I suspect that most
of us do. After all, we’re writing about these people for months… sometimes years…
so we’d better at least like them.
And that’s a good
thing, because with that love comes the ability to convey sincere emotion to
our readers.
For a romance writer
like myself, I suspect we all carry a little torch for the alpha male in every story we write – the one the heroine falls in love with. For example, in my recent free release titled Forever Changed, I knew from the beginning that I was going to
fall in love with Blaine, the tattoo artist. I fell in love equally with the
other leading men in this series, but I don’t want this to sound like a roll
call.
This is about a young
boy, and I have a confession – I’m head over heels for him. When I’m exhausted
after a long day of work, I sometimes call up the book on my computer and read
one of the most delightful and heartbreaking passages I’ve ever written… at
least I think so. It’s from Now and Forever. Our heroine has
been swindled out of everything she owns and is temporarily living out of her
car. Then Danny comes along…
Here’s an excerpt:
Exhausted, she fumbled for a
tissue, dabbed at her eyes and blew out a breath of air. Feeling lighter, she
reached for her coffee. It was lukewarm by this point, but she sipped it
thoughtfully, wondering how soon she could repay Jodi for her kindness.
When the reality of her situation
had sunk in four days ago, the first thing she’d done was count her cash. She
hadn’t gone to the bank while visiting her friend in Nanaimo, as they had
stayed home with Andrea’s new baby, so she still had the cash that had been in
her purse when she left. Fifty eight dollars, and it hadn’t lasted long. Jodi’s
generous gesture would allow her to eat for a few more days, and perhaps put
something in the gas tank.
She picked up the hamburger, but she
was still too upset to eat. Disappointed at herself for wasting even a few
dollars, she set it down with a sigh and picked up the coffee.
“Are you going to eat that
hamburger?”
The small voice startled her.
Some coffee spilled down her hand but she ignored it, turning instead to look
into the back seat. A pair of bright, dark eyes smiled at her.
“What the… who are you?”
“I’m Danny.”
Jenna assessed him quickly. She’d
seen a lot of kids since she started taking portraits, and this one was
seriously cute. Almond-shaped eyes regarded her curiously.
“Well are you?” he said, glancing
at the hamburger. “’Cause if you’re not, I’m hungry.”
She wasn’t sure what to make of
the request. The child was clean and well-dressed, obviously from a good
family. What in the world was he doing in the back seat of her car?
“You’re not supposed to take food
from strangers,” she said, handing him the hamburger. “You know that, don’t
you?”
“I know.” Danny took a bite and
hummed appreciatively. “But you didn’t offer it to me. I asked for it.”
Jenna tried to hide her smile.
“Yes, I suppose you did.” She handed him the napkin. “Here, you’ve got some
sauce on your cheek. My name is Jenna, by the way.”
The child finished the hamburger
and wiped his face and hands. Digging into a brightly coloured backpack, he
brought out a bottle of water, took a drink and erupted in a loud burp.
“Oops,” he said, eyes sparkling.
“My dad says it’s rude to burp, but it feels good.” He put the water bottle
back in his backpack. “Why were you crying?”
Jenna studied the cheery little
face for a moment, then turned away. “Trust me Danny, you don’t want to hear my
story.”
“Why not?” He moved forward,
placed one arm on either headrest and poked his face between the seats. “It
sure must be sad to make you cry like that.”
“It was sad,” she said, “at least to me, but it’s over now. That’s the
last time I’m going to cry about it.” She turned to the young boy and was about
to ask him to get out, but something about the hopeful look in his eyes made
her stop. “Don’t you have somewhere you should be?” The moment the words were
out, she realized it was a foolish question.
“Nope.”
She gave him what she hoped was a
no-nonsense look. “Then I guess you’d better tell me what you’re doing here.”
She put her backpack on the floor and gestured to the other seat. “Come up here
so I can see you properly while we talk.”
He crawled over the console and
settled into the passenger seat, little legs straight out in front of him.
“How old are you, Danny?”
“I’m almost eight.”
“I see.” She almost blurted out
that he was small for his age, but caught herself in time. No doubt he’d heard
that often enough.
“Do you live around here?”
He hesitated for a moment, then turned
his head and pointed behind them. “A couple of blocks that way.”
