#MFRWhooks Blog Hop - An Excerpt from NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE - I Don't Love You Anymore
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Hello and Happy Wednesday! Today I have an excerpt from NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE, book 2 in my Twice in a Lifetime time-travel romance. In this scene, apprentice angel Gabriel and his mentor Thomas witness what happened in 1971 after their client Joanna is injured in a car accident and becomes paraplegic. She believes she's doing the right thing for her fiance Lucas, but Gabriel's task is to take her back in time and give her a second chance at love.
NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE released on March 15 and is available on Kindle Unlimited.
Excerpt:
“We can’t do this, Lucas.” Joanna slumped in her chair. “We’ve talked about this. It’s not fair to you. You shouldn’t have to be stuck with a wife in a chair. If we marry, you’ll have to look after me for the rest of your life.”
“I told you before, I want to look after you. I love you.”
“You say that now, but how soon will that love turn to resentment?”
“That’s not going to happen. Besides, I know you. In no time, you’re going to figure out how to use the hand controls on the van and you’ll be able to get around on your own.”
“I’m not talking about the stupid van, Lucas. I’m talking about how you’re going to have to help me go to the bathroom. Right now I can’t even perform the most basic bodily functions for myself, like wiping my own bum. Is that what you want for the rest of your life? You didn’t sign up for that when you asked me to marry you before the accident.”
“You’re frustrated right now because you’ve lost some of your independence. I get it. But eventually you’ll be able to do all kinds of things for yourself. The therapists said you would. Give it some time, Jo.”
“And our sex life, Lucas?” Tears filled Joanna’s eyes, but Gabriel could see she was determined to have this conversation. “How much time will we give that? I can’t feel anything below my waist. I won’t be able to feel you. Do you want a wife who lies under you like a dead fish?”
Lucas recoiled. “Don’t talk like that, Joanna.”
“It’s the truth, Lucas. We have to face it. We both know this isn’t going to work. You deserve someone whole. If we get married, you’re going to regret it.”
“Don’t tell me how I feel. I love you. I love you enough to stick with you through the good and the bad.”
“I’m trying to figure out what my life is going to look like from now on. I don’t need the added pressure of trying to meet your expectations of what a wife is supposed to be.”
“I won’t put pressure on you, Jo. You know I won’t.”
“Maybe you won’t mean to, but it will happen. I don’t want to have to pretend that I’m a happy newlywed, that I’m excited about living together, that I love having sex with you. How can I pretend to be happy when every day is a struggle?”
Lucas got down on one knee beside Joanna’s chair and grasped her hand. “I know it’s not going to be easy, but I can help you with that struggle. I’ll be with you every step of the way. You think I’ll grow to resent you, but I know I won’t because I love you. As long as we’re together, and as long as I know you love me too, I can face anything.”
“That’s the thing,” Joanna whispered. “I don’t feel the same way.”
“What?” Gabriel heard the shock in Lucas’ voice.
“My feelings for you have changed.” Joanna stared at their entwined hands in her lap. “I don’t feel the way I used to.”
Lucas shook his head. “You don’t mean that. You’re just upset right now.”
“You don’t get to tell me how I feel, either. Even if I hadn’t been in the accident, we would have drifted apart eventually. I felt it coming before. The accident only sped things up.”
“I don’t believe you. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me anymore,” Lucas demanded.
Joanna slowly lifted her head and looked directly into his eyes. “I don’t love you anymore.”
Blurb:
Can accepting what can’t be changed give Gabriel’s new client a second chance at love?
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 Kendall in 1971 after a car accident left her paraplegic. She refused to be a burden the way 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. Gabriel is desperate to change her mind so he’ll be one step closer to 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.
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This is so painful. I can't help but empathize with Joanna. Certainly her emotions and reactions are thoroughly believable.
What an intense excerpt. Such great dialogue. And very realistic.
I feel so bad for both of them. That's a heartbreaking scene!
Love this excerpt. You can really feel the angst in the characters.
This is a fantastic excerpt. To do a great job showing the raw hurt and fear that Joanna is dealing with.