{"id":3420,"date":"2009-10-05T14:24:48","date_gmt":"2009-10-05T18:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shilohwalker.wordpress.com\/?page_id=3420"},"modified":"2011-04-27T21:18:53","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T01:18:53","slug":"twitteronlycontest","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/about\/free-shiloh-walker-books\/contest\/twitteronlycontest\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter only contest!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Impromptu Contest… now over…<\/p>\n

winner is\u00a0@Tanya1224<\/p>\n

Now available…<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>You can always come home. <\/em><\/p>\n

Second chances come a little harder.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chase and Zoe were the high school golden couple. Football captain, cheerleader, prom royalty.<\/p>\n

After graduation, though, Chase couldn\u2019t resist the urge to experience life outside their small town. He didn\u2019t exactly expect Zoe to wait twelve years for him, but now that he\u2019s back, he finds some small part of him hoping she did.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no big surprise she\u2019s married. The kick in the face is she married his best friend.<\/p>\n

Zoe was devastated when Chase left, but she\u2019s filed those bittersweet memories under \u201cMoved On\u201d. She loves her life, and loves her husband. She has all she needs. And Chase keeps an honorable distance.<\/p>\n

One cold, wet, miserable day, tragedy turns Zoe\u2019s world upside down. Chase never expected her to simply fall into his arms, but a man can dream. Except his dream doesn\u2019t include the fact that this time, she\u2019s the one hitting the road\u2026and he\u2019s the one left behind.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI see you\u2019re not wasting any time clearing out of here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo reason to,\u201d she said, shrugging. \u201cI can\u2019t stay here. It\u2019s too full of memories.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere might be a time when you want those memories back.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She grimaced. \u201cNo. I\u2019ll still have the memories. Moving won\u2019t take them away.\u201d She brushed her hair back from her face and said, \u201cThis is a place for a family, Chase. Roger and I\u2026well, we\u2019d thought about it, maybe were going to try later. It was always later. Now we won\u2019t have a chance for later. And I don\u2019t want to walk around inside these four walls and think about the \u2018later\u2019 we lost.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Put that way, hell, he couldn\u2019t blame her.<\/em><\/p>\n

Settling down on the ground in front of her, he peered inside one of the cardboard boxes. \u201cIs there anything I can do to help?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d She shrugged and looked around, staring at the various boxes. \u201cThere is just so much stuff. Roger kept everything. The clothes and stuff, I\u2019ll just give to Goodwill, but the other stuff? His books? His golf clubs?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

She slanted a look at him. \u201cYou play golf?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOnly under extreme duress.\u201d He studied the golf clubs and said, \u201cYou can ask my dad. He plays. He might like them. Sentimental stuff, if nothing else.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking back at her, he had to fight to keep from reaching for her. Had to fight to keep from pulling her into his arms. Just to hold her. Just to cuddle her. She looked so tired\u2026so worn and exhausted.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the back of his mind, he thought about what Roger had told him. What Roger had said. Wondered what Zoe would say.<\/em><\/p>\n

She needed time\u2026time to heal, time to mourn.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chase just needed her, the same way he needed her the past few months\u2014hell, the past fifteen years, but he\u2019d been too damn stupid to see it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jamming his hands in his pockets, he paced the floor, staring at the boxes, the odds and ends of the past fifteen years of her life.<\/em><\/p>\n

Abruptly, he turned and stared at her.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you marry him, Zoe?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Her hands stilled.<\/em><\/p>\n

Then she went back to the task at hand, sorting through a box as though it was the sole focus of her life. \u201cIs that really any of your business, Chase?\u201d she asked softly.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou married him two months after I left,\u201d he said, his voice bitter. Angry. Far more bitter, far more angry than he had a right to be, he knew. But two months\u2014two fucking months.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would you have done if I\u2019d come back?\u201d he asked, feeling hollow inside as he stared at her bowed head.<\/em><\/p>\n

Zoe laughed sadly. \u201cWhat ifs. You know how empty those are? What ifs.\u201d She sighed and shoved the box aside. \u201cWhat if you\u2019d never left\u2026or what if you\u2019d taken me with you?\u201d She sighed and drew her knees up. She stared at him and he waited for her to answer, waited so long he didn\u2019t think she was going to. But finally, she did. \u201cNow there is a question,\u201d she murmured, she looped her arms around her knees and rested her chin on her upraised legs. With dark, wide eyes, she studied him. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a good one. If you\u2019re so torn up about me marrying him, Chase, then you answer my question, and I\u2019ll think about answering yours. Why didn\u2019t you take me with you?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

order<\/p>\n

Kindle<\/a> | Nook<\/a> | Samhain<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Win a $10 GC to Samhain Publishing…<\/em><\/del><\/p>\n

Just tweet the following!<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/del>@Shilohwalker is giving away a $10 GC to @SamhainPub. \u00a0Check out http:\/\/bit.ly\/8ZPTUH #foreverkind<\/del>
\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

over! \u00a0winner posted!<\/p>\n

I’m @shilohwalker aka http:\/\/twitter.com\/shilohwalker<\/a><\/p>\n

Standard Rules for my contests, whether via twitter or my blog…<\/p>\n