Excerpt: The Woman Within

Living in New York, she normally walked, or hailed a taxi, to wherever she needed to go, but today was special. Anna wanted to arrive in style. She rode the elevator down to the parking garage and flung off the cover to her Alfa-Romeo. Another gift from Billy. She couldn’t wait to see his face when she showed up at his door, her finished novel in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other.
As she sped down the road, mindless of the traffic, thoughts of the evening ahead filled her mind and heart. Finally, she had a novel to put her name on the tongues of every publisher in New York, and she would bring in the New Year with the man who made it all possible. Her agent, her friend, her lover.
She didn’t see the woman crossing the street until it was too late. Anna hit the breaks, jerked the steering wheel to avoid running the woman down, but the breaks didn’t work and her car took flight.
End over end, the shiny black sports car rolled until a light post brought it to a crashing halt. Anna flew through the air, her body landing in an undignified sprawl in the middle of the road. She was numb, her legs bent at odd angels and warm, thick blood pooled from a gaping wound to her head. The woman, the one who had crossed the street against the light, knelt down beside her as Anna watched her beautiful car explode into flames.
“I told him you’d never make it to his office.” The woman whispered into her ear just as Anna floated away. Her last sight was the pages of her life, one by one, disintegrating to ash as the fire consumed them.

The first thing Anna noticed was the noise. Voices, men and women, laughing, joking and having what sounded like a good time. Someone was having a party and didn’t invite her. The second thing that popped into her head was the heat. Her body, dripping sweat, was tangled in a cocoon of linen sheets and a polyester nightgown.
“Oh, God. I need a drink.” Anna stretched her arms over her head and breathed in deeply, filling her lungs with crisp, clean scent of. “Shit. Horses? I’ve died and gone to hell.” She sprang from the bed to pear out the window, confirming her worst nightmare. “How did I end up in Texas?”
Anna wanted that drink more than anything now. Opening the closet, she sifted through the selection of clothes, discarding anything remotely prim and proper. Knowing she’d fit right in at the bar, she slid into a pair of jeans, pulled a camisole over her head and stuffed her feet into the worn Keds sitting by the bed. Her hair, she pulled back, needing to get the clinging strands away from her neck. She didn’t bother with make-up either, the heat of the night would only melt it anyway.
Not wanting to have to explain where she was going, Anna slipped out the back door to the inn and stayed to the shadows until she was far enough away from prying eyes. Following the sounds of revelry, Anna found the perfect place to get herself a drink.
The bar was filled with smoke, her eyes burned as she opened the door. The aroma of beer, tobacco, and cheep perfume surrounded her as she pushed her way through the crowd to the bar. She was craving a martini with a couple of plump olives, but knew she wouldn’t get anything like that in the dump they called a bar.
“What’cha have, sugar?” The woman behind the bar, her blonde hair sitting in a rats nest on top of her head, leaned forward, the eyeliner melted around her lids, giving her the look of an abused woman. There was a tattoo over her left breast of a broken heart and another surrounding her upper right arm. The expression on her face said she’d handled one too many idiot for the night and the next on would be tossed out on his, or her, ear.
“I’ll have whatever’s on tap.” Beer was the safest bet.
“Make that two,” A man sat next to her at the counter, his hair pulled back in a ponytail, about three day’s growth of beard, A shirt that hadn’t seen a washer, and jeans that should have been tossed in the trash years ago. His teeth were white, his eyes held no sign of illness and he smelled of aftershave. Her wallet for the evening could be worse.
“Anna.” She held her hand out in greeting, surprised when the ruff looking cowboy lifted her fingers to his lips for a warm kiss.
“Grant. You here by yourself?”
His voice was soft, deep and shot lust straight to her stomach. “For tonight. You going to ask me to dance?” Anna leaned over, her arms pushing her breasts together, deepening her cleavage for her new friend.
“Honey, I’ll do anything you want me to.” The spark of lust lit his eyes, turning the chocolate brown to midnight black. “How about we take our drinks to the table, then I’ll take you for a spin.”
“I like the way you think.” Anna turned on the charm as her distraction for the evening wrapped an arm around her and cleared the way through the crowded dance floor.

Jacob’s heart swelled with the love he had for his children, the only good things in his life. Not for the first time, Jacob wished his wife could see how perfect their children were. Walking to the living room, he opened the curtain, his eyes looking toward heaven. Was she there now? Looking down on them? Could she see how hard he was trying to make a good life for her children? Did she miss him as much as he missed her?
“God, Jenna, why did you have to leave?” He let the tears fall, knowing he was safe from judgmental eyes. “You’re brother wants to keep the kids this weekend. Lauren has a big party planned. I know I promised to share them, but you know how Cody is. He wants to take over. Nick and Jenny have their own rooms at that mansion he calls a house, and Lauren has been talking about how much she misses not being able to have children of her own. They’re trying to take our babies from me.”
The weight on his chest was stifling, he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. Jacob wanted to scream out his frustrations but knew it wouldn’t do any good. God hadn’t heard him five years ago, he wouldn’t listen to him now. He was alone, no light to guide him, only the steady darkness of his broken heart.
The glow of a lamp across the quad disrupted his sorrow, replacing it with curiosity. It was the teacher’s apartment. The illusive Lilly. “What the hell is she doing up?”
He watched as she opened a case in front of the window. Her hair pulled back in a pony tail, he could just make out the length of her neck. She must have a desk in front of the window as she appeared to be sitting down. Opening the front door, Jacob leaned against the doorway, his mind thankful to have something else to think about. He could see her better, could tell she was typing, her head bent over the keys. He couldn’t say how long he stood there, just watching, but the disappointment that washed over him when she stood and walked away was nearly crippling.
Jacob stood straighter, his eyes searching for any sign of movement, and then he saw her. She was in her doorway, looking right back at him, her shear robe flowed around her, the light from her apartment outlining the curves of her body. She was smiling, as if she knew he’d been watching her. And then she was gone, the light gone from her window, and he was alone once again.

