please bear in mind that this is a RAW excerpt, and has not yet been fully edited
Congratulating herself on the
great success of a party she’d been planning for months, Cameron Kingsley
double-checked the wine stock in the kitchen to make sure everything was
holding up to the number of guests.
"You've outdone yourself
again, love," her mother, Eva, murmured. Sneaking up behind her daughter
to tweak the dark curls that spilled from her simple ponytail, Eva wrapped an
arm around Cameron's slender waist. She pressed a small plate of hors d'oeuvres
into Cameron's hand with a grin and said, "Now get out of here; you've
done your duty. Your father and I are very proud of what you've done here. And
we are so thankful for all the work you put into this."
"I know, Mom," Cameron
said, leaning into her mother's embrace and inhaling the ever-present scent of
cherry blossoms. "I was glad to do it, really. It's just nice, for a
change, to be planning an anniversary party like yours. You know, instead of
planning someone else's fifth wedding."
"Oh, my jaded girl."
Eva's green eyes fluttered closed, and she shook her head sadly. "How can
you be so disbelieving? You spend every day surrounded by people in love,
people giving commitment to each other. You were raised here, with Adam and I,
and I can’t think of a more genuinely happy couple than we are. How can you be
so turned off to love?"
"Mom, seriously? I’m not
turned off to love. I want to be in love, real love. Last month I went to a
wedding I had worked, and it was fabulous. It was deeply spiritual, and everyone
cried the whole time, talking about how in love the bride and groom were. They
couldn’t get enough of how beautiful they were as a couple, how perfect everything
was, and how lovely they would be as little old people together."
Eva looked into her daughter's
face, arching an eyebrow. "And this is bad?"
"Well, no, actually. That
part really was nice," Cameron smiled as triumph flashed in her mother's
eyes. Time to deliver the punch line. "You know, except for the fact that
the groom has been married four different times, and I planned two of his
previous weddings. Not to be outdone, his blushing bride, in all her virginal
innocence, has been married something like six times, I think."
"Good God!" Eva
exclaimed, her mouth dropping open in surprise. "Where did she find the
time? And where did all the husbands go?"
"Oh you know. Casualties of
divorce court, I guess. And mark my words, mom, that's not the last time I see
that couple. They were both still so angry over their past marriages, and the
bride was already hateful, envious of the wives that came before her. She kept
asking me, through the entire planning process, if any of the other wives had
chosen this food, or that color, or this flower. It was obscene, really. And
he's had so many wives; I guess soon I'll be able to just start recycling old
plans."
"That sounds lovely
dear," Eva replied dryly. "I do suppose though, it could make things
a lot easier on the new brides coming in. All the planning already done by the
predecessors, you know?"
"Hey, you girls, come on in
here!" Cameron's father, Adam, waved from the kitchen archway. He stepped
forward to kiss his wife gently on the forehead, and Cameron couldn't hold back
a grin as she watched her parents together. Adam took his wife's hand and tucked
it into his elbow. "Drew and Cassaundra want you to come open their gift,
dear," he said.
Cameron rolled her eyes, leaving
her untouched plate on the counter as she followed her parents from the
kitchen. "He's too good at gifts, the wretch. I bet he's outdone me
again," she muttered, making her parents laugh.
"Well, Cameron," her
father said, glancing back at her over his shoulder, his smile still as
youthful as ever, somewhat miraculous in his aged face. "Your brother just
doesn't have your talent for parties. He has to come up with other ideas."
"Besides," Eva
laughed. "Look at him; he cheated. Cassaundra looks as nervous about that
gift as Drew does. I'd say they picked it together, whatever it is. And if I
know my son, they bought the gift months ago. You know how he likes to be
prepared."
"Mom, Dad," Drew said,
pulling a chair closer to the gift table and holding it steady for his mother
to be seated. He winked at Eva as she lowered into the chair, his eyes as green
as hers had been in her youth, his hair the same dark shade as Cameron's, but
sprinkled throughout with the premature gray of their father, Adam.
Cameron smiled, watching the two
couples together; her parents beside her younger brother and his new love. Adam
took his place behind his wife, resting his hands easily on her shoulders,
while Drew stepped back to drape an arm around Cass. She lowered her eyes
somewhat shyly, holding out a giant gift bag.
"I hope we did well with
these," Cass said, placing the bag carefully at Eva's feet. As she rose,
she tucked a wild bit of glossy chocolate hair behind her ear.
"Oh, I'll bet the wife
loves whatever you kids have stuffed in there," Adam laughed. "You
know, as long as it's perfect." Laughter spread through the room,
amusement at the idea of Eva being hard to please. None of her children had
ever given her a gift that she didn’t love, and they all knew that she could
have received nothing and still been joyful.
