by Leigh Lennon
The Last Breath
Loss is not foreign to Julia Barnett. To the outside world she is the epitome of the perfect mom. That is, until the doors of her impeccable life are closed and reality hits her square in the face. Once the leading lady in her own epic love story, she can only look back at what used to be. With an absent husband, an intrusive father, a troubled child, and an ex-fiancé that is still tied to her life, it’s no wonder Julia is grasping for air in her chaotic world.
The bruises that Julia lives with are invisible to those closest to her. She lost so much early in life, more than most could survive. Now, she grapples with resentment towards her husband because of all the empty promises he’s made. In the midst of this turmoil, test results reveal an illness she is not sure she will survive.
For Julia, it is not her life that may be cut short that consumes her, but how her family will endure without her there. As everyone rallies around Julia while she fights like hell to live, she learns that family, along with love, comes in many shapes and sizes. It is her family that gives her the strength to fight the biggest battle of her life; one she doesn’t want to lose.
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The Last Breath Excerpt
Julia
Every year as summer faded into fall and fall approached winter; Julia would find herself watching the calendar with dread. She knew that as November approached, she would once more have to face the reminder of her life’s greatest tragedy.
The day served as a bitter memento of what Julia had lost seventeen years before. What made the anniversary even worse, if that was possible, was the fact that she could not confide in her husband the agony she felt.
Joe, her husband, did not share in her grief and considered the events surrounding that fateful day to be a part of her life before him. While she wanted to be held by him and consoled as she worked through the agony of her loss, Joe treated it all as a distant anecdote in their lives that had no bearing on life today. In Joe’s eyes, the time Julia spent mourning the loss of her first child was her way of continuing to mourn for the life she once had.
Sitting in her office that morning, Julia stared at the bouquet of baby pink roses that had just arrived. She received the exact same flowers every year on this day. They came from the same florist and were always sent by the same man. The trouble was that these flowers never came from her husband, Joe. They came from Dean Edwards.
Julia was a rare beauty. She had an olive complexion just like her father’s and dark brown hair accented by mocha brown eyes. While she only stood 5 feet and 3 inches, Julia had no problem standing out in a crowd. Besides her obvious beauty, Julia was a kind-hearted woman with a warm and caring personality. She loved the people in her life immensely and worked hard in each of her relationships. She was an excellent boss, a trusted friend, dedicated wife and mother. It was her ambition to serve as a model for other people and to treat them, as she would want to be treated.
As Julia looked up from the flowers before her, she noticed her business partner, Len Edwards, waving to get her attention. This man was like a second father to Julia.
“Hey Jules, mind if I come in for a second? I see Joe sent you some flowers. That man sure has a way with making you feel special, wouldn’t you say?” Len didn’t know the flowers were actually a gift from his son Dean and not Julia’s husband.
Smiling warmly at Len, she did her best to ignore the compliment about her husband the same way she was trying to ignore the roses sitting on her desk. “Hey Len, come in. I’m glad you’re here. I need to take off early today. I have some personal stuff that I can’t keep putting off. Mary Beth will be here though, and she can take care of anything that comes up.”
Julia Hudson and Len Edwards had been in business together for the past nine years. They ran a very successful marketing firm that had grown from a small independent company into one of national prominence. Their success was due to a shared commitment to core values of honesty and integrity.
“You okay, Jules?” Julia understood that Len had always looked at her as an unofficial daughter and worried about her. This fact was less than surprising given how long Julia had been a friend with Len’s own children along with the amount of time they had all spent in the company of one another.
Like many who had known Julia for years, Len could see that she had lost the spark that had once been in her eyes. He knew that life at home was hard for her and had been for some time. In truth, the spark had started to fade seventeen years prior when Julia had mysteriously broken off her engagement to Dean. She had regained some of that spark back two years later when she met Joe, her husband today. The trouble was that in the past five years, it had started to fade again.
“Oh, yes, um, sorry to just leave like this. I have the Laney Farms contracts ready for signatures. Mary Beth will come get you when they arrive for the 2:30 meeting. She’s lead on this contract, but it may help if you are there as well.” She was distracted, grabbing her keys, pocketbook and flowers. She tried her best to make it to her car before she fell apart. If it hadn’t been for this important contract, she would have never even attempted to come in at all today.
The flowers were not the only routine event she followed when this day arrived each year. It was a standing custom that Julia and Dean would arrive at the cemetery around the same time. Julia knew that the roses she received were never for her, but were a clear indicator that the fateful day had once more arrived.
Dean
Opening his eyes, Dean began to register the sound of sirens in the distance. His hand was still on Julia’s knee. “Jules, can you hear me?” Dean yelled. He saw paramedics trying to open the doors to the car and somewhat heard them calling out to him. Feeling as if he were having an out of body experience, it started to dawn on him what had happened. The paramedics were trying to talk to Julia, but she wasn’t answering. Dean became frantic, “My fiancé! She is pregnant! Please help her! Julia! Answer me!”
