Welcome to the 2016 Eggcerpt Exchange on The Maze! This time we decided to switch things up a bit by offering character interviews, and today I am pleased to introduce Shaunna from Circles of Fate by Pamela Thibodeaux.
Nickname: When I began working as a waitress at the Feed Trough Café at age sixteen, the patrons dubbed me “Shaunna Sweetness.” That name stuck although it’s been shortened to just ‘Sweetness.’
Job: As I said, I waitressed for many years until my
husband and I moved to Louisiana
after which a friend and I opened a catering business called “Shaunna’s
Sweets.” That business closed when we moved from the city of Thibodaux into the country but I still baked
for my son’s class parties and a few private events.
Level of schooling, or self-taught: Other than high
school I have no formal education.
Birthplace: I was born and raised in Georgia. My
father was in the Army stationed at Ft.
Benning, and my mom was
very ill. She died the night of my high school graduation.
Currently residing in... Chauvin,
Louisiana, a community about thirty miles
outside of Thibodaux.
Synopsis
Set at the tail end of the Vietnam War era, Circles of Fate takes the reader from Fort Benning, Georgia to Thibodaux, Louisiana. A romantic saga, this gripping novel covers nearly twenty years in the lives of Shaunna Chatman and Todd Jameson. Constantly thrown together and torn apart by fate, the two are repeatedly forced to choose between love and duty, right and wrong, standing on faith or succumbing to the world’s viewpoint on life, love, marriage and fidelity. With intriguing twists and turns, fate brings together a cast of characters whose lives will forever be entwined. Through it all is the hand of God as He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
Excerpt
“Promise me you’re sure or I won’t let you go.”
She would have to convince him or he’d never let her leave. She also knew he’d see through anything less than complete honesty.
“Oh, Todd,” she whispered, her voice urgent. “I wish it were that easy. I’m sure I have to try. But I want you to know something…” She hesitated, unsure how to say what she needed to say. “If things were different, if he weren’t so determined, if nothing was left between us, if I didn’t think there was a chance, I would stay.” Her eyes searched his for some sign he understood.
A ghost of a smile played around his sensuous lips, he nodded. “I know,” he whispered. “And I understand,” he said and gathered her close once more.
She should leave. Shaunna knew Joe waited for her, but was unable, unwilling, to end it, to end them, just yet. She held him firm in her embrace, committed the feel of his body to heart.
“I have to go,” she whispered, then clung, not yet able to turn him loose.
“I know,” he answered and tightened his arms around her. With a sigh of surrender, he stepped away, loosened his hold but rubbed her back and shoulders in a tender gesture.
“Don’t look back,” he whispered then dropped his hands to his side, clenched his fists.
She saw the struggle in his eyes, felt it in her heart, as each fought not to grab hold and cling. They gazed at each other, read the naked truth in each other’s eyes.
Neither wanted to be the first to walk away.
Shaunna touched his face, traced his features…his eyes, his jaw, his mouth. A shiver shook her when he held her hand and pressed his lips to her fingertips.
“I almost wish we had made love the other night.”
Almost?
The word echoed between them like a silent scream. The despair in his eyes slashed her heart another degree. He shook his head, swallowed hard.
“Know this. If we had, you would not leave here today.”
She stroked his cheek, her smile tender, bittersweet. “Take care of yourself. Please,” she whispered then placed her mouth on his.
Lips met on a sigh, breaths mingled on a sob. Each of them committed the kiss to heart, and fought not to cling to the other. With a final touch, a last trembling smile, Shaunna did one of the hardest things she’d ever done in her life.
She left.
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