"Let's all hope they bought
something lousy!" shouted Drew's youngest brother, Evan. As the youngest
of the Kingsley children, he was a total clown, but they loved his liveliness.
"That way my gift looks extra awesome!"
As the happy rumble of laughter
flowed again through the small crowd, Cameron slapped her brother's muscled
shoulder playfully. "No heckling," she said, ducking as Evan reached
to flick the tip of her nose.
“Heckling,” he muttered. “As if
I’d be that rude to our gifted gift-shopper of a brother. I got them a quote
book, Cam; I bet whatever’s in that bag makes my gift look like a kick in the
shins.”
“Let it go, you know they aren’t
like that,” Cameron muttered back, watching her mother dig into the depths of
the gift bag Cass had placed in front of her.
"Oh, wow!" Eva pulled
a fluff of tissue paper from the gift bag, reaching inside to remove an
oversized cluster of amethyst crystal. Jagged purple spikes rose up from a dark
base, sparkling and shimmering in the light. Other crystals followed in shades
of emerald and rose, each one a sparkling illusion of fragility in the bright
light of the room.
"Drew thought you might
like them, surrounded with mirrors for your fireplace. You know, for the
reflections," Cass said, a bit nervously. She’d been dating Drew for a
little less than a year, and it had taken her a long time to feel even a little
comfortable in the Kingsley family setting. She still wasn’t all the way
relaxed with the whole crowd yet.
Cameron loved Cass though;
watching her grow and bloom as part of the family made her somehow more
beautiful, her dark eyes shining up at Drew, her pretty round face brightened
by her smile. Jaded as Cameron was on the subject of love, she found herself hoping
in spite of herself, wishing that Cass and Drew might someday share the love
she saw in her own parents, Adam and Eva Kingsley. It kept her from spending
too much time wishing for that sort of love in her own life, getting her hopes
up for something she didn’t believe she could find.
"I have something else to
say," Drew said, smiling down at Eva. She looked up at him expectantly,
reaching to place the last of the crystals on the table in front of her.
Cameron drew a breath; she'd made a career of planning weddings, watching the
secret talk between lovers. She’d caught the look between Drew and Cassaundra;
she knew what Drew was going to say, and so did Evan.
"Oh, wow, he's gonna do it,
isn't he? Tie the knot, I mean?" he said, reaching up behind Cameron to
tweak her ponytail. Making a mental note to cut it off later so that people
would stop tugging it, Cameron pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, allowing
the curls to tumble over her breast and spill toward her flat, slender stomach.
"I think so," she
said, elbowing the firm hard presence that was Evan. "Shhh."
"-- And I'm just so
inspired," Drew was saying, "watching you and Dad. Ever since I was a
kid, you struggled to show me how important it is to find love. But you taught
me too, that just companionship isn’t enough. You taught me to find the right
one, not to settle for just anyone. You always told me, Mom, to find my match,
and I remember so many talks when I was younger, sitting with you and trying
not to die of boredom while you taught me what it meant to find someone who
fits me perfectly."
"And you survived it, and now
you have found your love," Eva said, rising from the chair to wrap her arm
around the broad shoulders of her middle child, her second son. Allowing her
hand to slide down and rest on Drew's chest, she turned to Cass, reaching the
other hand out to bring Cass into the fold.
"I have," Drew said,
looking down into Cass's slightly embarrassed face. He winked, and the
intensity of color in face grew stronger, eliciting more laughter from the
family surrounding them.
"And I hope," Eva
whispered, her chin trembling with emotion as she took Cass' hand in both of
hers, "that you two will share what I have shared with Adam. I wish good
things for you, and I give my blessing." She turned again, placing Cass'
hands together in the center of Drew's chest.
"You take care of my son,
you hear?" She said to Cass, and it was apparent to everyone in the room that,
married or not, Cassaundra Keaton was now a member of the Kingsley family. No
one in the family moved or committed to anything without the blessing of Eva
Kingsley, and no one second-guessed her judgment.
"Thank you, Mrs.
Kingsley," Cass said tearfully, touched by the obvious move that Eva had
made. It felt like an old ritual, watching Eva as she touched her son and then
moved away, urging Cass into her place. Cass didn’t know that it was an old
ritual, handed down from Adam’s own parents when they entrusted their own son
to Eva’s love.
"Now, boy, you'd better not
be finished yet," Adam warned, breaking the tenderness of the moment with
his gruff voice. Holding up one hand, he waggled his fingers, raising an
eyebrow in challenge. He widened his dark eyes dramatically, making a silly
face at Drew.
