Doubting Thomas (Tarnished Saints Series) (27 page)
Read Doubting Thomas (Tarnished Saints Series) Online
Authors: Elizabeth Rose
“This is a big commitment to take,” she told him. “Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”
“Never,” he said instantly.
“I’m glad to hear you’ve stopped doubting yourself. I know you’re the best father ever, and I know our marriage is going to last forever. And I’m looking forward to a new life with you now that everyone can stop
Doubting Thomas.
Cast of characters for Doubting Thomas:
Thomas Taylor
– Accused of murdering his second wife, Fawn.
His six sons:
Dan, Sam, Zeke, Josh & Jake (twins), Eli.
Angeline DeMitri
– Works for Child Protective Services.
Gabby
– Angel’s young daughter.
Clarence and Agnes Ainsley
– Elderly couple who own the Bed & Breakfast.
Nat Finster
– Reporter staying at the Bed & Breakfast.
Gus Kramer
– Owns the gas station.
Tillie Mason
– Angel’s best friend and also niece to the Ainsleys.
Stacy
– Tillie’s young daughter.
Bob & Barb
– Work for CPS.
Bert Grimkel
– Sheriff.
I hope you enjoyed,
Doubting Thomas
, the first book in the
Tarnished Saints
series. Each book will be able to stand alone, but still intertwined with the others. The next two books in the series,
Luring Levi
and
Judging Judas
are now available. Watch for book four,
Seducing Zeb
this summer. Here are some more of my series books you may be interested in.
Here are some more of my series books you might be interested in:
Elemental Series
.
Book trailer video
The books in the series are:
The Dragon and the Dreamwalker
,
Book 1: Fire
,
The Duke and the Dryad,
Book 2: Earth
,
The Sword and the Sylph
,
Book 3:
Air,
and
The Sheik and the Siren
,
Book 4: Water.
Legacy of the Blade Series
:
Greek Myth Fantasy Series:
Watch book trailer video
Daughters of the Dagger Series:
Book Trailer
This se
ries is followed by my Scottish
Madman MacKeefe
series, with the first book being about the girls’ brother,
Onyx – Book 1
,
who they thought was dead.
Aidan – Book 1
,
is next, followed by my latest new release,
Ian – Book 3
.
Please visit my website at
Elizabethrosenovels.com
and make sure to subscribe to my email list in order to receive updates on new releases. You can also read excerpts from any of my novels on my website as well as get sneak peeks at covers of upcoming books. And please remember that there are other authors by the same name, but my novels can be identified by the rose on every cover. And be sure to take a look at my new
book trailer videos
.
Elizabeth Rose
Here are a few excerpts from some of my novels.
Excerpt from
Luring Levi
–
Book 2
Tarnished Saints Series
Watch Book Trailer
(Candace is at the train depot with her six year old twins waiting for her ride.)
Candace squinted in the sun, surveying the man headed in their direction. He wore faded tight jeans that hugged his hips and back end, and a sleeveless black t-shirt that showed off his muscles. The last thing she wanted was to get in a car with a crazy teenage driver with her children along. That wouldn’t be safe. She should have specified to the man on the phone that she wanted
him
to come get her, as he sounded older and more mature. She was sure this man was not Thomas Taylor.
She wasn’t wearing her contacts, since she was in a hurry to leave this morning and hadn’t had time to put them in. So she dug through her purse looking for her glasses so she could see whom she’d be getting into the car with – or if she would at all.
“Are you Sandy? Or Mandy?” The man called out, as he walked up to them in no hurry at all. “I’m suppose to give you a ride to the cabin.”
Her gut twisted, and she knew now this was the man she’d been waiting for. Well, what did she expect in a po-dunk little town? An actual taxi?
“I’m surprised to see you walking so slowly after the way you pulled up here like a bat out of hell,” she said, finding her glasses and pulling them out of her handbag.
“Bat out of hell,” repeated Vance, embarrassing her in the process.
“Sorry about that, I would have been here sooner but I stopped to get some aspirin for my hangover.”
She slipped her glasses onto her face, angry with the man. “Don’t think we’re going anywhere with you if you’re drunk.”
She glanced up and got her first look at the man who she realized wasn’t a teenager at all. Actually, far from it, though he did dress like a teenager and had a rocking body to match it. Her heart just about stopped in her chest when she realized the man standing in front of her was none other than the father of her children – Levi Taylor.
“I’m not drunk,” he replied, “just hung over. Now let’s go.” He picked up a suitcase in each hand, leaving her with the last one and headed toward the car. She just stood there with her mouth open and didn’t say a word. He hadn’t even recognized her. Damned him for not realizing who she was, even if they’d only had a one-night-stand seven years ago.
“Can we go?” whined Valentine. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
“I want to sit in the front,” said Vance, running straight for the car.
Candace picked up the pull-handle on the suitcase and wheeled it slowly toward the car. Valentine ran to the convertible, following her brother and started fighting with him when he opened the door and tried to climb in the front.
