#MFRWhooks Blog Hop - An Excerpt from WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN - Sad Memories

Happy Blog Hop Wednesday! I have an excerpt from WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN today, book 3 in the Twice in a Lifetime time-travel romance series. Apprentice angel Gabriel is looking back on his life and he remembers when his brother Josh's had his first manic episode. It happened when Josh visited his younger half-sister Bridget and his father's second wife Lucy. Josh struggled with bi-polar disorder like their mother Ellen. Discovering that Josh was also afflicted broke Gabriel's heart, and it overwhelmed him as well:

Excerpt:

Then he realized the phone hanging on the kitchen wall was ringing incessantly. His younger self suddenly lifted his head and, after getting to his feet and stumbling to the phone, he picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Gabriel? Thank goodness I’ve reached you. I need help.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Lucy. I’m sorry, but it’s urgent. Josh…he’s not well.”

Gabriel went cold inside. “What do you mean?” 

“He seemed fine when he came to stay with us on Friday evening. Then on Saturday, he started acting erratically, talking to himself, pacing, yelling at invisible people. It got worse over the course of the day. I stayed up all night watching over him because I was afraid he might leave the house and get hurt. He needs help, Gabriel. I think he’s having a manic episode.”

Gabriel hung his head. This was one of his worst fears, that either he or his brother would inherit their mother’s illness. It was almost worse that Josh was the one who’d succumbed.

“I’ll get there as soon as I can. You’re in Rosedale, right? It’ll take me a while to get there on the subway.”

“I’ll send a taxi for you,” Lucy said. “It’ll bring you straight here. Have your mother come too, if you can.”

“Okay.” Gabriel had no idea if his mother was even home. “I’ll wait in front of my building for the taxi.”

“Good.” Lucy sounded relieved. “I’ll phone for your ride right now. Bye, Gabriel.”

“Bye.”

Dial tone sounded in his ear. With a sigh, he hung up the phone. Then he tried to orient himself. It was still dark outside and when he checked the clock on the stove, he saw it was five minutes to six in the morning. He realized he was wearing nothing but pajama bottoms, so he hurried to the bedroom he shared with Josh and quickly changed into jeans and a t-shirt. He pulled up the blinds on his window and looked outside. Snowbanks lined the street below.

The original events came rushing back to the older Gabriel. It was January, on one of the coldest nights of the winter. Josh was almost eighteen and in his last year of high school. He visited their half-sister Bridget and her mother Lucy often and on this weekend, had gone for a sleepover.

Gabriel was twenty-two and set to graduate from university with his degree in the spring. He worked at a restaurant on weekends and didn’t get home until two in the morning. If Lucy had called earlier, he missed it.

Ellen had had a relapse. She started spending more and more time away from the apartment, and Gabriel didn’t know where she was. He worried constantly about her safety. He checked her bedroom now, but she wasn’t there.

And now Josh was sick. Gabriel tamped down his panic, threw a sweater over his t-shirt and grabbed his winter jacket on his way out the door.

Blurb:

Apprentice angel Gabriel Daniels faces his most difficult challenge. He must convince his third and final client, Sam Jensen, to go back ten years in time for his second chance at love. If Gabriel completes this mission successfully, he will gain entry to Heaven and earn the privilege of watching over the people he loves back on Earth.

Except it’s not clear who Sam was truly in love with ten years ago. Going back may hurt people Sam cares about and end relationships. And it may have surprising results for Gabriel as well.

While Gabriel shows Sam how his resentment toward his adoptive family was misplaced, senior angel Thomas illustrates to Gabriel that his resentment toward his absent father colored every aspect of his life. Including missing out on a relationship with his half-sister.

Gabriel must determine who the love of Sam’s life truly is and help him get a second chance with her. Even if it means sacrificing his own chance for a happy afterlife.  

Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/When-I-Was-Your-Man

I’m participating in MFRW Book Hooks—browse the current hop here:

https://airtable.com/appvKrW9skkDjJe1n/shrqsbVq9LOioYMUD