Missing Alaska: A Chandler County Novel

by Cherime MacFarlane, Designs by Dana

Genres: Contemporary Romance; Native American & Aboriginal

Synopsis

On the asphalt looking up at the Alaska license plate, Gentry wonders if that's far enough way to keep her father from following? Can she convince the stranger to take her along?
Russ is running from the mess his mouth made of things in Alaska. Leaving college, he drives down through Canada. His plan is to see the Atlantic Ocean and a few other hot spots. By the time he gets home things might have cooled off.
Gentry is ready to flee her home in Chandler County, Kentucky. On Bald Mountain Road their paths cross and things in Chandler County are about to get hot. Her family's barn burning is the least of the troubles. Gentry is desperate to get out of town and Russ finds it's time to go home. Can they make it out together? The county Sheriff is the only thing between her father and the two young people.

Release date: October 26, 2017

Publisher: Paper Gold Publishing

Print pages: 186

Content advisory: clean romance

Sample

 

Headlights flashed off the tops of the trees as the car came up the hill behind her. The engine revved when the vehicle entered the straight stretch. Gentry looked around for somewhere to hide and didn’t see one. There wasn’t a place. She must get off the road, to the shoulder, and into the trees before the lights pinpointed her. If either her father or older brother were driving the vehicle, the beating of her life would happen soon.

As she threw the strap she had tied around an old pillowcase over her shoulder, the young woman launched herself toward safety. Lord, if you do exist, help me, please. A tree she hadn’t seen seemed to lunge at her from the shadows on the edge of the road.

Then everything lit up as the vehicle's bright headlights found her. A branch of the tree she attempted to dodge around caught her across the chest, bent back and propelled Gentry into the road behind her.

A squeal of brakes and the scent of rubber filled the air. The young woman looked up at the grill of the vehicle looming a few feet away.

The door of the truck opened, and a man’s angry voice called out, “What the hell are you doing? You might have been killed!”

Gentry struggled up on one skinned elbow and stared at the license plate a short distance from her face. Yellow and blue, a small flag in the center divided a series of three letters and three numbers. The plate proudly proclaimed “Alaska” at the top.

“What the hell are you doing in Kentucky? Are you really from Alaska?”

The man’s dark hand and an equally brown arm reached out to the young woman. “Come on. We need to get out of the middle of the road before someone comes along and rear-ends my truck.”

When he pulled Gentry to her feet, she leaned against the fender. The man stood close enough for her to get a good whiff of his breath. “You’ve been drinking.”

“I only had a couple of beers with dinner. I’m not drunk.”

“You almost ran me over. In Kentucky, its impaired driving. You could find yourself sitting in jail.”

Everything about him seemed dark, but Gentry didn’t think he was black. The man was different for sure. The fright she got wore off. Her mind went into high gear, and Gentry saw a way to get away from her family.

“I don’t feel real good.” She put a little quaver in her words.

“Hell! I suppose you want to call an ambulance.”

“No. With what? I don’t have a cell phone. But we do need to get off the road. If you could take me somewhere, it would help.”

“What do you want me to do?”

The harsh tone left. Gentry detected a hint of concern in his question. “How about you help me into the truck? I dropped my bag. Could you pick it up, please?”

“Okay. You need help getting inside?”

“If you would, I’d appreciate it.”

The man turned to grab the pillowcase off the road. With the case in one hand he took her left elbow with the other. Gentry kept one hand on the hood and the fender as they worked around the nose of the truck. She exaggerate her injury, put it on a little.

All she wanted was for him to get her away from Bald Knob Road. A doctor bill from the emergency room wouldn’t help at all. Gentry hadn’t dared steal more than a couple of thousand from the stash her father and brother kept in the old coffee can in the chicken coop.