Sunday Snippet: Oceanfront Villa

Whew. Rough week. The nasty cold bit down hard, and I struggled to get through any and everything. I think I finally kicked the worst of it yesterday. Got a solid eight hours of sleep and only woke up twice coughing. The three days before? Only got two to three hours of sleep at a time before the coughing fits would wake me up and I couldn't get back to sleep. Not fun.

The tire drama is finally at an end. Now it's on to brakes for my car. That's still going to be a November problem.

We got our first cold snap and finally had to turn the furnace on today. I'm usually good until the interior of the house hits the low sixties. Woke to sixty-two degrees and, yeah, kicked the thermostat to heat. Pretty sure we'll be back in the seventies by the middle of the week and I'll turn it off again … hopefully until November.

Work projects were rough this week, mainly because of my cold. The whole fuzzy bunny slippers in my head feeling doesn't match well with trying to read words and edit manuscripts. I did finish up a proofread and started a copy edit. I also reviewed the opening chapters of a manuscript for a potential new client. I have an evaluation I need to work on and should be able to start hitting that one hard this week.

Had a semi-okay viewing week. I didn't make it all the way through my regular slate of shows because of the aforementioned cold, but I got most of the way through.

Started with Marple and I'm warming up to the new actress playing the role. She's not quite as snappy as the previous actress but she embodies Jane just the same.

Watched another episode of Britain's Most Scenic Counties and enjoyed the various stops in Cheshire. If I had to pick between Kent and Cheshire, I'd lean toward Kent, but Cheshire is gaining momentum.

Caught an episode of Return to Paradise and I can honestly say this season is kind of knocking it out of the park. The emotional upheaval of Mac being back in Paradise Cove is so well done. I love her interactions with Philomena are amazing.

Enjoyed another episode of Poirot and continue to love his friendship with Ariadne. I think I have two episodes left of this version of the show. Looking forward to those.

Elementary had another great episode. I'm enjoying the way the show is weaving in outside elements to the case and tying them together.

I also did some binge watching of Death in Paradise per usual. Sometimes it's nice to have a comfort show on in the background.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Oceanfront Villa, a novella that brings a couple back to themselves after life keeps getting in the way.

Here's the miniblurb:

Danielle Finch is a hardworking doctor who rarely takes time off and her relationship with Vince Darkholme, an in-demand attorney, suffers for the lack of face time. When Vince's client offers the use of his oceanfront villa, Danielle readily agrees to take two weeks to rekindle the passion she sorely misses with Vince.

And a snippet preview…

Danielle paced the living room, wine glass in hand. "Why do I have such a restless gnawing in the pit of my stomach?" Because Vince let his hair grow out? "Stupid, really. But I missed it, didn't realize until today." She used to notice every little detail.

Used to be so in tune with him she could finish his sentences.

She took a sip of wine. "When did we last speak to each other in depth?" Or had an engaging conversation about more than who would pick up dinner or do a load of laundry?

She sadly couldn't remember. She missed hearing about his day. Missed talking about books, sports, even mundane stuff like television and movies. She also wanted the intimacy they didn't seem to share anymore.

Her lips twisted. "How long has it been since we've had up-against-the-wall, banging hot sex?" Sure, they still had a satisfying, if routine, life in the bedroom.

But, oh man, she remembered how much more they used to have. One look, one touch and clothes would fly off. Sometimes they couldn't even wait to get undressed. Just bared the necessary parts and chased the gratification until both were spent and sated.

Danielle sat on the edge of the couch. "I miss that. Him." Spur of the moment had turned into two or three times a week perfunctory sex in bed, followed by a shower and lights out so they could be up early to meet their demanding schedules.

Why don't we make time for each other anymore?

In her case, she covered a lot for other doctors, many of whom gave her a helping hand during her residency. She put her head down and worked to build her practice and continued her education to meet the needs of a diverse patient base. A lot of her time also went to researching issues for each individual because medicine shouldn't be one size fit all.

Vince had similar circumstances. He did a lot of heavy lifting at his firm, doing legwork on cases for senior partners. He also had a group of his own clients he worked hard for to build trust and garner recommendations from. He put in a lot of late nights at home, studying case law and contracts.

Danielle drained her glass. "Our work shouldn't be more important than our life together." She planned to be fully present when they had dinner tonight and maybe pick up on anything else she'd missed with her husband.

Pretty happy with this one. It might go in a direction I didn't plan but I'm totally down with that.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin