Beloved (Toni Morrison Trilogy #1)(93)
To my beautiful children…Thank you for your daily dinner talks asking how much I wrote. You both are the reason I kept going when I wanted to cry some nights. I know it wasn’t easy when mommy was crazy glued to the computer and I love you both so much! To my son who tells everyone his mommy wrote a book even though I pray he’ll never read it. To my daughter who told me she was so proud of me for following my dream and would take the laptop and sit next to me and write her own story. You both are my beloved.
I want to thank my husband for his undying love and support. You love the broken in me and have never given up. Our love has never been easy but it’s ours. We’ve gone through so much and still come out on top. Deployments, moves, kids, more deployments but you’ve always been my constant. Most of all, thank you for being my anchor in the storm. You’re it for me, babe.
To my readers … Wow! The fact that I’m even sitting here writing to you is overwhelming. I had a dream as a little girl to write books, and because of you reading this right now it’s no longer a dream, but a reality. I don’t even know how to thank you because it’s surreal. For some reason you choose to pick this up and read. For that I’m eternally grateful. I know you have kindles filled with books to choose, and a never ending supply of books coming—so thank you.
Please feel free to join my Facebook group to talk about Beloved. Plus keep up with news regarding the sequel.
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Corinne Michaels is an emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun loving mom of two beautiful children. She’s happily married to the man of her dreams and is a former Navy wife. After spending months away from her husband while he was deployed, reading and writing was her escape from the loneliness. Beloved is her first novel and is currently working on the second in the series.
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Continue on to read a preview of Undone by R.E. Hunter available now.
This can’t be happening. That thought ran on a constant loop through her head as she sat in the cold, uninviting classroom, the smell of antiseptic invading her nostrils. A shiver crept up her spine, and she couldn’t tell if it was from the temperature or her nerves. Maybe both. She sat on a hard plastic chair, hands gripped in her lap, her foot tapping furiously against the linoleum. The anticipation was killing her. She studied the three people at the front of the room, their heads bent together as they whispered amongst themselves.
Her heart thumped in her chest, the dull thud echoing in her ears as she sat silently, waiting. Her head swam, and she struggled to keep herself afloat instead of drowning in the anxiety that threatened to pull her under. She strained forward, hoping to catch even a small piece of their hushed conversation, but all she could hear was the shallow murmur of their voices. She wanted to get it over with. Like a Band-Aid, it would hurt either way. Might as well make it quick. She’d had to pick up the pieces of her broken life and move on once before. But she couldn’t do it again, not after all of her hard work. She wouldn’t accept it, she couldn’t.
How did this happen? They’d been careful. Hadn’t they been careful? She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried in vain to think of something, anything else.
The older gentleman on the end cleared his throat, pulling her from her thoughts. “Miss Jacobs?”
She looked up at the members of the university’s disciplinary committee, taking them in one at a time. She straightened her back and lifted her chin, hoping the outward display of confidence would give her some semblance of the same feeling on the inside. That was shot to hell as soon as she opened her mouth. “Y-yes, sir?” she answered, her voice trembling.
“Do you know why you’re here?” the other man asked, his eyes kind.
“No, sir.” She shook her head, but she was pretty sure she had an idea.
“Let me tell you,” the older man interjected, opening the folder in front of him. He explained the purpose of the hearing and the university’s policies regarding disciplinary sanctions.
She sat back, rubbing her palms on her pants and trying to calm down. As she listened to his words, she was hit with a rush of emotion so strong it almost bowled her over. Good. Bad. Happy. Sad. Betrayal. Rage. Shock. Relief. Relief? She fought to keep focused on the seriousness of the situation before her as a litany of memories assaulted her consciousness.
Four months earlier.
“Look to your left… now look to your right. One of you won’t be here at the end of the year.”
Those same words were repeated year after year at law school orientations around the country. Embry Jacobs fought to keep her composure as the dean continued his sad attempt to scare her out of the next three years at Whitman Law School. The old theater seats made her itch, and her long, blond hair stuck to the back of her neck, making her antsy.
She leaned over to whisper to her best friend, “Seriously? I thought they stopped giving this speech years ago. Did the dean take this straight from The Paper Chase?”
Morgan chuckled and elbowed Embry’s ribs. “Shhh, this is very important stuff, Bree.”