But seeing as this is the first day of a brand new year, why don’t we start with a brand new excerpt, one from the novel I hope to finish this year – Knightsong.
A few weeks ago I gave you the opening for Knightsong, introducing the main character, Jaxson Hunter, front man for the imaginary band, the White Knights. If you need to refresh your memory, you can read it HERE .
As you may have guessed, Jax and the woman in blue do end up together, but after a night of steamy sex, he wakes up alone. This scene is actually from the beginning of chapter two, and introduces Jax’s brother, Elijah.
Elijah let the curtain fall back into place and sighed. His neighbours were back from the city and from the smug look on Parker’s face and the defeated slump to Shaelynn’s shoulders, the prognosis from the doctor wasn’t good.
“Looks like good old Parker gets to torment his wife for another few months,” he said to the budgie chirping merrily in its cage.
The budgie chirped one, short burst at him and he couldn’t help but smile in response. He was not normally a negative person, but just the thought of Shaelynn and her situation made him sick at heart.
With another sigh he turned his attention back to his lap top and the website he was working on. The files had finished loading so he closed the folders and opened up a browser. Typing in the address he hit enter and sat back in his chair. The website appeared and he clicked his way through the menus, making sure everything worked properly. Perfect.
It would want to be, this being what he did for a living. It was perfect for him – he could work from home and make his own hours. A little computer repair on the side and he was set. Business was booming and he was good at what he did.
He’d trade it all if only he could help Shaelynn. They’d been best friends since high school and he hated with a passion what was happening to her. The life was being sucked from her and he was helpless to do anything about it, other than be her friend and offer a shoulder for her to cry on.
The ringing of the phone distracted him from his downward turning thoughts. He picked up the old fashioned, wall mounted receiver.
“Hello?”
“Hey bro.”
“Jax!” A smile lit up Elijah’s face. “Where are you? Still on the road?”
“Nah, the tour finished up last week. We’ve got a couple of months of down time before we head back to the studio.”
“Two whole months? I can’t believe it. Whatever are you going to do with yourself,” Elijah asked in amusement.
“I thought I might start by coming out to see you.”
“What?” Eli couldn’t possibly have heard right.
“If that’s okay, that is.”
Jaxson sounded unsure of himself. Eli couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever seen his brother unsure of himself. “What’s the matter?”
“What kind of question is that?” Irritation leaked into his voice. “Can’t a man visit his brother without there being something wrong?”
“Jaxson, how long have I been living here?” Eli paced as far as the phone cord would let him and back again.
“I dunno, two, three years?”
“It’s been five. And in all that time have you ever come to visit?”
“Well, no. Look, if it’s going to be a problem . . .”
“Don’t give me that crap. This is me you’re talking to.” Eli turned to face the window where he had a view of Shaelynn’s house.
Jaxson sighed into the phone. “There was this woman. She—I—I tried to find her . . . I just need to come home for a while. I need my family.”
“You don’t need an invitation,” Eli told him gently. “This is your home as much as mine.”
“Thanks, bro. I’ll be there some time tomorrow. I’ll tell you the whole story then.”
“Looking forward to it. Drive safe, Jax.”
Elijah hung up the phone carefully. Now this was an interesting turn of events. He wondered what it portended.
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