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Authors: Rebecca Randolph Buckley

Midnight in Brussels

BOOK: Midnight in Brussels
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Midnight in Brussels
Midnight [3]
Rebecca Randolph Buckley
R J Buckley Publishing (2009)

MIDNIGHT IN BRUSSELS is the third novel in Rebecca Buckley's "Midnight" contemporary romance series. Each novel is a stand alone in that it captures the exotic and romantic essence of New Year's Eve celebrations in major cities around the world, and each novel introduces a new ensemble of characters whose lives intermingle with that of "Rachel O'Neill" (the one major character who appears in all twelve novels), an American writer living in Cornwall, England. In this captivating story of Amanda Conroy Malone - a naive, inexperienced, young woman - whose husband of seven years disappears on Christmas Day, is left alone and penniless in the Nevada desert outside of Las Vegas in a house trailer without a car and no means to support herself. Amanda's married sister comes to the rescue, whisking her away to California to live in a sprawling riverside home in the San Joaquin Valley - a far cry from the poor existence both girls experienced in the Arkansas hill country as they were growing up in their grandmother's care. Amanda's one dream is to someday go to Bruges, Belgium - where lacemaking and medieval quaintness and beauty abound according to the travel magazines she reads. The time comes when she must decide what she wants most: an independent life in Belgium or a life with the man she loves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MIDNIGHT IN BRUSSELS

 

 

A Novel

 

By Rebecca Randolph Buckley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

 

 

First Printing – December 2009

ISBN:
978-0-9791701-3-3

 

 

 

 

© 2009 by Rebecca Randolph Buckley

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

 

 

 

R.J. Buckley Publishing

Queen Creek, AZ

 

www.rjbuckleypublishing.com

 

 

 

 

Works by Rebecca Buckley

 

NOVELS

(“Midnight” Series)

Midnight at Trafalgar Square

Midnight at the Eiffel

Midnight in Brussels

 

COLLECTIONS of SHORT STORIES

Love Has a Price Tag

Bits & Pieces of Me

 

CONTRIBUTOR

The World outside the Window

2008 WOW Anthology

2009 WOW Anthology

 

AMAZON SHORTS

Never Again

Just a Dream

 

STAGEPLAYS

Little Katie McMullen

Opposite Ends of the Rainbow

Café Dustyefsky

 

SCREENPLAYS

Peace in the Valley

Where Do We Go From Here

 

 

 

 

 

DEDICATION

 

This book is dedicated …

 

… to all women (
young and old
) who have dreams beyond their wildest imaginations of love, success, fulfillment, and promise.

 

My belief is we can have whatever we want; we just need to believe it will happen and have faith in ourselves and the universe, and do our homework. It is ours for the asking.

 

Also dedicated …

 

… to the extraordinary lace makers of Belgium.

 

From the first moment I observed the women (young and old) at the Kantcentrum (Lace Centre) in Bruges, tossing the bobbins and creating such masterpieces, I was enthralled with the art of lace making. It was there that I first conceived Amanda’s love and desire for Belgium and all it encompassed.

 

http://www.kantcentrum.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 

I wish to express my thanks to my generous hosts Robert van Nevel and Lievetje Gevaert at Carmersstraat 13 in Bruges, Belgium for wonderful accommodations and for the CD of photos and all the local information that gave me a clearer understanding of the history of the town and its citizens.

 

http://www.brugesbb.be

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PART ONE

 

 

“If you see it in your mind, you’re going to hold it in your hand.”

Bob Proctor

The Secret

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1

 

The steep red rock canyon walls on one side and a deathly drop to the boulders of the creek below on the other was intimidating, but a breathless beauty to behold. The shadows of dusk made the scenic panorama even more imposing.

Arlie Jeffries glanced up one side and down the other, trying to take it all in as he drove the winding mountain road towards Globe, Arizona.

He wished circumstances were different. He wished he could start all over in a small town somewhere. One like Flagstaff or Sedona that he’d passed through earlier that morning.

Arlie missed the comfort of a small town, like where he grew up in Arkansas. And he wasn’t totally convinced he was doing the right thing going to Austin, Texas - trading one woman for another. Sure he liked women, but he was thinking that maybe he wasn’t cut out to live with one. He was a man’s man, didn’t like the responsibility of taking care of a woman, definitely didn’t want kids.

“What the─” Arlie pumped the accelerator pedal as the truck sputtered and jerked to a dead stop. He swore at the top of his lungs and banged his fists on the steering wheel, his temper escalating to an aneurism high.

He should have kept the car, could’ve stolen license plates and switched them, that’s what he should’ve done. He cursed himself for making one of the stupidest mistakes of his life.

Of course the stupidest mistake was placing that first bet on the craps table when he and Amanda moved to Vegas from Arkansas seven years earlier. Gambling reeled him in from the get-go, and no matter how much money he made as an electrician at the Plaza Hotel and Casino, he never had enough to cover his growing gambling debts.

Now he was running for his life. He was in to the loan sharks to the tune of fifty-two thousand. There was no way he could come up with that kind of money in the two days they’d given him. It was his last reprieve, they had told him. And they said if he didn’t come through with the cash they would use him as a lesson to others who didn’t pay up on time. So now he was running.

He had left home the day before, on Christmas Day, and after driving ninety-five miles had abandoned his car in an alleyway of the most rundown section of Kingman, Arizona. He stayed overnight in Kingman and early that morning had bought a used pickup truck, paid cash for it, and made it to Phoenix without mishap.

Finally, after grabbing a bite to eat at a drive-thru, he left Phoenix and drove east on Highway 60 towards Globe. His plan was to spend the night in Globe and then the next morning take Highway 70 which would take him to the I-10 west of Deming, New Mexico. There he’d dump the truck and buy another vehicle. Then it was a straight shot to Austin.

He figured switching vehicles a couple times and doing the zigzag route would cover his trail well enough so that no one could find him.

Now he found himself stranded on a mountain road in Arizona and it was getting dark. He should have left Phoenix earlier and not stopped at the Indian Casino to gamble. He sighed heavily as he dropped his head onto his hands gripping the steering wheel of the dead truck.

BOOK: Midnight in Brussels
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