Summer Love (9 page)
Authors: RaShelle Workman
Seventeen
Simone opened her eyes. She was in a small room. Her family surrounded her bed. Their expressions were downcast and sad.
“Hey,” Simone said, her voice hoarse. “Why the long faces?”
It seemed that their countenances changed as one, and they spoke together too—all different things so she couldn’t understand what any of them were saying.
Finally Sam took Sabrina from Simone’s mom’s arms and brought her over. “Hey, baby-girl,” Simone whispered. She smiled and reached out for Simone. “Can I hold her?”
“In a minute. The doctor needs to check and make sure you’re—” his voice broke. He coughed and continued, “That, everything is okay.”
“All right,” Simone said.
The doctor came in and ran her tests. When she was finished they all looked at her expectantly. The doctor smiled. “Good news.” At those two words Simone felt the room sigh with collective relief. The doctor smiled bigger. “Simone isn’t completely out of the woods, so to speak. I believe I got all the cancer and it looks like her motor functions are working properly. So…”
Sam, Simone’s mom and her sisters clapped. Even Sabrina clapped.
The doctor continued, “She’ll need a round of chemotherapy, just to make sure the cancer is all gone. She’ll also need a lot of physical therapy.” She cleared her throat. “We did almost lose her.”
Simone remembered the bright light, the lady with white hair. She knew the doctor was talking about that moment and her heart started to beat rapidly.
The machines Simone was hooked up to reacted with beeping noises.
“You all right?” the doctor asked, checking Simone’s pulse.
She nodded. “Yes, just glad to be here.”
“Good.” The doctor turned to Simone’s family. “She needs rest—a lot of rest. It’s going to be up to each of you to make sure she gets it. Understand?”
They all agreed.
“Excellent.” The doctor went to the door. “I’ll be back later to check on you.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Simone said, wiping at fresh tears. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done. It means a lot.”
“You’re very welcome.”
When the doctor was gone, Simone’s mom and sisters kissed and hugged her. Then they left too. Sabrina and Sam stayed behind.
Sam sat on the bed, letting Sabrina hug Simone.
She kissed the top of her baby’s head. “Hi, baby-girl,” she said softly. Sabrina smiled and reached a hand up to her mother’s face. Simone kissed it.
Sam laughed. Simone glanced over at him. She sucked in a breath.
He’s so handsome
, she thought admiring his thick, dark hair and his eyes. Especially his eyes. They seemed to dance with happiness.
For some reason that made her think of his cowboy hat, the one he wore every day when they spent their summer together. “Whatever happened to that ratty old cowboy hat? The one you always wore when we first met.”
Sam looked surprised and a little uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck.
“What?” Simone tried to shrug, but it hurt too much.
Sam stood. “Laura gave me that hat while we were dating.” He smiled remembering. “She said I was sexy in it.”
“She was right,” Simone said softly, understanding his discomfort.
“When I left you that day, after our summer together, I knew I needed to figure out my feelings for you and that meant the hat had to go.” He glanced out the window.
“You threw it away?” she asked, horrified.
“No.” He faced Simone, stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “The hat is one of the two things that I kept to remind me of her.”
“Well I’m glad to know you still have it.” And she meant it. He’d been through so much.
Sabrina cooed. “Mama. Mama. Mama.”
“That’s right, I’m your mama,” Simone said softly, kissing her small hand.
“You’re okay,” he said, caressing Simone’s head.
“Yes.” She leaned into his touch.
“You realize what this means, don’t you?”
“No, what?” she asked, allowing herself to smile. She hoped it meant Sabrina, she and him would be together for a very long time.
“You’re stuck with me. You’re going to have to grow old with me.”
“I like the sound of that.” Simone took Sabrina’s tiny hand between her fingers.
Sam leaned down and kissed her lightly on the mouth. “I love you, Simone Merrick.”
“Say it again,” she whispered, loving the sound of her name on his lips.
Sam kissed her again. “I love you, Simone Merrick.”
The End
Start a new mystery romance by RaShelle Workman. Download
Not So Lucky
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Thank you so much for reading Summer Love. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Simone and Sam. Individually these two characters had lives filled with a lot of trials and pain. Together they are able to give and receive more love than they ever believed possible. And it all started with one Summer Love.
If you enjoyed Summer Love, please do me a favor. Go back and leave a review. It only takes a couple of minutes but helps me out a great deal.
Sincerely,
RaShelle Workman
RaShelle Workman is a bestselling author, wannabe chef, and dog lover. She's publishing two brand new series, including UNDERCOVER EMPATH with her amazing publisher, Curiosity Quills and The Lucky Clover Romance Series. RaShelle has been self-publishing since 2011 and has no interest in stopping.
Her motto is: LOVE HURTS. LOVE HEALS. so LOVE HARD! And it shows in the different genres she writes.
Her most popular series to date is BLOOD AND SNOW, a reimagining of Snow White with a vampire twist. There are several series within the Blood and Snow world, all inspired by different fairy tales, including THE CINDY CHRONICLES, BLOOD AND SNOW Season Two (Vampire Lies, Vampire Secrets, and the upcoming Vampire Nights), THE BEASTLY SERIES, and THE EVER AFTER SERIES as well as several short stories. In 2016 she's releasing a new adult series from the world entitled THE DARK MOTH SOCIETY. The series has sold more than a million copies worldwide since release of the first book in 2012.
RaShelle is also the author of The Immortal Essence series (ya sci-fi romance), Sleeping Roses (contemporary romantic suspense), and Across the Ages (ya time travel romance). Her books: Sleeping Roses, Exiled, Beguiled, and Dovetailed have foreign rights contracts with a Turkish publisher.
Currently, RaShelle lives in Utah with her husband, three children, and their three dogs.
*** If you're curious about The Blood and Snow World Order, please visit, rashelleworkman.com/p/blood-and-snow-world.html ***
Her books include:
Sleeping Roses
Summer Love
Not So Lucky
Dead Lucky
Across the Ages
Exiled
Beguiled
Dovetailed
Blood and Snow ~ Volumes 1-12
The Cindy Chronicles
Vampire Lies
A Beauty So Beastly
Vampire Secrets
Asha's Kisses
Asha's Curse
Asha's Magic
Vampire Nights Undercover Empath
Short stories:
Cindy Witch
The Hunter's Tale
Gabriel
After the Kiss
Zaren's Travels
The Professor's Origin (exclusively with Vampire Nights)
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Not So Lucky
Lucky Clover Green is goal-oriented, despite her hippy parents. She has plans for her life and knows how to make them happen. There’s even a list to prove it.
1. Graduate from prestigious law school. Check.
2. Find an apartment in New York. Check.
3. Get engaged to the man of her dreams. Check.
4. Become partner at a law firm. Ch—Well, she’s still working on that. First she needs a job.
On impulse, she goes to a club with her roommate and meets the lead singer of the band Toxic Suspects. His name is Maxwell Legend. He’s hot, gorgeous, and soooooo doesn’t fit into her plans.
And then her fiancé is murdered.
Turns out Lucky might not be so lucky...
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