In this scene from LIES AND SOLACE, book 1 in the Love at Solace Lake small town romance series, Harper has discovered the secret Ethan has been afraid to share with her. Books 1-3 of the Love at Solace Lake series are on #sale at the #Smashwords store. But hurry! The #booksale ends today!
She can’t live with one more lie. He can’t tell the truth.
Blurb:
Harper Lindquist is convinced she’s found the answer to her financial prayers. Unless she pours cash into crumbling Solace Lake Lodge, she’ll lose her family’s legacy. Her would-be savior arrives in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard and she’s determined to prove to her reluctant, and trapped, financier the lodge is a sound investment. But Harper isn’t completely honest with him. And she has no idea the lake is hiding secrets of its own.
Ethan James is a liar, but his money is very real. He isn’t convinced a broken-down inn is a smart investment opportunity. But the more he understands Harper’s dreams and desires, the more he wants to be the man to make them come true. The trauma in both their pasts means neither can fully trust the other. They must find the courage to love, to trust, and to accept, or yesterday’s sorrows will keep them apart.
Excerpt:
“I should have told you, I know. But the longer I hesitated, the harder it was to tell the truth. I never had a conscious plan to deceive you.”
“I can understand that you’ve had bad experiences in the past, and I can even understand why you made up your Ethan James persona when you first came here. But to carry the lie so far, to the point where we slept together and you still didn’t tell me, I can’t forgive that. If you’d confided in me, I would have kept your secret. I wouldn’t have told anyone about the money, not even my sisters. But you didn’t trust me.”
She brushed past him and climbed the stairs. Ethan followed her. “Harper, wait. Let’s talk some more.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I needed honesty from you, but you couldn’t give that to me.” She fumbled with her keys before finding the right one and inserting it in the lock. “If you were dishonest in our personal relationship, how can I trust you in our business relationship? When the renovations are finished, I’m going to recommend to my sisters that we sell. You can buy it, or someone else can. I don’t care.”
He grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him. “You don’t mean that! I know what this place means to you. Your great-grandfather built it. Your family has lived here for three generations. You can’t walk away.”
“I finally realized this place is simply a pile of logs, nothing more.”
Shocked by her words, he let her go and staggered back a step. “You would sell this place just so you don’t have to see me or deal with me anymore?”
He saw uncertainty flicker in her eyes, but she didn’t waver. “Yes. I have to.”
She opened the door of the cottage and stepped inside, closing it firmly behind her. For a few minutes, Ethan stood immobile, too shocked to move. She really hated him that much.
No amount of explanation was ever going to make Harper feel the way she once did. It was over.
Buy Links:
Smashwords Direct Buy Links:
LIES AND SOLACE: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1537583
SECRETS AND SOLACE: https://www.smashwords.com/books/1537785
TRUTH AND SOLACE: https://www.smashwords.com/books/1537885
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(Last comment was from Lisabet...)
Oh! What a painful excerpt! But believable, too. I don't really blame her.
oh wow! that has a real ring of darkness to it. Makes me want to know more. :)