A Broken Lady: Waiting to be Mended

89,270 words, 304 pages (print edition), fiction, family life, romance



A bane to her mother, Jerri is encouraged to marry young. She attempts to be the perfect wife to a man who married for his convenience only. An excerpt from within Chapter 1:



That night, as she lay in bed all alone, what had already happened came in her dream. It seemed as real as when she'd allowed it. Part of her wanted to forget - pretend it was only a dream and not real. The other part of her held onto the memory for dear life.

Recalling it was like a drink of water when she was dying of thirst, or eating food when she was starving. It kept her alive, kept her continuing on, but remembering wasn't enough. The body needed a renewed supply of nourishment if it was to keep on functioning.

It wasn't Thomas Strong who was whispering in her ear as he met her needs - and for that she was as guilty as sin - a fallen woman - a daughter her mother would no longer claim as her own flesh. But her mother would never know - no one could know what she was doing. This was between her and him . . . her and him.

"Ah, Jerri," The way he said her name was a caress that hinted of all the things she had spent more than ten years seeking and doing without. She knew he couldn't meet all her needs, didn't expect him too. He wasn't her husband, just a man she shared a few stolen hours with, or so she assured herself.

How true what Uncle John used to say, "Love is like a fire and there's nothing as cold as ashes once the fire's gone out." She wondered if her husband ever had a burning fire for her or had it always been cold ashes? Had Thomas loved her at all, or had he realized he needed a wife and she was an easy pick? She had been too young to know much about life or people when she met Thomas. He had been the only boy she had ever dated, if he could be called a boy. He was a lot older than her. Still was the only man who had ever kissed her - until a few weeks before when she'd finally grown weak and given in to another one of her many needs.

Odd how things in life could change when you never expected it.