cane Gabriele had purchased for her for the occasion.
There were several more of Gabriele as she approached Lennon at the back of the church. The focus was on her, the shots taken from Lennon’s perspective, but he wasn’t in the frames.
He squeezed her. “What a gorgeous bride!”
Gabriele smiled. “But where are you? I can’t even tell you were there.”
Lennon nibbled on her arm. “I only remember what came after.”
She laughed, but her eyes never left the screen. Finally, a photo with Lennon in it. It was a profile shot of them standing together gazing lovingly at each other. Lennon looked spectacular in his shiny grey suit.
“So handsome,” she said. “But your hair is hanging in your face.” She had asked him more than once to get a haircut, but he insisted that he liked the longer look.
Shot after shot of the happy couple. A view from behind as they sat in the two chairs in the front of the sanctuary facing her papa as he conducted the ceremony. Many of them kissing.
“Oh, I like those ones,” Lennon teased.
Gabriele felt a growing unease. So far she hadn’t seen one good shot of both of them. None of Lennon at all.
The slideshow continued. In every single picture Lennon was looking down or behind or had hair in his eyes.
Gabriele huffed. “I don’t believe this.” She slumped against the pillow and bit her bottom lip. Disappointment was a black balloon in her chest. “Not even one picture of us worthy to hang on the wall!”
Lennon gently lifted the laptop and placed it on the floor beside him. “It’s okay, Gabi. We can get more taken later.”
Gabriele whimpered and tugged on her short bleach-blond hair. “It’s not the same. I just don’t understand how this happened. I know she took hundreds of pictures.” She stared at Lennon. “How is it possible she missed getting one solid shot of your face?”
A dark look flashed behind Lennon’s eyes. It only lasted a split second, but Gabriele hadn’t mistaken it. She’d seen it before. Not often, only a few times. So seldom, she’d always pushed her concern away. It didn’t mean anything.
It didn’t.
Lennon reached over and turned out the light. “Get under the covers, love,” he said. “Everything will look better in the morning.”
On Amazon!
So much gratitude and cheer goes to the team! My beta readers, Angelika and Juanita; my online writing community without whom I’d be toast in a major way including The Indelibles, Dauntless Authors, Club Indie; the musical artists who so graciously jumped on board for this project, Trisha Robins, Andrew Smith, Bryan Steeksma and Joel Strauss; my husband and musician/music producer, Norm Strauss whose talent and proximity to me make A Guitar Girl Romance possible; to the Noble Girls for your ongoing prayer and support, to my parents for holding down the Canadian fort, my kids for being just plain awesome, and to God who carries me through all things.
Trisha Robins
www.cdbaby.com/cd/trisharobins
Andrew Smith
www.andrewsmithmusic.com
Bryan Steeksma
www.cdbaby.com/artist/bryansteeksma
www.Facebook.com/pages/bryan-steeksma-fans
Joel Strauss
www.joelstrauss.com
www.joelstrauss.bandcamp.com
Copyright
Flesh & Bone
By Hope Franke
Copyright © 2015 by Lee Strauss
Previously published as part of The Minstrel Series as Lee Strauss
This is a work of fiction and the views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author. Likewise, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are represented fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual event or locales, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN: 978-1-927547-81-6
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