#MFRWhooks Blog Hop - An Excerpt from NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE - I Can't Help You

Today I'm offering an excerpt from my upcoming release, NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE, book 2 in my Twice in a Lifetime time-travel romance series. Apprentice angel Gabriel Daniels is tasked with giving three mortals a second chance at love in order to earn his wings. In this scene Gabriel learns why his current client, Joanna, needs a second chance at love. After Joanna is in a car accident and becomes paraplegic, she breaks up with her fiance Lucas. Eight years later, Joanna is a lawyer. When Lucas comes to her for help after being fired, she refuses to take his wrongful dismissal case. After this, both of their lives take a downturn. Gabriel must convince Joanna to go back in time and right the wrongs of the past.

Series Blurb:

After Gabriel Daniels’ car accident, he finds himself in a waiting room next door to Heaven. To earn his angel wings and be allowed the privilege of looking out for his loved ones back on Earth, Gabriel is tasked with giving three mortals their second chance at love. What Gabriel doesn’t count on is having to examine his own life during this process. Coming to terms with his mistakes, especially his mistakes in love, is the biggest test of his afterlife.

Blurb, NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE:

Apprentice angel Gabriel Daniels faces his second task in becoming a full-fledged angel. His new client, Joanna Compton, broke up with her fiancé Lucas in 1971 after a car accident left her paraplegic. She refused to be a burden like her father was. Eight years later, Joanna, by then a lawyer, declined to take Lucas’ wrongful dismissal case when he came to her for help. Though Gabriel convinces Joanna to go back to 1979, Joanna insists she’s only doing so to give Lucas the justice she should have helped him attain the first time around. She doesn’t want a second chance at love. If Gabriel can change her mind, he’ll be one step closer to his goal of becoming a citizen of Heaven.

Meanwhile, Gabriel’s mentor, senior angel Thomas, shows him how much his inability to accept his parents’ divorce, and the bipolar disease that runs in his family, has cost him.

Gabriel must help Joanna accept the things she cannot change. And Thomas must help Gabriel do the same or neither will truly be at peace.

Photo by Julian Gentile on Unsplash

Excerpt, NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE:

Joanna closed the file folder. “Lucas, I can’t represent you. Because of our past relationship, it would be a conflict of interest. I’ll refer you to another lawyer here in the office.”

“I don’t want another lawyer. I want you,” Lucas blurted.

They stared at each across the desk, their unspoken emotions hanging in the air between them.

Joanna was the first to look away. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I’ll find someone else to help you.”

“Don’t bother.” Lucas rose to his feet. “Do you still hate me so much that you can’t bring yourself to work with me?”

“I don’t hate you, Lucas. I never have. But I can’t represent you.”

Gabriel saw the raw pain on Lucas’s face as he stared at Joanna. Then he gave her a slight nod. “Goodbye, Jo. I wish you well.”

He left her office, closing the door quietly behind him. Joanna stared at the closed door, her chin trembling. She sucked in a breath, and then another, and wiped tears from her eyes with both hands. Then she opened her drawer and pulled out the yellow legal pad she’d been using before Lucas arrived. Dragging the large legal book back towards her, she reopened it at the bookmark and, with a sigh, resumed making notes once more.

That’s it? Gabriel demanded. She’s not going to help him? She’s not going to chase after him and tell him she changed her mind?

No. This is how she ended it.

What happens to Lucas?

Without steady work he falls into a depression that he can’t shake. He begins to drink too much. Eventually, he ends up on the street, Thomas said.

That’s horrendous! Even if Joanna didn’t want another relationship with him, why wouldn’t she at least help him as his lawyer?

I guess that’s something you’re going to have to find out.

To read more excerpts from talented writers, check out other posts in the Blog Hop!