Chronicles

Babysitting Bradfords Part III

“We can talk about this,” Jason mumbled against the duct tape, trying not to panic as he threw a hopeful glance at the in-law apartment’s closed door as Devin and Charlie’s voices came closer.
 
He glanced back to find the twins sitting in front of him, looking bored as they watched him. When he heard Charlie and Devin head upstairs, he threw another panicked look at the door only to look back at the twins in time to see their lips pull up into pleased smiles and…
 
Read More

Babysitting Bradfords Part II

He was going to fucking kill Devin, Jason thought as he sat there, staring at the twins that played him so fucking well. He never should have looked beneath that bed, but he’d looked everywhere else for them and…

God, he should have fucking known better.

“We need more chocolate,” Abbi said with a firm nod as she reached over and grabbed a handful of M&Ms and tossed them into the large mixing bowl overflowing with ice cream and a shitload of toppings.

Using a mixing spoon, Dustin scooped up some ice cream, took a bite and shook his head. “More hot… Read More

Babysitting Bradfords

“What’s this?” Jason asked, looking down at the paper that he’d been handed as soon as he walked in the door.

“The babysitting list,” his cousin Devin said absently as he checked something on his phone.

Jason frowned down at the list in his hands, noting the emergency contacts, bedtime routine, and-

“What’s this?” he asked, glancing up at his cousin.

“Necessary,” Devin said, not bothering to look up from his… Read More

That New Car Smell: Part I

“But I don’t need a new car,” Zoe said with a sad shake of her head while Trevor stood there, watching as the tow truck that he’d been forced to call slowly pulled her car up and-

“We can fix that, right?” Zoe asked, sounding hopeful as he stood there, watching the trail of sparks left behind as the engine was slowly dragged across the pavement.

Instead of arguing with his wife because he knew that it was pointless, Trevor reached over and grabbed a child, not really caring who it was, threw the kid over his shoulder and headed towards… Read More

Great Idea Part III

“Go tell your mom that we need to work on the back roof and to keep the kids away from it so that they don’t get hurt,” his father said, not bothering to glance at him as sorted through his tools while Cole stood there, wondering how this day could get any worse.

“Mom wants us to organize the garage,” Cole pointed out, not because he was looking forward to spending the day cleaning the garage, but because he would rather do that than spend the day on the roof, tearing up shingles in this heat with his father glaring… Read More

Great Idea Part II

“What do you think?” Haley asked only to be met with matching glares.

“I thought you loved me,” Cole finally said with a sad shake of his head and a shuddering sigh.

“I do, which is why I think this is a great idea,” she said, nodding as she gestured towards the vision board that she’d made this morning.

“How exactly is spending time with him,” Cole said, emphasizing “him” when he gestured towards Jason, who hadn’t said a single word since she’d finished explaining everything, “a great… Read More

Good Ideas Part I

“Where’s your mother?” Jason asked, rubbing his hands roughly down his face as he sat there, trying to make sense out of this online platform for his classes only to go still when he heard the magical words that guaranteed that his day was about to get better.

“She’s taking a nap,” Elizabeth said, shrugging it off as Jason bit back a smile.

“In our room?” he asked even as he pushed away from the kitchen table and started heading that way.

“She went to lay down a few minutes ago,” his sweet little baby girl said absently as she worked on… Read More

Excerpt from Dark Light, the first Fire & Brimstone Novel

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Ash said softly as he took a step closer to her, refusing to let her go this time.

As Tomi continued to turn her head, searching for something, he ran his eyes over her and couldn’t help but frown. She was thinner than the last time he saw her, too thin, and her clothes were old, torn, and threadbare. She looked nothing like the spoiled girl he knew six years ago.

“What the hell happened to you?” he snapped before he could stop himself.

“You know what happened,… Read More

Stubborn: Part I

“It will be fine,” Jodi said, but something, mostly the fact that his father was shaking his head and mouthing, “It’s not fine,” told him that this wasn’t fine.

That, and the fact that his wife was in the fetal position, hugging the hand that she’d landed on wrong after an unfortunate incident that involved their sons’ collection of dinosaurs, Legos, and a remote control car that their baby girl had been trying to figure out how to drive when she was carrying laundry into the boy’s room.

“I-I just need some ice,” Jodi said softly as Danny glanced at his… Read More