Another Week, Another Teaser

I really didn't expect that quick a response to my last Facebook page post - thanks everyone!  To reward you all, here's a teaser from chapter 6 of "Absolution" for you.  It's so hard to choose these teasers, believe me - I don't want to give anything away, so it seems safer to share them from the first few chapters of the book, as it gets mighty complicated from there on in.  Don't want to spoil any surprises!  

For those following the progress, I'm currently writing chapter 24.  After that, I have 3 more chapters to write, then a final edit to do before getting it off to my publisher by August 16th.  It's all go around here!

Anyway, the teaser:

“Ally, you need to face facts here.”  Callum eyeballed her.  “He left four years ago and he only came back for the funeral.  Does he feel guilty about that?  Sure, why not.  But did he even try to call you or me or anyone apart from Tom in the past four years?  Did he make any effort at all to come home during that time?  No, because he didn’t give a shit.  That’s the sort of guy he is.  I know it hurts like hell, but it’s the truth.  Don’t go getting suckered into this whole routine he’s got going here.  I don’t know about you, but I’m all out of second chances.”

She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off. 

“I know you want to believe something else, and that’s your call.  Just don’t go doing anything rash because you think you see something in him that wasn’t there before.  He’s a whole different person now – none of us know him anymore, including you.”

She swallowed back tears and waited until she could control her voice before she spoke. 

“I know how you feel about him.” she said quietly.  “I know it hurt when –“

“Hey, this isn’t about me, it’s about you.”

“No, it’s not.  It’s not just about me – I wasn’t the only one he left behind.” she insisted.

“Yeah, well, you were the only one he left behind in the ICU.”

She stared at him, clamping her jaw together to keep from crying again. 

He sighed, running a hand down his face again.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean it to come out like that.” 

She shrugged, frightened by the underlying anger in his tone.  “It’s okay. You’re right.”

She stared down at her hands in her lap.  He was right, she couldn’t argue with that.  Still, she knew there was more to it.

As usual, feedback is always very gratefully received - you're welcome to either comment here or on my Facebook page, I don't mind which (it's just great to hear from you!).  In case you missed the news on my Facebook page, release date has now been rescheduled for October 22nd, so watch this space!  

~Amanda

Teaser Time!

It's been awhile since I posted a teaser for "Absolution" so here's one for you:

“You want to know if I told her about what happened that night.”

Callum glared at him, and Jack could tell he was on the right track.

“The answer is no, I didn’t.  But why the hell didn’t you?  You were there, you knew.”

“Because it wasn’t my place to tell her – it was yours!” Callum snapped.

“Jesus, Callum!  You just let her think God knows what, all this time?”

“What the hell do you care what she thought!  You weren’t here, remember?  You didn’t have to pick up the pieces – we did!  I made a decision not to tell her because what the hell would be the point?”

“What would be the point?” Jack repeated indignantly.  “She would have known!”

“Known what?  That you were a coward?  That you left because you were scared?  She knew that already!”

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Callum cut him off.

“Don’t you dare come back here and start blaming anyone else for what you did – you did it yourself, you left!” Callum hissed, eyes blazing.  “You did the wrong thing then and by coming back now and stirring it all up again you’re just making everything worse.  Why don’t you just get the hell out of here?”

“I’m trying to make it right!” Jack insisted feebly, heart racing.

"And how in the hell do you think you’re gonna do that?”

Jack stared at him dumbfounded, knowing that he had asked himself that question a million times and come up empty.

“She doesn’t need you anymore.  The best thing you can do now is just crawl back into whatever deep, dark hole you crawled out of and let her get on with her life.”

Jack shook his head determinedly, his heart pounding.  “No.  I’m not going anywhere, not this time.”

Callum laughed scornfully.  “That’s your master plan?  Seriously?”

Jack glared at him in silence, his anger mounting.

“Oh come on – you gotta admit, that’s a reckless statement, especially for you.” Callum snorted derisively.  “You disappear when the going gets tough, remember?”

Jack clenched his teeth so tight his jaw ached.  “That’s not what happened and you know it.”

Callum threw his hands in the air, his eyes burning hot with rage.  “Do I?  Because that’s what it looked like from where I was standing!”

“You know damn well why I left!” Jack blurted out, his voice thunderous and desperate.  “You knew what I did – you were there!”

“Yeah, I knew what you did - big deal!  You were trying to save her life - she wouldn’t have blamed you!” he said hotly.  “You did the wrong thing, Jack – you should’ve stayed.”

If you're shy about leaving a comment below, you can always pop on over to my Facebook page and let me know whether or not you enjoyed the read.  It's always great to get feedback :)

~Amanda