She doesn’t need a mother. If you ask her, she’ll tell you. I know she’s only five, but look at the way she is around women.” Jacob pointed toward the playground where the bait Debbie was trying to coax Jenny down from the slide.
His mother-in-law was there, along with Cody’s wife, and between the three of them, they still couldn’t get Jenny to pay attention to them. “She doesn’t like them. Not even family. I can’t explain it, it’s just the way she is.”
Jacob walked away. He wanted to keep walking until the nightmare of his life was behind him, but he wouldn’t give up on his children. “Jenna Lynn, get down from there and get cleaned up for supper.”
“Yes, Daddy.” With her light brown curls bouncing, her button nose in the air, Jacob’s pride and joy stuck her tongue out at the three women gathered around.
And there it was, that look all women get when they think a man has done something wrong. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want a woman in his daughter’s life. She didn’t. She wanted nothing to do with her grandmothers, nothing to do with her aunts. It was almost as if Jenny believed she was the one girl allowed in the world.

They stood in front of the door, Lilly in her bathrobe, Jenny in her pink pajamas, and waited for Jacob to open the door.
When he did, Lilly forgot to breathe.
He stood in the doorway, his hair tussled from sleep, his light blue eyes dull with confusion. Lilly couldn’t help it when her eyes moved from his face to the wide expanse of his bare chest and further down to the waste line of his sleep pants.
She still wasn’t able to find her voice when his deep voice spoke. “Yes?”
Thank God, Jenny didn’t have the same problem.
“Hi Daddy. Miss Lilly said I wasn’t supposed to go to her house unless I asked you first. Can I?”
When the knock came, Lilly wasn’t surprised by the door opening. Christy and Veronica knew to come right in. What she was surprised about was the dizziness that overcame her as they were followed in by Jacob.
“Hello Sweetie,” Christy said as she leaned down to kiss Lilly’s cheek. “I hope you don’t mind, but we found Jacob just wandering around and invited him to join us.
Veronica tapped Lilly on the nose as she breezed into the kitchen for the drink tray. “Jacob, if you feel at all uncomfortable with our little gathering, you just let us know.” She’d turned on her mega-watt smile as she placed the tray on the coffee table. “Ice tea’s about as strong as we get here, but if you prefer something stronger, you could always come hang out at Touchdown’s. That’s our bar. Mine and Christy’s. We own it.”
“I think he get’s it Veronica.” Christy chimed in, moving close to Jacob as she forced him to sit. “It’s a sports bar, but we have an extensive menu. A good place to take someone on a date. Maybe a first date? Lot’s of people around to keep things casual?” Her fingers walked up his arm as Jacob began to squirm. “Veronica and I will even buy the first round.”
“You two are shameless.” Lilly began pouring iced tea, handing a glass to Jacob with apology in her eyes. “Don’t mind them, they’re harmless.” Lilly couldn’t explain it, but for some reason, feeling sorry for Jacob, sandwiched between the twins, it was easy to talk to him. To look him in the eye.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” He looked so lost, both hands gripping the glass, flanked by two women who could make most men drool. “You know, I better get back to my place. The kids are supposed to be calling and I left my cell charging. Lilly. Thanks for the tea. Ladies.” He stood and faced the twins. “Thanks for the invitation. I might take you up on it someday.”
The poor man had lost color in his face by the time he made it to the front door, and within seconds, he was safely inside his apartment.
“You two should be ashamed of yourselves. You scared him half to death.” Lilly attempted to be stern, but couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up from her throat. “He was practically running.”
“Well, we weren’t doing it on purpose,” Christy said, her face a mask of innocents. “Besides, we thought if we got him to join us, you’d finally be tempted to come out for the night.”
Lilly stood, looking from one face to the other. She took a breath, knowing her refusal was going to hurt their feelings. “You know, that actually sounds like fun.”
As she sat in the middle of her room, Lilly brushed away a single tear, refusing to feel sorry for herself. “Aunt Lilly? Let’s go shopping.”
“Three of my favorite words.”
Just as Lilly was reaching for her purse, the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Lillyanna Cotty?” a man’s voice asked.
“Yes.”
“This is William Barlow, from the Barlow agency. I received your submission and all I have to say is I hope you have a good lawyer. Plagiarism is a serious crime.”
“Hold on. Plagiarism? That’s impossible. I wrote that book. Every word.” Fear began to back up in Lilly’s throat, cutting of her airway.
“I’m sure you copied it real well. I’m even a little impressed at how well it’s been edited. But I’ve read this book before. I knew the woman who wrote it. I helped edit the thing myself.”
Lilly listened as the man ran down his list of supposed crimes, her eyes searching out those of her aunts in the mirror.
“Let me talk to him.” Anna’s eyes lit with mischief and Lilly wasn’t going to stand in her way. This was, after all, her book.
“Mr. Barlow. I’m well aware of who you are and your connection with my novel. It’s the reason I sent the query to you and only you. I happen to be Anna Richman’s niece. The book was her legacy to me. I have full legal rights to the manuscript so, if you’re uninterested in representing me in having my aunt’s novel published, then I’m sure there are other agents out there that would be more than happy to read The Long Road Home.”
Anna hung up the phone without waiting for a response. “Didn’t you say something about shopping?” The phone rang again, but Anna ignored it with a smile from her reflection. “Let him think about it for a while. You and I are going to have some fun.”