This week I'm changing gear and bringing you a teaser from my holiday story released last year. It's the story of Joshua and Christy Inemi-Spiff and how they get a second chance on their marriage.
I'm sharing parts of Chapter One all week. You can read Chapter One-Part One and Chapter One-Part Two.
Now on to part three.
Chapter One
Part Three
All warmth and reason drained
from him. He pursed his lips in a grim line as he watched Christy’s expression.
Her chin was tilted up, her eyes blazing. She meant her words.
“A divorce? You really want
a divorce?”
His speech left his lips
in an icy tone, drawn from the chip of iceberg that seemed to have replaced his
heart.
“Yes.”
Divorce was one thing he’d
never reckoned on until the letter landed on his desk today. The syllables carried
a ring of finality like death—irreversible once done, and leaving the survivor
with only sorrow and pain. He wasn’t going there again. The sudden loss of his parents
and their love, in his youth, was all the anguish he could bear in one lifetime.
“Why?” At first, he’d thought
the letter was a mistake, perhaps Christy’s way of getting his attention. Now he
knew she’d meant it. He inhaled a deep breath to clear the haze of rage.
“Because you don’t love me.”
A hollow laugh rattled through
him, echoing the emptiness that threatened to devour him.
“You want to end our marriage
because you think I don’t love you?” He couldn’t hide the incredulity from his
voice.
“I know you don’t love me.”
“Oh, you know. Right.” Stunned,
he stiffened his spine. After eight years, she could turn around and tell him that?
“So if you know everything, why does it suddenly matter now? We were together for
so many years before we got married. Why now?”
“Because we’re married, and
I expect my husband to love me.”
He shook his head in disbelief.
“I’m not going to argue with you, Christy. I don’t want a divorce.”
For the first time, her demeanor
lost its confident fire. She brushed back her hair several times and rubbed the
back of her neck.
“Joshua, you know our marriage
isn’t working out. I don’t want anything from you. I just want out.”
On any other given day, the
softness of her tone would have appealed to his compassionate side. Right now, his
heart had frozen for protective reasons. Nothing within him responded to her plea.
“You haven’t even given our
marriage a chance.” Now, he folded his arms across his chest, mirroring her previous
unyielding stance.
He ignored it, and she let
it fall to her side.
“You think there’s no point?
Well, read my lips. I. Won’t. Give. You. A. Divorce.”
“In that case, I’ll see you
in court.” She lifted her chin, the boldness that was pure Christy back again.
“Yeah. Good luck with that,”
he said, his tone laced with derision. “Let’s see how any Nigerian court will grant
you a divorce when you have no basis for requesting it in the first place.”
Weariness seeped into his
bones. The last few months had been taxing, not just with worry about Christy but
about their family and business interests.
All of a sudden, he couldn’t
stand being there anymore, couldn’t stand their argument. Arguing with Christy would
get neither of them any closer to their individual goals. They’d argued before
but it’d never been this bad. One person usually caved in, mostly him.
No way was he letting her
have her own way this time with so much at stake. He snatched up the envelope and,
after stuffing it in his pocket, walked toward the door.
The sound of Christy’s
faint sigh reached his ears before she spoke. “Please, Joshua. Just tell me what
you want.”
Her soft entreaty stopped
him in his tracks.
“And don’t say come home.
I’ll do anything but that.”
Joshua turned to face her.
She bit her bottom lip again and darted her gaze away. He sensed her desperation,
almost tasted it.
“Anything?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
In any other circumstance,
he’d consider it unfair to take advantage of a desperate woman. But this situation
wasn’t normal. It required drastic action. All’s fair in love and war.
“Come here,” he said.
Read Chapter One - part one HERE
Read Chapter One - part two HERE
Blurb:
Marriage has stripped their relationship of its
thin, rose-tinted coating, and bared their monochromatic existence for what it
was. Will Joshua and Christy get a second chance this holiday season?
When Christy Inemi-Spiff
discovers that the man she vowed to love and honor has no such feelings for
her, she’s determined to cut her losses and move on with her life. A quick,
quiet divorce is all she wishes for Christmas.
However, Joshua has other
ideas. He’s not ready to walk away yet, especially when he doesn’t understand
why Christy wants out of their marriage. So he demands she agree to spend a
quiet Christmas on a remote African Island with him, hoping they can salvage
their relationship. If she still wants a divorce after these two weeks, he will
let her go. But not before he’s had his fill of her.
But
with the sparking tension between them, and the secrets behind the
disintegration of their marriage threatening to explode, will either of them
get their wish? Or will this season of good will show them what really lies at
the bottom of their hearts?
***
Check out the other lovely mid-week teasers
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