I’m participating in the A to Z blogger challenge this year. Since April also is the anniversary month for the release of my novel, ’Til Death Do Us Part, I thought I’d use that for the theme of my posts. For each letter I will come up with a word that is pertinent to the story, and post a short excerpt featuring it.

In general these excerpts will bounce around the timeline (after all, the story isn’t told in alphabetical order). No worries, I’ll give a little context leading into each scene so it won’t be necessary to read the others to enjoy the snippet-of-the-day.

K is for Kiss

Yay for kisses! This scene takes place well into the story, after Henry and Sam have been reunited. As hinted at in the first line of this scene, our heroes have had a bit of a misunderstanding, but Henry’s worked through it. This scene is told from Henry’s 1st-person POV:

“Hi, Sam,” said Buddy, striding confidently into the house. “We came back now. Papa knows you love him and told everybody he didn’t die, but didn’t tell them ‘I told you so’ even though you could.”

Sam blinked, and I laughed. “Get used to it,” I said.

Sam grinned. “Happy to. Welcome home.”

We stepped into the house, and I stepped into my husband’s arms. He kissed my forehead, down the side of my face, my cheeks, and finally my lips. I tightened my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. Finally, finally, the heartfelt kiss I’d been dreaming of for so long. We were both smiling like loons when we came up for air.

“What was that?” exclaimed Buddy.

“Oh.” Sam blushed and looked at me with concerned eyes. “Sorry.”

I was happy to see his sheepish grin didn’t appear particularly repentant. Of course I had no intention of participating in make-out sessions in front of the child, but he was for darned sure going to grow up knowing that his adoptive fathers loved each other and that there was nothing wrong with an adult couple expressing their love with the occasional—albeit, admittedly, less passionate than that one—kiss.

I turned to Buddy and ruffled his hair. “It’s just a grownup kiss.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad I’m not a grownup!”

Blurb

Henry and Sam Miller-Greene are living the dream. They love their careers — which afford each of them opportunities to travel to exotic locations — they love their home, Sam’s caring family, and each other. They disagree on the subject of adoption, but are fully committed to each other in marriage … ’Til Death Do Us Part.

The dream is shattered when Henry’s plane crashes, and he’s presumed dead. But four people — Henry, two other men, and a child — survive undetected on a remote, small, and insignificant island. Will Sam and Henry’s love be able to survive as well?

Henry fights to endure in harsh conditions, never knowing when disaster will strike. Sam struggles with his loss, but with help moves on with his life. Will Sam be able to put aside his new love when he reunites with Henry?

Info & Links: ’Til Death Do Us Part