Earth Day Blog Hop

I'm tickled to be a part of the Rebel Ink Blog Hop celebrating Earth Day this week! I'm joined by some fantastic authors and many of us are giving away ebook copies of our scorching tales AND if that's not enough for ya, there is one grand prize of a Kindle Paperwhite that you can win by your email addy in the little box below after the excerpt. The best part is you can enter more than once! By 'hopping' along with all the authors at: http://www.rebelinkpress.com/RebelReasoning you can enter at each of their blogs and  get a chance to win the author's individuals prizes too!

Here on my blog, I thought, since Resistance Book Two-The Affair just released I'd offer all your lovely folks a chance to win an ebook copy! Just answer the following question after reading the excerpt here to be entered to win: "Who does Catie think the 'ghost' in the house is?"

Elsa Mostek Friedman has built a good life for herself and her daughter, Catherine. A life of privilege and wealth. It's a life that’s a far cry from her humble beginnings in a Polish village. It’s a life built on lies, because while she adores her husband, David, it’s another man who haunts her dreams. It’s another man her body yearns for: Catherine's father, the German Resistance spy Friedrich Weiss, who infiltrated the Nazi regime. Their love was forged in the horrors of Auschwitz and when Friedrich helped Elsa escape, it was to build the very life she has now.

Now Friedrich has returned and Elsa is torn between her love for her husband and all the security he provides, and the love she has for Friedrich, who is still a hunted man. Elsa and Friedrich have no future, but passion explodes between them, hotter than ever. And for all their noble intentions, for all their fears of discovery, neither can stay away from the other.

Elsa walks a knife-edge line between both men as she also tries to protect the secrets she’s kept for over six years.

But there are others who know Elsa's secrets and they too have returned to make sure the carefully constructed world she’s built explodes in a rain of violence and vengeance that will only be appeased when everything Elsa holds dear is destroyed.


Excerpt

She wouldn’t tell Rashda yet. Elsa wanted to bring Catherine to Friedrich alone. She felt a bit like a manipulator when she asked Rashda if she could stay behind and take care of the guest list for David and Ania’s welcome home dinner. She had nothing too big planned but she did want to celebrate his homecoming. She missed him so much and yet she was dreading his return. How was it possible to feel such polar opposite things at the exact same time?

Elsa brought Catherine to work with her and then to sign the building contracts for the school, then finally to the house. They stayed in the back yard, far enough for Friedrich to see them from his window and yet he could still remain hidden.

“Do people live here, Mama?” Catherine asked, looking at the house.

“Only for a little while longer but they're not here today. I’m gonna buy it and the teacher’s will live here. 
What do you think?” Elsa asked her.

Catherine nodded. “I tink dat’s a good idea.”

Elsa had pulled Catherine’s back into a pony tail though a few stray black curls framed her face. The little girl wore a simple blue dress with white lace and her favourite black shoes. She didn’t want to dress Catherine up too much and arouse any kind of suspicion but in her own mind it was a very special occasion. Could he see her? Could he see their little girl?

Catherine leaned against a tree as Elsa lay the blanket down and set their food down. Elsa took out green grapes and set it on a paper plate and handed it to her after she sat down.

Catherine crossed her legs and placed the plate in her lap.

“Daddy’s coming back tomowo?”

He’s watching you now. Tears stung Elsa's eyes. She sniffled and blinked them away.

The little girl cocked her head and looked at her. “You miss him lots, huh?”

That much wasn’t a lie. David made her world make sense. With David there was no chaos. “I love your daddy very much.” Both of them.

“We gonna haf a party?”

“Just a small dinner,” Elsa said.

Catherine plucked a grape and raised it level with her mother’s face. “Catch, Mama.” She proceeded to shoot the grape but it hit Elsa in the nose. “Oops!” she laughed.

“You wanna try again?” Elsa asked, smiling.

“I can do it, watch,” Catherine tried a second time, but Elsa deliberately kept her mouth closed. “Mama!” she protested, giggling. “It won’t go in like dat!”

“Oh, no?” Elsa asked, pretending to be surprised.

“You a siwwy goose, mama.”

“Am I?” Elsa asked, setting her plate down on the blanket and getting up on her knees, preparing to lunge at her daughter.

Catherine sensed what her mother was about to do and scrambled to her feet. “No!” she shrieked and broke off on a run, laughing and squealing when Elsa caught her and tackled her on the grass and proceeded to tickle her mercilessly.

“Do you give up?” Elsa teased, pressing her fingers into Catherine’s squirming sides.

“No!” Catherine shrieked back. Like a worm, the little girl managed to slither away from Elsa and scrambled to her feet. Breaking into a run, she suddenly stopped and stared at the house.

Elsa's heart dropped into her stomach. Had Catherine seen Friedrich at the window? “What is it?” she asked, panting behind her daughter. No, she couldn’t see Friedrich there. Had he been there a second ago?

Catherine took a step back, coming up against Elsa. “Dunno. Just feeled a wittle funny. Do you tink da house is haunned?”

“Haunted? Why would you think that?” she asked, her voice tight.

Catherine sat down on the grass and looked up at the house. “It feels like it has eyes and it’s looking at me.”

Elsa tried to laugh but the sound came out more like a choked gasp. Damn it, Friedrich! Don’t let her see you! “Of course not. The people who live here for now aren’t home.”

Catherine placed her hands behind her and kept her eyes on the house. “Not people, Mama. A ghost. Maybe it’s a nice ghost ‘cause I’s nod a-scared. Can we go inside an’ check?”

Elsa clucked her tongue and tried to control her breathing. “Don’t be silly, Catie. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Der is, too! Ewica say so. She say her daddy watches her and he dieded long time ago so he’s a ghost,” she explained.

Elsa opened her mouth to protest but closed it when Catherine continued.

“She say my Gamma Lenie and Gappy Michal watch me, too. Maybe dat’s dem in da house and I feel der eyes.”

Elsa’s eyes filled with tears. Could their daughter be feeling her father’s presence, his love for her? Elsa crouched down and kissed her. “Maybe.”

“Can we go see?” Catherine asked, excited.

“Well…you don’t want to be scared, do you? What if it is a scary ghost” Elsa asked her, feeling lousy for manipulating her daughter.

Catherine wavered, now nervous. “Hmm. Maybe nod dis time.”

“Ah, good choice,” she said, both amused and relieved. “Now let’s finish your food, okay?”

They sat and ate for another half an hour. She didn’t know if Catherine could feel Friedrich but Elsa certainly could. Maybe it was because he was invading every part of her now, her thoughts, her feelings. She sighed then, the sun began losing strength and it was getting chilly.  “We should get back home.”

“Okay, I’m gonna dwa daddy a picture fo when he comes home tomorrow. Do you tink he’d like dat?”

“Oh I know he would,” Elsa pulled her in close and hugged her.

“Could you draw me one, too?” She could give it to Friedrich.

“Okay,” Catherine nodded, getting to her feet. She helped Elsa pack up the leftover food and fold up the blanket. Before they got back in the car, Catherine stopped and looked back at the house. “Bye Gamma Lenie!” a Rafflecopter giveaway