Gray Matters

by Cherime MacFarlane, C. MacFarlane

Genres: Later in Life Romance; Second Chance Romance

Synopsis

The man she served shots of tequila promised to take her to Anchorage. When he wakes in the morning will the offer still stand?
A novella about motorcycle riding in Alaska. A second chance romance.
She went searching for adventure after raising three kids to adulthood. The trip to Alaska is a dream fulfilled. In a lodge several hundred miles from the big city, the motorcycle rider and the waitress begin a conversation. He has an empty passenger seat; she's ready to ride.
For the first time in fifteen years, he won't have a child to look after. After a long motorcycle ride and several straight shots of tequila, he's feeling no pain. But what will he do without his daughter over the winter?
Do these two lonely people have a future beyond this chance encounter?

Release date: January 16, 2014

Publisher: Paper Gold Publishing

Print pages: 109

Content advisory: steamy romance

Sample

 

In the morning, she rose first and went to make coffee. It was time to contact the kids. She delayed because she didn’t want to tell them she was staying with Mark. Her girl wouldn’t bitch at her, but the boys would.

Since they both got married, they were even harder to deal with. The boys were far too worried over what other people would think about them. Her behavior needed curbing, so it didn’t embarrass them.

With a sigh, she went to Mark’s office to compose an email. If she emailed them instead of calling or sending a text message, it might buy her some time. When she checked email on Mark’s computer, Scooch found several from both boys demanding to know where she was and why she didn’t answer their text messages.

She drummed her fingers on the desktop as she thought about what she could tell them.

“Hey, babe. That’s a big worry frown you’ve got on. What gives?” Mark’s arms came around her shoulders as he kissed the top of her head.

“I turned the phone off. It seems the boys aren’t happy with me and want to know who, what, where and why.”

“Hummm.” He rubbed his morning stubble across the top of her head. “I can understand them being concerned. Can’t you send them a text and tell them you made a friend, and the two of you are touring the state?”

They were so straight-laced and uptight she doubted the boys would let it go without a long song and dance she didn’t want to bother with. How to explain to Mark that she had somehow raised judgmental brats seemed like a difficult task.

But she needed to say something. “I’ll send them an email. They should be at work. The phone was acting up, and I might need to get a new one later. For now, this should work.” Scooch typed an email to her oldest son, Nathan and cc’ed the youngest boy, Ted.

Mark stroked her shoulders before kissing the top of her head again. “While you get that done, I’ll get breakfast. I smell the coffee; you want me to bring you a cup?”

“No. I’ll be along in a minute. It won’t take long.” She composed a chatty email to Edie telling her she’d met someone, and they were exploring the state on his Harley. Her daughter would get a kick out of that, and she didn’t need to worry about Edie saying anything to the boys.