Sunday, December 8, 2013

UNLIKELY ANGELS MIGHT BE FOUND AT THE GROCERY STORE... (+ $10 GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY)



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  from Genie Gabriel 
At the end of this party,
I'll be drawing the name of one commenter to receive 
a $10 gift card from Amazon.com.

UNLIKELY ANGELS MIGHT BE FOUND AT THE GROCERY STORE... 

***EXCERPT from UNLIKELY ANGEL***

Standing at the sink, Mitch clenched the sponge in his fist. 

We can save her. Charlene’s words echoed in Mitch’s head. 

“No, dammit,” he whispered. Abused women were Charlene’s cause, not his. Mitch did not want Julia in this house. 

And what of the children? If Mitch walked away, who would keep the twins safe? If Shannon and Geoff weren’t on their honeymoon, his dilemma would be solved. As soon as Julia’s best friend found out what happened, she would fly into Portland in a high fury. Shannon would torment the husband so unceasingly that he would probably leave town just to escape her harangue. 

A few days. 

Mitch could hold on a few days and perhaps show those children not every man was a violent monster. 

Fifteen minutes later, Mitch pulled the Ferrari into the parking lot of a nearby supermarket. Inside, he quickly filled a cart, topped off with treats aimed to please a child: candy, sugary cereal, ice cream, pizza. 

At the checkout stand, Mitch dropped his change into the donation can. Then he wheeled the cart slowly past a glassed-in box half filled with stuffed animals. A large claw hung over the toys, waiting to be dropped into their midst to select a child’s favorite plaything. It looked too easy. 

“Hey, mister, ya gonna play?” A freckle-faced boy with spiky red hair stared at Mitch. 

“Sorry.” Mitch stepped aside. “Go ahead.” 

The boy frowned. “No money.” 

“Ah.” Mitch dug in his pockets and pulled out several quarters. “How does this thing work?” 

Eyes sparkling, the boy grabbed the controls for the claw. “You lower the claw and try to grab something, then lift it up and drop it down the chute.” 

After the boy made several near misses, Mitch said, “Let me try.” 

The boy drifted off with friends, but Mitch was determined to succeed. He spent several dollars before he snagged a fuzzy blue bear. 

Once the stuffed animal was in his hands, Mitch stared at it. Sugary cereal and a toy weren’t going to keep Julia’s children safe. 

A few more days and that won’t be my problem. 

Mitch shoved the fuzzy blue bear into the grocery bag and left the store. 

***

You can buy UNLIKELY ANGEL from Amazon.com, where the ebook version (under the title, THE BODYGUARD) is also on sale for just 99 cents! For more excerpts, information about this book and others I've written, as well as buy links, please visit my web site at <www.GenieGabriel.com>.

2 comments:

ELF said...

Looks like a poignant story. Thanks for the excerpt!

elewkf1 at yahoo dot com

Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel said...

Definitely lots of emotions in this story! Thanks for stopping by!

-Genie Gabriel