“Sir, how far along is she?”
“Around 30 weeks.”
Hearing the paramedics talking to one another, his heart seemed to stop beating. “This one is in shock and we need to get him out of here. How is the girl?”
All of a sudden, they broke glass and a fireman yelled out, “She has a pulse, but she needs help soon”
“Get her out of there! Take care of her first! Please!” Dean yelled.
He heard the twisting sound of snapping metal as the Jaws of Life opened the door. “Sir, we are doing all we can for your fiancé. As soon as we get her out she is going to the hospital. Who is her doctor?”
“Chow is her doctor's name. Please take care of her! Her and the baby are my everything.” This was the last thing Dean remembered before things went black.
The next thing Dean knew, he was being wheeled on a gurney into the hospital. He had blacked out while the firemen were trying to get Julia out of the wreckage of their car. Hearing Julia screaming, he needed to get to her but he was hooked up to an I V. “No, I don’t want them called! Don’t call them!” It was all he could hear.
Joe
It took Joe by surprise when someone knocked on his door but excited to see it was Julia. “Jules, what a surprise. I didn’t know you would be in town today. I thought you had an errand near Raleigh. But, I’m so glad to see you.” He said as he pulled her close to him and gave her a kiss.
“That’s true. I had to see to something in Raleigh but I’m back now. I guess I just needed to see your face too.” She said, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Come on in, stay a while.” He said to her.
“I’m not imposing, am I?” She asked.
He swung her into the apartment and onto his couch. Sitting down next to her he simply said, “You are my bright spot. I would be with you all the time if I didn’t think you would tire of me. Jules, I think I love you. I know that sounds too soon but I know. That is the best way I can describe it. As a matter of fact, you can stop by whenever you want and if for some rea
son I’m not home, use my spare key and let yourself in,” he said as he walked over to his keys and took the spare off for her. “I think coming home to you here is the best surprise I could have in my day.”
She was stunned by this revelation. “You love me?”
Joe was afraid he would have scared her away with this piece of information. “Yes, Jules, you make me a better version of myself. I want time to get to know you but I have a feeling we will one day grow old together, that is my hope anyway. I want to be the man you trust and love and share all your dreams with. This is the beginning, but this is how I feel and I could not be happier.”
He looked at her affectionately, not expecting a return sentiment. It was obvious she was gun shy and for a very good reason, though it had not been anything she had opened up about, not yet. He’d wait as long as she needed. He was in no rush, not for this girl.
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The Holiday Package
Ten days.
The Cayman Islands.
A holiday trip to forget the woman I lost.
Suddenly, I’m face to face with the sassiest and hardest of women, who may be able to make me forget all I left behind.
And I want her!
This vacation is about moving on.
The saucy little ginger flaunting her perfect curvy body in her next to nothing bikinis could be the distraction I need to forget it all.
Her fire and brimstone attitude leaves me in constant state of arousal.
And she proposes a holiday affair, one I gladly accept knowing this is a hell of a risk to my already floundering heart.
But in the end, will I be able to say goodbye?
The Holiday Package Excerpt
Now, we sit in silence as I continue to feel her observation fall upon me, over and over again, while she doesn’t hide the fact she’s looking at me up and down like I am a mannequin.
Finally, being direct, I say, “Um, is there something I can help you with?”
Taking a sip of my coffee, I’m expecting her to sidestep but no, I should understand her candidness at this point, as she says, “I was just thinking what it would be like to fuck you.” My coffee makes its way out of my mouth. It would get all tens if this were a spitting contest.
“Oh, I shocked you?” she asks, almost timidly but with the little cocky smirk that is both behind her mouth, and moving up to those caramel-amber eyes of hers, she’s not attempting to be shy, not in the least.
“So, tell me,” I begin. “What have you come up with?” I ask.
Pursing her lips together, Sasha finally answers. “Um, let me really imagine this in my mind as I describe it. First, you have a long dick, like super long. It is thick and will fill me up just fine.” Instantaneously, my super long dick she’s describing aches. “Next, I would say you love pussy. However, mine is incredibly delectable.” Fuck, I try not to moan. “Next, I imagine you holding yourself up with one hand while you’re over me, licking my pussy, bringing me to a really good orgasm, all while you jerk yourself off. And by the way, if I had to guess, you’re really good with your tongue.”
I smile because I’ve been told this on many occasions but at the same time, my balls ache. She doesn’t say anything and I realize she’s finished. I respond, “I think that is a possible scenario.”
Standing up, she gives me a throaty little laugh. “Who knows, this may just be a long ten days.” She winks then leaves me aching in pain when she retreats to her bedroom.
Ah, fuck! This woman might be the death of me.
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The Sweetest Package
Jake
Eight days was all we had.
It was supposed to be casual; just sex.
Hell, the best laid plans were blown to pieces
as I found myself watching my heart drive away.