"Of course," Drew
said, winking again at Cass as he made a show of stepping back. Digging his
hand into the pocket of his jeans, he widened his eyes theatrically, mocking
his father. Moving to the other pocket, he made a show of digging in there as
well.
"Oh dear God," he
muttered. "It must be here somewhere!" He leaned forward, making
everyone laugh as he pretended to peek down the front of Cassaundra's dress.
She held her hands to her cleavage, mortified, which made everyone laugh
harder. Finally, Drew slapped himself on the forehead.
"Right!" he exclaimed.
Slipping two fingers down the back pocket of his jeans, he finally withdrew the
engagement ring he'd given to Cass, returning it to her finger. She'd been
wearing it privately for some months already, as they had taken some time to
keep the engagement to themselves. Still, the time had come to break the news
and Drew had wanted to be dramatic for his mother's sake, and so he'd placed
the ring carefully in his pocket just before he and Cass had entered the party.
"Oh, Drew," Eva
whispered, watching her son take Cassaundra's hand and slide the ring home on
her finger. She lifted a finger to swipe under her eye as Drew and Cass turned
to face her, together. Smiling, she held her hands out, taking Cass in her
arms.
"Welcome to my family,
daughter," she said.
"And now I'll be even more
busy," Cameron muttered to Evan, unable to hold back her smile.
"Nah, I bet I can get them
to hire me instead," he laughed back, elbowing her in the ribs. "You
may be the wedding planner in the family, but everyone knows I'm the best at
everything. All these fine examples to follow. I bet I could rock a wedding
party."
"Oh shut up, Ev,"
Cameron laughed back, watching her mother rip the paper excitedly from another
gift.
Later, as the evening wound down
and the party cleared out, Adam and Eva lounged on the couch in their living
room. Surrounded by their children, they gave thanks for forty years of
marriage.
"It's been so long,"
Adam said, his voice raspy with age but still deep and reassuring. Slipping his
arm around his wife, he looked down into her face, his dark eyes meeting her
faded green. "Who ever thought we'd make it this far?"
"I did," Eva laughed.
"It might have been longer by now, if you hadn't been so slow about
it." She slapped his cheek playfully, her wedding band flickering in the
light of the room.
"But now, look at us,"
she continued. "Here we are, our children here with us, and a new marriage
coming to extend our family." She looked in turn at each of her children,
speaking to them individually. "Cameron, my first child, take heart. Love
is real, I promise you, and one day soon, it will rear up and take you in, and
it will be strong and solid; you will find it delicious and so very wonderful.
Stop doubting, my girl, and open your heart." She waited while Cameron
rolled her eyes, embarrassed, and then she laughed and turned to the first of
her sons.
"Michael. You must know how
very proud we are of you, too. Running your own business, right from scratch. I
remember when you learned to change a tire, and now look at you, spending every
day under the hood of a car, doing what you love."
Waiting until he nodded
acknowledgement, Eva looked again to Cameron. "Just like a true Kingsley,
willing to start small and crawl up through the ranks to become just who you
were meant to be. Both of you, I'm so proud to share this moment with
you."
She lowered her eyes to Drew,
who’d stretched out on his favorite rug in the house, his ankles crossed, his
head pillowed in Cass’s lap. “Andrew. Look at who you’ve become. You go out
every day to a job we’re all so proud of, making a career for yourself in a way
that means something beyond the borders of our home. And this woman you’ve
brought home to us; I couldn’t imagine a finer choice, son.”
Turning, Eva eyed her youngest
children sternly. "And you two. Harmony and Evan. You two stay away from
the opposite sex, until you've decided what to do with your lives, you hear
me?" Everyone laughed, taking in Evan's horrified look.
"Mom?" he asked,
pretending to be in terrible pain. "I'm a teenager. Telling me something
like that is just downright mean. I need women! I need cheerleaders! They make
football go 'round!"
"And me," Harmony
giggled, rounding her stomach and rubbing small circles around the surface of
her tiny waist. "Here I am, pregnant by the tattoo-covered biker from the
butch bar, and now you tell me to stay away from boys? It's too late to be
careful now!"
Cameron couldn't help laughing.
She couldn't deny that she hoped someday to find true love, a strong bond that
lasted through the challenges of time. She wanted a house full of children and
laughter, a life full of good night kisses and good morning sex. But in the
meantime, she just kept telling herself that she was plenty happy, surrounded
by the love of her family.
So, what did you think of this first peek at the next book in the Kingsley Series? Are you as excited about this upcoming release as I am?? What are you most hoping to see as this series continues?