Saturday Snippet

Today's topic is milestones. I actually had some trouble with this one. I wasn't sure what to post. I decided to go with a scene from IMPULSIVE. Here, the heroine hasn't quite learned to trust the hero and follows him to what turns out to be an important family event. The scene ends up being a turning point in the their relationship but maybe not the way you'd expect. Here's the start of the scene:

Katie was so busy studying him, admiring the tranquility of the moment and the way his bright blue tie highlighted the rich tone of his skin, she almost missed the shiver that moved through him. It was a sense of awareness mirrored in the tilt of his head and roll of his shoulders. She wasn't prepared for him to look up or for his gaze to search the room, but that's what happened. Heat burned in her cheeks as his dark eyes centered on her.

Part of her wanted to run. She could turn around and get out of there and pretend this moment never happened. But her feet were rooted to the floor. Pinned by his gaze, she could not move.

After helping his mother into her seat, Eric kept walking. He stalked down the aisle, causing several heads to turn in his wake. He didn't stop until he stood in font of her.



"Hi." She had no idea what else to say, so she went with that bit of quiet brilliance.

"Just happen to be here today, did you?"

"Hardly." She peeked over his shoulder and saw his mother looking back at them. "You should go sit down."

"In a second." With a hand on Katie's elbow, Eric guided her back down the stairs and out into the sunshine.

She didn't wait for the yelling to start. This called for an offensive strike. "I can explain."

"You know what I think?"

"Not really."

"You have trust issues." The words were accusatory but his tone sounded more amused than anything.

"I know this looks bad."

"It sure doesn't look good." He touched his hand against her lower back. "Come inside."

She slid out of reach and faced him again. "I'm going to skip, but thanks."

"It's a memorial service not a human sacrifice."

"I picked up that much." Her mind went to the photo of the woman with the sweet smile. "Who died?"

"My grandmother."

A mix of sorrow and remorse filled Katie until she thought she'd drown in it. Here she was stomping around him like an out of control idiot, yelling about Deana and keys, and he was in mourning. "Oh, Eric. I am so sorry."

"It's okay."

She grabbed the sleeve of his suit jacket. "It's not. I know how devastating it is to lose someone."

"You've had more than your share of loss."

But they weren't talking about her. They were talking about the strong man in front of her. Without a word or request for support, he was trying to work his way through a death in the family. She'd examine how she felt about not being clued in later. The one thing that nagged at her was the timing. It didn't make sense. Either she met him right after or he could so compartmentalize his life as to be with her one day and suffer alone the next.

The latter option clashed with everything she thought she knew about him. Eric was not cold and heartless, but he had kept his loss to himself for a reason. She wondered what he could say that would make that realization bearable because right now it wasn't. It sunk inside her, hard and heavy.

But she would worry about how this made her feel later. Eric's grief was the issue now, and from what she could tell he was burying it. "I had no idea."

"About what?"

"Your grandmother's death." She smoothed her hand up and down his arm. "When did it happen?"

"Twenty-three years ago."

Katie had never experienced the sensation of having ice water dumped on her but she guessed it felt a bit like this. "Come again?"

"This is a Buddhist ceremony."

"Uh, okay."

"Under the tradition, we have memorial services at three years, seven years, seventeen years…well, let's just say there's a whole calendar of events set aside for both mourning and celebrating life. This one is an important one."

"You're Buddhist?"

For some reason, he smiled. "That's really all you got out of that entire explanation?"

"Frankly, I barely understood a word. I thought I'd go with the most obvious thing I didn't know about you."

"This is one of those things that you do out of obligation and tradition. Parts Shinto and Buddhist. It all means

something to my parents, so I'm here for them."

All those words and she still didn't get it. "You should go back inside before they worry."

"They're fine. You, however, look ready to bolt."

"In the span of ten minutes I found out you're Buddhist, have a dead grandmother and celebrate these services I've never heard of in what has to be the most spectacular part of the island I've ever seen. I can't believe I missed it before now."

"I've been coming here since I was a kid."

"For church?"

"It's a temple."

Clearly he thought the distinction was important. That made one of them.

____________

Remember to check out the other authors' snippets:

Anne Rainey

TJ Michaels

Mari Carr

McKenna Jeffries

Myla Jackson

Taige Crenshaw

Lauren Dane

Vivian Arend

Shelli Stevens

TJ Michaels

Jody Wallace

Eliza Gayle

Denise A. Agnew

Beth-Ann Mason