Sure, I let her go, but I’ve not been the same since she’s been gone.
Sasha
How can my heart beat so differently for a man I knew only for eight days?
He let me go. Sure, I could have stuck around to fight for him.
I should have. Hell, I wanted to.
But then I understood what true love really meant and I had to choose.
Now I am back, immersed in his life.
Can he accept everything I’ve done in the name of love?
The Sweetest Package Excerpt
Jake
As my Ginger drives away from my house and out of my life, she’s taking my heart with her. This ache’s so deep, it physically hurts, but I don’t have time for the luxury of letting the pain overtake me. No, as damaged as I am in this moment, and I fucking am, I have two more tasks left; equally daunting and equally painful.
Back in the house, I take my secure phone from its lock box along with my passport. Looking at the swarm of passports, I consider taking the emergency identity I created to escape the grips of Sylvie, but I opt just to be myself today. She has to know where I’ll end up eventually.
Armed with some cash, my work phone, personal cell and my normal passport, I hurry to my room and grab my suitcase, glad I don’t have to pack since I never did end up emptying my luggage. I don’t care if the CIA can trace me. I won’t have this motherfucker of a work phone much longer anyway.
Out in my car, I type in the code to connect to the one person I could kill with my bare hands right now. Reversing and holding the phone, I don’t fucking care if it’s illegal to talk and drive at the same time, not at this point. Turning left out of my neighborhood, I’m connected with her screechy voice, which makes me want to stick a needle through my eyes more with every syllable she utters.
“Jacob, you did the right thing.” These are her opening words, as if I fucking care what her opinion is on this matter. No, not one iota since her agenda has always been to fuck with my life.
I only have one reason for this phone call and then it’s over. “Sylvie, I fucking quit. You can try as you might, but you won’t win me back.” Silence for once with Sylvie. “I know where and how to hurt you but we don’t want it to come to that.” Not that this little secret is enough to dangle over her head to save my relationship with Sasha, no, Ginge is too valuable to Sylvie’s end game. “I swear Sylvie, we are done. Over.” Before I let her say a word, I have one last demand she’ll adhere to. “And Sylvie, you better stay the fuck away from my sister.”
Pulling over to the nearest gas station, I grab for a hammer I carry in my glove compartment. Tossing the phone on the ground, I grasp the hammer with one hand. Pausing for a brief second, I smash the last connection I have with Sylvie to smithereens. Tossing the remnants of that phone and the past ten years of my life, I say goodbye to my old existence, vowing to start a new one right now.
I can’t say he looks surprised that I’m standing motionless on his front porch. It’s funny, in the ten days I had been here, I’ve never once used this entrance. My expression is blank but his is certainly not. With a small smile covering the scruff that has sprung up since I left, he extends his hand for me to shake it. All I want to do is deck him, but I can’t, not until I hear him out.
“I had a feeling I would see you again,” he says, putting down his hand, as it’s apparent I won’t be shaking it, not yet. Stepping out of the way, he motions me in. “You better come on in. This may take a while, Jake,” he plainly states, knowing what I need.
I look over my right shoulder and see a fucking iguana. I had hoped the next time I was here it would be with Sasha by my side. This time I need only one room, instead of two like we had a few days ago. Shit, how my life has imploded in two days.
I have never been in the front part of his house before and it’s still adorned with Christmas decorations. Leading me to the back of the house that looks out to the veranda and the pool I have fond memories of, I turn to him. “You wanted to tell me, didn’t you, Mack?”
Shoving his hands into the pockets of his faded blue jeans, he shr
ugs. “After the two of you got back from the Grand Caymans last week, when I met you down at the pool, I had it in my mind I would tell you. Then you told me you wanted more with her. I couldn’t take a chance telling you. If you were on the cusp of revealing your true feelings to her and what you wanted, it would ruin any future the two of you had.”
“So, you just let Sylvie manipulate you, with no regard for me?”
He looks away and I know I’ve hit a cord. “What does she have on you, Mack?” Looking away again, this is all I need to understand, she has used him. “What the fuck could be more important than using an innocent woman like Sasha against me, making me fall for her, just to do Sylvie’s bidding?” I’m now yelling and he still has not faced me. He avoids looking at me eye to eye, man to man.
Out of nowhere, the door opens and I hear the familiar voice of Mack’s better half, “Me, Jake. She has me, that’s what she’s using against Mack.” Turning, I see the long and lean figure of Mack’s wife, Anna, sobbing as she continues to explain.
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About the Author
Leigh Lennon is a mother, a veteran and a wife of a cancer survivor. Originally with a degree in education, she started writing as an outlet that has led to a deep passion, writing twelve books. Now ready to publish all of them, she lugs her computer with her as she crafts her next story. Her imaginary friends become real on her pages as she creates a world for them. She loves pretty nails, spiky hair and large earrings. Leigh can be found drinking coffee or wine, depending on the time of the day.