Excerpt: THE REDEMPTION OF PURCHASE WADE

Though the boy had no way of knowing, he would always measure time from that one moment---one year after the “accident,” two, ten. The happening of that one event changed everything. It was so quickly done, a deed that couldn’t be taken back, couldn’t be forgiven, must be remembered through countless nights of restless nightmares that left him shaken, with cold sweat dripping from his brow. In the early hours of morning, he would awaken uttering moans and cries that couldn’t be shared because they couldn’t be explained.
It seemed to Chase that all his life had led to that one night, that he was drawn down the hapless days in such a way that he could not have avoided arriving at that place at that time. Yet he knew that, should he try to explain, there wasn’t anyone in New London that would excuse him. The events that haunted him had been his choice and were his guilt to carry.
The first time he ever saw Jillian Marshal, his heart fluttered and seemed to jump up and stick in his throat and that was the start of it