“So what made you get into my
car?” It suddenly struck her that she must have left it open. “Was it open?”
“Yeah. I saw you go to the
restroom, and I jumped in. You should never leave your car unlocked.”
Great, she thought. Now I’m
getting advice from an eight year old. “You’re right,” she said, and you
shouldn’t get into a stranger’s car.”
“I know, but you looked nice. I
watched you for a few minutes when you pulled up.”
“Danny, please. You can’t trust
people. Even the bad people look nice most of the time.” Why was she the one lecturing this kid? “Where are your parents?
They’ll be going crazy looking for you.”
“My Mom’s in heaven,” he said,
not meeting her eyes, “and my Dad works all the time. So I’m running away to
look for a new family.” He gave her a look that was far beyond his years. “You
looked like you could use a friend. So here I am.”
Good Lord, thought Jenna. I’m
in the middle of a made-for-television movie.
She knew she shouldn’t get
involved, but she couldn’t help herself. “Who takes care of you during the
day?”
He rolled his eyes. “I used to
have a Nanny, then when I started school we got a housekeeper, but today was
her last day. The new housekeeper was supposed to come at ten o’clock, but Mrs.
Jessup didn’t wait for her.” He shot her a sideways glance. “She left early so
she could get to Bingo on time.”
“And you’ve been alone all day?
The new housekeeper didn’t show up?”
He sat up straighter. “It wasn’t
so bad. I have lots of video games.”
“Your father isn’t going to be
pleased about this.”
Defiance flashed in the child’s
eyes. “He won’t care. He doesn’t even look at me most of the time. That’s why I
need a new family.” He made a show of looking around the car. “I could stay
here with you. At least you talk to me.”
Jenna sipped at her now-cold
coffee while she thought about how to deal with the situation. The young boy
appeared to be seriously lonely, but she could see he wasn’t neglected. With no
mother, a series of caregivers and what he claimed was a workaholic father,
there was no doubt that he’d learned to manipulate. All kids learned that skill
and Danny was no exception, but there was something about him that tugged at
her heart.
She turned in her seat. “What
about your friends? Where are they?”
He shrugged, “None of my school
friends live around here.”
“No kids at all around here?” She
widened her eyes.
“There are kids, but most of them
are a lot older than me.” He scanned the small park as though a soccer game
might magically break out. “So, can I stay here with you tonight?”
Jenna pulled back. “With me? In
my car?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Nobody lives in a car, Danny.”
He looked at her evenly. “You
do.”
“Just temporarily,” she snapped,
immediately regretting her tone. “Sorry. I’m a bit touchy about that.”
He lifted his small shoulders.
“It’s okay.” He reached back to his backpack and dug out a chocolate bar. “Want
half?” he asked, ripping the paper.
“No thanks,” she said
automatically. The smell of chocolate permeated the car and she swallowed a
sudden rush of saliva.
“Here,” he said, removing half of
the bar and handing it to her. “I have another one.”
“Okay,” she said, with a faint
smile. “I love chocolate.”
They sat silently for several
minutes, eating the chocolate and watching the last rays of the sun fade from
the park.
“I have to take you home, Danny.
You know that.”
“Yeah,” he said, licking his
fingers and wiping them on his designer jeans. “I know.” He offered her a grin.
“But I still like you, Jenna.” He looked straight ahead as she started the car
engine. “We’ll probably get back before my Dad comes home anyway. He won’t even
know I was gone.”
“Really?” Jenna wasn’t sure if
that was a good thing or not. She had envisioned answering some questions about
why Danny was being brought home by a stranger. She’d also planned to ask a few
questions of her own.
“Yeah. He works late a lot of the
time. He’s a sturgeon.”
“You mean surgeon?”
Danny giggled. “When I was just a
kid, I couldn’t say surgeon, but for some reason I could say sturgeon. So
that’s the way I still say it.”
“When you were just a kid,”
repeated Jenna with a wry smile.
“Yeah.” Something in the tone of
his voice made her glance over at him. His head was turned and he was staring
out the window. “It used to make my Mom laugh.”
When I found the
above photo on a commercial photo site, I just knew the young boy was Danny.
Those cheery little eyes stayed with me all throughout the book.
Is it any wonder I’m
in love?
The Forever Series is available on Amazon, iTunes, B&N and Kobo.
