Whispers from the Mirror
ISBN 9780615383514
Mz Minerva Publishing
Copyright © 2010
Mother Belle’s casket glistened, poised over the pit, a blur. Brianna rubbed tears from her eyes, blinking the awful sight into focus. She whimpered in a low tone. The edges of the funeral canvas cried ceaselessly at its edges, assuming the chore that pat wet as her sorrow. Before her, the life that had brought her into the world: Belle Deville.
Her Mother whispered, “Be strong.”
Others had come to offer sympathy; friends, lawyers from her firm and ever-faithful Lanie Ross, who stood to the side under an umbrella that refused sight of her aged face.
Daughter, astounded by the finality, watched her Mother finish lowering into the mouth of earth. She knew she ’d remember this for the balance of her life, but today she threw a white rose on top of the coffin no longer able to bear the gloss; wanting both gone.
Lanie Ross, Brianna’s godmother, steered her away from the gravesite and toward the limousine. Most everyone else had already left without Brianna having sensed the time.
Lanie hugged her. “I love you, Brianna”; and she did, Brianna knew, perhaps as if she’d given her birth. Lanie worked in Belle’s office, but today it was hard to take her presence for granted.
As they neared the car, an older man took both of Brianna’s hands, offered condolence with his eyes and kissed her forehead. She didn’t know him. He locked in her vision until she felt him anyway.
“Thank you,” she managed. When he let go, she slid into the waiting car.
The field of stones cleared one car at a time until only a truck remained. Two workmen took-up shovels near Mother’s grave. They uncovered the tarp hiding the soil and went to work before the dirt turned to mud.
Another of the faithful remained watching: Mirror-Lady. The men, as everyone before them, worked oblivious to the Lady’s presence.
The Seduction of Mr. Bradley
Bill got into his car and sat in silence for a couple of minutes, still feeling the heat from Jina’s body. He pondered the sweet pleasure for a while and analyzed it aloud. “There’s just no explaining a woman. This one knows what she wants and how to go after it. Our friendship has moved to another level. Sex, with a capital S has become part of our business relationship. Aw, shiiit!” he said pounding the steering wheel. He yelled into space, “Damn-damn-damn! What’s happening to you, man? Jina Cook has no idea who Bill Bradley is, wouldn’t understand even if you told her about his ‘other side.’ Hear me, man, danger, danger!”
Comes A Rainsquall
After a week of fretting, Bill finally got up the nerve to ask for help from the only person he knew would not turn him away, Samara Kincaid.He hesitated then rang Sam’s doorbell. At the sound of her buzzer, he entered the hallway and slowly mounted the stairs to her condo door.“Bill! Come on in, brother...want a drink?” Sam asked, eyeing him with compassion. She knew why he had come.“Naw,” Bill said standing in her living room, again, a brief silence. Hands in his pockets, he slid a glance at Sam and said, “I need your help.” He moved to the sofa, unbuttoned his suit coat, sat with legs spread apart and elbows on his knees. He had difficulty deciding what to do with his hands, so he clasped them tightly in front of his mouth. For half a second he just gazed at her in a silent plea. She gazed back and waited. The ball was in his court.“I told Jina that I’m bisexual,” Bill said in a near whisper.
"The Seduction of Mr. Bradley" is on Kindle
MENAGE A 20: TALES WITH A HOOK
RECONSTRUCTING EMILY
Emily Kincaid, a feisty, energetic senior, wants to go back to work. She has been out of the work force for five years. Nothing in her work history equals the world she steps into—TV Station Six. The place is life in perpetual motion. She reasons that the work will come easy with a little practice. She is somewhat right; however, she has no way of knowing the embarrassing situations that will accompany the tiny paycheck. Emily is also confronted with an unexpected happening that she can barely believe.
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TO BE PUBLISHED
Blue Lady Rising is pending publication in 2012
