I had never been in a tornado or a hurricane or any other natural disaster. But I had watched enough of the Weather Channel to know that I had a better chance of surviving one of those than the storm called Jenna Swallow that had swept into my life one rainy night three months ago. I didn't blame her, but Danny, my fiancé of four months at the time. He wasn...
Prologue Today I can't believe I'm smitten by her. Me, a thirtyish professor of psychology at a prestigious liberal arts college—smitten—of all things, by a young counter girl just out of high school. "May I help you, Miss?" she asked in an inviting tone. I stood silent and frozen, staring like a cougar. In her early twenties, the young counter girl loo...
I don't think there is EVER a good day to be involved in a car accident. But can you imagine being involved in one on Christmas Eve? Especially if it's your first Christmas Eve as a divorced woman and you've just dropped your two precious little girls - the darlings of your heart and your very reasons for living, off with their father and the twenty year old...
Phoebe was sleeping soundly when my alarm went off on Wednesday morning. I slipped out of bed, showered, and was about to head for the train when she woke. "Morning, you." "Morning. I didn't want to wake you." Phoebe gave an elaborate yawn. "Should get up anyway." She padded over to me in her PJs (blue with yellow hedgehogs, if you were wondering) and sto...
It's been a while, but finally some characters came knocking on my door wanting to get their lives back. Since they are two of my favorites, I decided to oblige them. This is a sequel to "Welcome to My World," and some of it will make more sense if you read that story first—but it should work ok as a stand-alone in a pinch. No tears this time, but like its...
Chapter 2 Breakfast in Bed and Other Interludes Author's note: This story won't make much sense unless you've read the preceding chapter. I urge you to start from the beginning if you haven't already. I was startled awake by a loud clap of thunder. I looked around the room, disoriented, trying to make sense of my surroundings. It was well after sunrise,...
- Yesterday - Rich California countryside raced by the large glass window as the Southern Pacific's Coastline Express headed towards Los Angeles. The young, beautiful twenty-year-old in the window seat tried to lose herself in the ever changing tapestry, but try as she could, the redhead couldn't shut out the droning voice of the woman sitting next to her....
"Are you with anyone?" Ivy always texts me a few days before she comes into town, a courtesy. I've always answered the same way, and even broke off relationships in their infant stage to answer honestly. "No. The key's still under the mat." She's supposed to arrive early, so I leave my door accessible while I'm at work, a pretty ballsy thing to do in my "u...
If you looked up the word gifted in the dictionary, there is a half-chance you would find his picture there, young Aditya. Such a smart little boy. Such a good little boy -- one who learned to walk at five months, speak at eight, and to earn a mastery of the alphabet before the dawn of his second birthday. In fact, since the day of his birth onward, he had b...
She looked at herself in the mirror for a long time, sometimes turning this way, sometimes that. She smoothed her blouse down over her stomach, feeling only flat and hard-won muscle. Her breasts, finally healed from the surgery, defied gravity in a way that they hadn't since she was eighteen. A long time ago. They were still tender, unfamiliar. They made the...