Excerpt from ONE SWEET DAY

I'm steadily at work on Book 2 of The Joyful Noise Series, my new Christmas romance series, which will be out next month. In the meantime, here's an excerpt from my Christian mainstream to enjoy:



“In all the excitement these past few days, I’ve totally forgotten to tell you,” Lita Putnam told her husband. “You know the little boy next door had a vision about the last days?”

Tremayne was tossing aside what they called the king-sized bed’s “show pillows” for their regular sleep-time pillows.

“How could you forget to tell me that? You know me and Revelation,” he chided gently.

Lita laughed. “Oh, yeah. You have one dream and you’re Mr. Prophecy! Anyway, his mom was telling me about it before I left for Florida. I looked up the vision he saw when I was on the plane. It’s sort of eerie, Tremayne. What he saw was the sixth seal being opened. That is, all the things that are mentioned in the sixth seal.”

“The sixth seal. Now I’ll have to look it up. One dream doesn’t mean I know what the sixth seal is off the top of my head.”

She’d missed that good-natured banter with her husband. Likewise, she’d missed her comfy home and her bedroom. Lita was one of those women who, every few months, replaced the covers or the sheets, often buying a comforter and matching pillow cases on sale. Tremayne always called her “The Queen of the Bargains,” and compared her to the woman described in Proverbs 31. Friends of hers had, half teasingly and half seriously, suggested she give a seminar sometime on decorating a home and filling a pantry with the help of sales and coupons.

“It feels so nice to be home!” she exclaimed. “Staying with my sister was nice. I think the move to Hollywood will be good for her. But, oh, I love being in my own house again. And in North Carolina. And with you.”

“Me, too, baby. I hope my brother isn’t making too much of a pest of himself.”

“Ah, that’s the other Hollywood,” she noted, amused. “Hollywood, Florida, and Hollywood, California. No, he’s not being a pest at all. I feel terrible for him, honey. Sorry that he’s going through this. Been praying for him.”

“Me, too. Thanks, Li.”

He switched off the lamp beside his bed and then snuggled closer to her. Tremayne and Lita had slept like that since they were newlyweds. Lita had missed that, too. Just that closeness, that intimacy between them. Nothing had to happen in that bed other than falling asleep in each other’s arms for there to be that intimacy between them. How different it had been while she was away, asleep on her sister’s couch, without her husband’s strong, loving arms around her.

How different—and how lonely will it be for him? she fretted silently.

“So I don’t have my Bible and even if I did, it’s dark in here.” Tremayne chuckled, whispering in the dark. “What did the kid see? Those scary locusts Revelation mentions? The Beast coming out of the sea?”

“No. His home actually shook. He experienced an earthquake…I guess that great earthquake, the one that’s worse than any other before it.”

“Oh.” Tremain became serious. “Did he really?”

“That’s what his mom told me. You know Darlene. She’s not the type to make things up. She says he saw the moon turning to blood. The sun got all black and the stars fell from the sky. Millions of stars, just falling to the earth.”
“Wow. That’s gotta be scary.”

“And he saw the sky open. And then Quinn saw the Lord’s throne. Hallelujah! How awesome, baby.”

“I know.”

“And an angel. That’s the last thing he saw. An angel in his room. He said he was huge.”

“I’ve heard of them sometimes appearing to people.”

“Me, too. But what got to me even more was God’s throne. God reigns. That means so much. That ministered to me, so much. You wouldn’t believe just how much…”

Turning to her, Tremayne could make out her profile in the very dim light coming into the room through the slits in the window blinds. Lita was softly crying.

That was his Lita. As strong a lady as she was, she often became emotional with the things pertaining to the Lord. She would tear up during the worship portion of Sunday morning service ever since he’d known her. Someone singing a beautiful song or sharing a testimony of God’s work in their lives could bring a tear to her eye. For that reason, he dismissed there being a problem.

“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” he began.

“What’s that?”

Immediately, he felt silly for having even brought it up. There was no turning back at that point, though.

“You can be honest with me, Lita. Do you ever feel like…I’m not even sure how to say this…”

“Just come out and say it, Tremayne.”
He was afraid of the answer but posed the question anyway. “Do you ever wish that I was a man who was more—I don’t know, who chased after dreams?”

“Now what did your brother say to you?” she asked knowingly.

“It wasn’t him. Well, all right—it was him. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Everybody’s not meant to be a star, Tremayne. I’m proud of you and what you do for the families you’ve helped when they’re going through a loss. You’re a star to me. Maybe not to the rest of the world, but you are a star to me.”

Tremayne didn’t need to pursue the question further. Even in the dark, his mouth found hers in a sweet kiss.

“And you are the only woman that I’ll ever want or need,” he said. “My leading lady. Forever.”

She moved closer to him. He could hear her crying softly.

“Honey, Lita, talk to me. What’s wrong, baby?”