Archive for June 15th, 2009

Before I ventured into the world of romantic suspense, I tackled a few contemporary romances. They are currently languishing on my harddrive, but one day over at the Romance Divas writing challenge I was issued this challenge:

Congrats! The stick turned blue, or whatever is appropriate for your time period. Have your heroine tell the Hero she is expecting his baby and give us his reaction(good or bad). Oh, and don’t forget, this was NOT planned. You must include a camel, a teardrop and four flavors in some way. Throw in an onion for good measure.

And I knew I had the perfect hero and heroine to meet the challenge: Tucker and Libby from This Dark Place. It is a story dear to my heart, and one I’m hoping to rewrite someday. Enjoy the scene!

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A one-night stand was supposed to be just that—one night. It should have been the culmination of a first-love that went sour years ago; the chance for Liberty to find out if she and Tucker would’ve been as good together as she’d always suspected.

Yeah, it had been good all right. Embryo-fertilizing, cell-splitting, good.

She sucked in a breath as she stepped into the deserted lounge. A soft melody immediately grabbed her heart—one of Tucker’s compositions. His head rested on his left arm atop the sleek piano situated in the middle of the room, the fingers of his right hand dancing slowly across the keyboard. The posture of defeat almost sent her sprinting back to her car, but before she could flee, his head lifted and his fingers froze on the keys.

He knew she was there. Somehow, he always knew.

“Libby?”

She wanted to blurt it out right then—I’m pregnant—but she pressed her lips together to stop the premature blunder. The remains of the night’s buffet were decked out on a long table against the wall and she wandered over and picked up a bright red strawberry. She swirled it into the chocolate fondue pot then bit into it, letting the flavors melt in her mouth for a long moment.

How was she going to drop this bomb on him? Maybe if she said it just right, reminded him of all those dreams they’d spun during that summer on the beach…

She spun back around to find he’d left his piano and sidled up behind her. “Tucker, I—”

His hand came up to explore her face, fingers running down her forehead to play over her cheekbones and finally coming to rest on her lips. And then, he leaned forward and replaced his touch with his mouth. He tasted of peppermint and goodbyes—the kind of kiss that said this was the end, not the beginning.

She broke away. She had to tell him before she lost her nerve. “I need—oh, God—I don’t know how to say it so I’m just going to—Tucker, I’m pregnant.”

She desperately wished that just this one time she could read those sightless gray eyes of his, but the way his face twisted, muscle ticking in his jaw, she had a pretty good idea of his reaction nonetheless.

“That’s not even funny,” he said.

No, it wasn’t. She turned back to the buffet, unable to bear the horror on his face. At any other time the garishly huge purple camel centerpiece would have given her the giggles. But today it just reminded her of the vast desert that separated their hearts.

Her fingers picked at the huge blooming onion in the middle of the veggie tray—it was the cause of the sting of moisture in her eyes, really it was. “I wouldn’t joke about something like this. I thought, maybe, you’d be happy.”

“Happy? Why would I be happy?”

She plucked a hunk of cheese from the deli tray and shoved it into a crystal dish of vanilla yogurt. “I thought…I mean, we’d talked about having children…you always said—”

“We were kids, for God’s sake.” He strode back to the piano, as if he couldn’t separate himself fast enough. “I wasn’t some damn cripple.”

“Stop using your blindness as a crutch! What does it have to do with any of this?”

“Everything!” Desperation took up residence in his features. “How can I take care of a kid? What kind of father could I possibly be?”

“A great one.”

“Right. Wouldn’t you be afraid to leave our baby with me? What if it needs a diaper change or needs to be fed? What if there’s an emergency? If it’s sick or choking or if the damn house catches on fire?”

“Do you realize how ridiculous you sound?” Panic fluttered in her breast. He’d already made up his mind.

“And when he or she gets older and needs help with homework or wants daddy to go to a soccer game. What then? How could I bear to disappoint them when I have to tell them ‘No, sorry, I didn’t see your winning goal, I can’t see a frigging thing’!”

A single teardrop rolled down his cheek and struck the piano keys.

“Tucker—”

“It would never work.”

No, not as long as he kept thinking of himself as less than.

“You have so much to give a child and you don’t even see it.” At his grimace, her anger kicked up a notch. “Yes. I do mean see it. Seeing is far more than looking with your eyes. You could teach your children how to look with their hearts. You could give them a love for music, an appreciation that goes far beyond reading notes on a page.”

He was silent for a long moment, as if searching his heart for courage–or an answer–something he couldn’t find. “What would I,” he waved his hand in a circular motion in front of his eyes, “do with a child?”

“Love them. That’s all you have to do.” Her throat constricted, but she forced one last plea from her lips. “ Just show them love.”

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Don’t forget to pop over to Excerpt Monday and check out the rest of the great excerpts, including:

Bryn Donovan, Paranormal (PG)

MG Braden, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)

Adelle Laundan, Contemporary Romance (PG 13)

Crista McHugh, Paranormal (PG 13)

Dara Sorensen, Paranormal (PG)

RF Long, Paranormal (PG 13)