“I want the front,” she said. “You get in back.”
“You can both sit in the front,” Levi told them. “Just keep the shouting down to a low roar, will you?”
She walked up behind him and without even looking at her, he grabbed the suitcase and brought it to the trunk.
“So, are you Thomas Taylor?” she asked, knowing damned well he wasn’t.
“No, I’m his brother, Levi.” He had his head in the trunk and was arranging the suitcases to make them fit. “So how long do you plan on staying at the cabin, Sandy?” he asked without looking up.
“Oh, I don’t know. A few weeks – a month – maybe forever. After all, I hear this town will take anyone.”
“Yep, that’s about right,” he said from inside the trunk. “Sweet Water is desperate for people. I’m surprised they got a celebrity to come judge food at the fair, Mandy. Then he scratched his head as if he were thinking. “What did you say your name was again?”
“I didn’t,” she answered. “But my name isn’t Sandy or Mandy. I’m the star of a brand new cable TV cooking show. You may have heard of me, as I am also the host of a restaurant review show called
What’s For Dinner
on the dining network in Chicago. My name is Candace Marie Kane.”
He slammed the trunk down and looked at her for the first time, his eyes getting wide in the process. “Candy?” He cocked his head to the side and perused her. “Is that really you, my sweet candy cane?”
“Don’t call me that, you fool!” She glanced sideways at her kids, glad they were busy playing with the glove compartment, opening it and slamming it shut and didn’t hear what he’d just called her.
“Wow, it’s been a long time,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Seven years, but who’s counting?”
“And that was one hell of a night seven years ago that I’ll never forget,” he said with a smile that spread across his entire face.
“I can guarantee you will never forget it,” she answered, looking over at her children, wanting to tell him he was their father, but she didn’t say a word. She wasn’t even sure right now if she really wanted him to know. After all, he was an ex-con and the way it looked, also a drunk. Not the ideal image of a good father. Besides, if she did tell him, she needed to wait until the time was right. Not here, and definitely not in front of the children. She didn’t really know him, and there’d be no telling how he’d react.
“Mother, I really have to pee,” said her daughter.
“Mother?” He seemed amused, and smiled, the corner of one side of his mouth a little higher than the other, making him look so sexy that she found herself thinking of the heated passion they’d shared on that night so long ago.
His dark hair was shorter than she’d remembered but still had some long strands hanging down over his face. And his eyes were still that bright blue. He’d been the only time she’d ever done something so impetuous as to sleep with a man she’d just met. But at the time she was twenty-five and had just landed her job after spending years looking for work after she’d graduated college. She also hadn’t had a date at the time in over a year since her previous boyfriend had dumped her.
Levi Taylor had used her to get what he wanted, and she, being young and naïve had fallen right into his little trap as he’d lured her in with his sexy smile and his way of making her feel like she was the only girl in the world. He was a fake, a phony, and also an ex-convict. And if she had any good sense at all, she’d collect her children and get as far away from Sweet Water and Levi Taylor as she possibly could.
“That’s right, I’m a mother now of two wonderful children,” she told him.
Just at that moment Vance decided to bite Valentine on the arm and the little girl shrieked and started bawling loudly.
“What the hell!” growled Levi, holding a hand to his head.
“What the hell, what the hell, what the hell,” Vance kept repeating over and over.
“Get in the damned car,” he told her, “and let’s go. I can’t take any more of this noise.”
“Damned car,” Vance shouted into his sister’s ear. It only made her shriek louder.
“If you want to talk about noise, then I’ll mention the fact I don’t want you playing the radio so loud with my kids in the car. As a matter of fact, please don’t put it on at all.”
“Whatever. Let’s go.”
“Valentine, you sit in the back with me,” Candace said, grabbing her crying daughter and fastening her into the seatbelt. Then she reached out and fastened Vance in as well.
“Are you going to stand there all day or are you getting in the car?” he growled, revving the engine and turning on the radio, obviously trying to drown out the crying and not caring that she’d said she didn’t want him to turn it on at all.
She got in the back, reaching over to close the door and he hit the gas, causing her to fall backward onto the seat.
“Hold on, I don’t have my seatbelt on yet,” she told him.
“No one wears seatbelts in Sweet Water. No need to. We’re out in the middle of the nowhere.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want you to get a ticket and wind up in jail – again,” she told him, just to let him know she knew about his tarnished past.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said, speeding over a paved road and making a sharp turn down a gravel road, billowing up dust all around them. “After all, this town doesn’t even have a sheriff right now, as he resides behind bars.”
“Yeah, well, you’d know about that,” she mumbled. By the way his eyes shot up to the rear view mirror to look at her, she knew he’d heard her.
“Besides,” he told her, “they would never arrest me for not using seatbelts or even speeding.”
“And what makes you think that you are so special, Mr. Taylor?”
He looked into the rear view mirror again, right at her, the intensity of his bright blue eyes making her insides quiver. She bit her lips nervously and looked the other way.
