With her arms full of the white silk train of Emilyâs dress and the soft tulle of her veil, Hannah walked very slowly, her arm touching Ryanâs as he held the silk ribbons joining the wreaths on the heads of the bridal couple. They got a little tangled at the last corner, and there was a momentary pause.
And Ryan looked at her.
There was no mistaking the sensation of free fall. The feeling that all the cells in her body were charged with some kind of static electricity, desperately seeking a focus for their energy.
That focus was to be found in the depths of the dark eyes that were so close to her own. This was a connection that transcended anything remotely physical. The caress of that eye contact lasted only a heartbeat, but Hannah knew it would haunt her for life.
It was a moment of truth.
A truth she hadnât expected.
One she most certainly did not want.
She was in love with Ryan Fisher.
How lucky am I?
To have colleagues who are also my friends, whose skills I have the utmost respect for, and who share a love of the genre and a dedication to making each story the best yet.
To work together and have the challenge of a scope broad enough to link several books, along with the sheer fun of intertwining the stories of each otherâs characters, is an enriching experience.
So here we are, back in Crocodile Creek, and weâre throwing a cyclone at our own bit of northern Australia. Scary stuff!
Iâm more likely to experience a bad earthquake or maybe a tsunami where I am in New Zealand, but itâs a good idea to be prepared for whatever dramatic turns nature can take, and we can get some bad storms at times.
Hereâs what you can do if a strong wind warning is issued:
Bring your pets inside and move stock to shelter
Secure outdoor furniture
Tape across large windows to prevent shattering
Stay inside during storm
Partially open a window on the sheltered side of the house
Stay away from doors and windows
If you have to go outside, watch out for dangling and broken power lines
Is a cyclone enough of a link for our stories? We didnât think so. Thereâs also a little boy called Felixxâ¦.
Happy reading!
Love,
Alison
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âSHH, now, Felixx!â
âHush, OK?â
âSilence. We have to have silence for Alanya to get well.â
For days this was all heâd heard, it seemed to Felixx. He crept around on the edge of Alanyaâs illness, too scared to ask how bad she was, shut away from seeing her except for one or two short visits to the wellness shelter each day, during which he knew he had to be silent or she wouldnât get better fast enough.
Sometimes he asked people, âHowâs Mummy?â He liked to call her Mummy because thatâs who she was. She always wanted him to call her Alanya, because that was her spirit name, but as she couldnât hear him right now, he said âMummyâ and it helped a little bit.
The silence helped, too. He had to stay as quiet as anything, or she might not get well. He knew that, but it was so hard. The fish on his sneaker helped. Mummy had drawn it with his felt pens. Mostly the bright orange one. Sheâd done it the day heâd showed her the hole.
âWe canât afford a new shoe just yet,â sheâd said. âSo letâs make it special. The hole can be his eye, see?â
He could poke his finger in the hole. In and out. It was tight at first but now it was easy. His finger went in and out.
In and out.
It helped him to stay quiet. To stop the questions he so badly wanted to ask, like, âMummyâ¦Alanyaâ¦are you feeling better? Do you need more medicine?â
She didnât seem to be eating very much. They gave her carrot juice to drink, to drain the toxins from her system. How long did toxins take to drain?
Where did they come out?
He was too scared to ask any of these questions, but he listened more than the healing sisters thought. He heard words like âworriedâ and âtaking too longâ and after this he stayed even quieter, stopped even asking, âHowâs Mummy?â in case his talking, even outside the healing shelter, was the thing stopping her from getting well.
Late one nightâ¦he couldnât remember, maybe the sixth or seventh night of her illnessâ¦he couldnât sleep, and crept over to the healing shelter because there was light coming from its windows. It was cold and his feet were bare and he didnât dare go inside, but he listened underneath the window and heard more words. âGetting worseâ and âI donât knowâ and âambulanceâ.