Deploy (39 page)

He’d yet to figure out if Ex, Exodus, was a blessing or a curse. All he knew was the woman tested him in every way possible.

Her jet-black hair, long with curls she hated, whipped in the wind as she turned her glance from him.

For a moment she went about her business, securing her bike, taking her gloves off, her jacket, and shoving them in her saddlebags.

Her gaze flicked to the paper he was clutching in his hand, the one he had not let go of because he feared if he did the proof he existed before the last few years would vanish, too.

“I went to your funeral a few months back.” She tilted her head. “Little overkill, but nice.” She strutted past him. “What’s done is done now...
JR”

He stared after her knowing no matter what or who he was before, the last four years had managed to chain him to that woman and her hells which were now his.

Fucking traitor...

Acknowledgements

There are countless sacrifices made day in and out for the life my family and I have. There are unspoken heroes who leave behind everything and stand proud in defense of the country that bore them. Even more who stay behind and hold the tiny threads of life together with a single prayer that their warrior will return to them. I could never write a novel to fully express my gratitude for those who have been forevermore marked by their service.

God Bless you all.

~

O
ver the past four years, I have published twenty novels and each of the acknowledgments are moved from one novel to the next. That wasn’t done to take short cuts, but because on this journey I have been blessed enough to keep the same souls at my side. I wanted to take the time with this acknowledgment to state how precious they are to me.

My Creator, for I know this gift and passion for words comes from a divine force that I humbly adore and owe everything to. 

My husband, no doubt, deserves some kind of medal! The man is there from the first instant the idea is thought to life, through the long days of writing where I slip into another world. He manages the blessed life we have built, taking care of our little ones, making sure that there is some kind of substantial meal on the table for each of us. He’s a saint when it comes to telling me what day of the week it is, and letting me know that dawn is approaching, and it might be a good idea to get some sleep. He understands that music drives me and is just fine with the same song playing on repeat for days until I have the scene trapped in words. He’s used to having a conversation with me and in mid-sentence, I stop and rush to write a line down. There is no doubt that he didn’t sign up to share his wife with the fictional family that always dances in my mind, but he rocks it all the same. I can’t tell you how amazing it is to have someone want your dreams as much as you do, someone that never lets doubt creep into your mindset.

My children, they make me smile every day. They are now to the point where they’re all for naming characters, dancing to that same song that plays over and over. They love to joke about ‘mom’s bubble’—they know that mom dreams wide awake and tease me when they have to pop that bubble to tell me something.

Special thanks to Amy Donnelly, Steffini Walker, Sabrina Wells, and  Heather Falls for reading through these pages with me!

Readers. I swear to you, to this day it blows my mind that there are people on this earth that I will never have the chance to meet that have shared these stories with me, people who get it, who leave reality and step into my daydreams with me if only for a moment. You humble me. I can’t stress that enough. Thank you so much for taking a chance, giving up your time to read my work.

As you can clearly see, people often think that writers have solitary lives, and in some real fashion we do, but more so than not, the story you are reading was impacted by not only those that walked the publishing line with the writer, but the world at large. Inspiration is everywhere, in every dark and positive moment, in every song, drive, commercial. Everything is inspiration. Life is beautiful, even the dark stressful moments. You just have to find that beauty, and thankfully I have outstanding people in my life that ensure that I notice it each and every day.