Lifelines: Kate's Story (51 page)
Read Lifelines: Kate's Story Online
Authors: Vanessa Grant
Tags: #murder, #counselling, #love affair, #Dog, #grief, #borderline personality disorder, #construction, #pacific northwest
“Alaska.
I worked a few weeks on Darren Sampson’s current project.” He wasn’t smiling,
and she hadn’t managed a smile either.
“How
are you?” she asked.
“OK.”
He stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I called Han a few times. He said you
were healing. You look good.”
“Dad
didn’t tell me you called.”
Mac
kicked at a rock on the road. Nervous, she realized, and her throat dried.
“Kate—”
“Are
you—”
“Go
ahead. What were you—”
“No,
you go ahead.”
They
stared at each other in silence for a moment.
“How
long are you here for?”
“That
depends on you.”
Kate
stuffed her hands into her pockets. “I’ve missed you.”
“Good.”
“Mac,
there’s a lot—with everything that’s happened, I don’t know if we can make a
relationship work.”
“I
hope we can. I screwed up marrying Rachel for the wrong reasons, and I didn’t
want to believe she hated me that much. You almost died because of me.”
“I
didn’t come anywhere near dying. Socrates won’t let either one of us get out of
life that easily.”
“Yeah.”
She saw him swallow, then he nudged at that rock again, and this time kicked it
off the road. “I could have stayed in Alaska, moved on after a while. There’s a
lot of action in Indonesia. It’s a life, but when all the dust settles, it
comes down to one thing. When something interests me, I want to tell you about
it. When I go home after work, I want you there, with me.”
Fear,
she realized. More than fear—she felt terrified. “We’ve got a lot of baggage.”
“Yeah,
but I’m not ready to pack my bags and walk away. And ... well, Socrates figures
we can make it work.”
Life
... she wanted life. And love.
She
said, “Socrates is a wise dog. I think we should listen to him.”
Did you love
Lifelines: Kate's Story
? Then you should read
If You Loved Me
by Vanessa Grant!
She needs his help to find her son – no matter what the cost!
When Seattle surgeon Emma Garrett's son disappears on an adventurous kayaking trip, Emma desperately needs the help of an expert who knows the territory.
Nobody knows the Pacific Ocean’s north coast wilderness like Gray McKenzie, but when Emma arrives on Gray’s remote doorstep unannounced and determined to enlist his aid in the search for her son, she soon realizes that reawakening her past may cost far more than she’d imagined.
Together, they will journey through the wilderness that Emma finds so frightening, desperate to find Emma's missing son. - but can a city surgeon dedicated to rebuilding damaged children's bodies, and a man who lives and breathes wilderness, ever build a life together that includes both their worlds?
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I've always been fascinated by the power of certain settings to wield control over so much of our lives. When the universal themes of survival, love, and the dreams that drive human men and women interact with extreme environments, lives can be transformed in unexpected ways.
When the setting is remote - like the northern waters where Emma's son Chris and his friend have disappeared - and isolated, and men and women are stressed by life and death issues, there's not a lot of room for pretence or hesitation.
And when people go missing in the remote, largely unpopulated coastal forests of the North Pacific shores, everyone knows it's a matter of life and death.
The waters, the islands, the incredible beauty and the challenges of life on the North Coast are all very real. Emma and Gray are also very real to me - the woman who has always afraid of the wilderness, and the man with a wild heart he refuses to risk.
I hope you enjoy If You Loved Me as much as I enjoyed writing it, and preparing it for this new release. It's a story that has a very special place in my heart.
Vanessa Grant
Read more at
Vanessa Grant’s site
.
Also by Vanessa Grant
Gabriola Island
With Strings Attached
When Love Returns
Think About Love
Latin Legacy
Catalina's Lover
Strangers by Day
Dance of Seduction
Pacific Waterfront Romances
Storm - The Author's Cut
Shadows and Dreams
Jenny's Turn
Stray Lady
It Started With Angus
Make Love, not Music
Awakening Dreams
Wild Passage
Taking Chances
So Much for Dreams
One Secret Too Many
The Touch of Love
Angela's Affair
Wind Shift
Time for Love
The Truth About Trish
No Time for Loving
After All This Time
Yesterday's Vows
On Johnny's Terms
Women's Fiction
Lifelines: Kate's Story
Standalone
Seeing Stars
If You Loved Me
The Colors of Love
The Broken Gate (Short Story)
The Chauvinist
Watch for more at
Vanessa Grant’s site
.
Meet Vanessa Grant
Writing fiction is a perfect life choice for someone who can’t make up her mind what she wants to do when she grows up!
There are so many choices and I want to do them all. In real life I’ve taken a lot of roads: I’ve studied psychology, volunteered as a peer counselor for a family life organization, worked as an accountant and a software developer, and taught accounting and fraud investigation at a university. Best of all, I've told stories about life, love, and secrets. My heroes and heroines have lived many of the lives I’m fascinated by.
I live with my wonderful husband and two aging-but-energetic Australian Shepherds on Vancouver Island … and every so often we indulge in wanderlust and leave the island to go exploring.
I love discussing storytelling, books, and the creative process, so don’t hesitate to Tweet me
@Vanessa_Grant
or post a comment on my Facebook page at
Facebook.com/vanessagrantauthor
Check out my blog, and my free online database of 60,000 Character Names for Writers on my Web site at
VanessaGrant.com
.
Read more at
Vanessa Grant’s site
.
