Meet Molly

Breathing on Her Own is scheduled for release March 25, 2014. 

I’m inviting you to be a part of the kick-off! For the next four weeks, I will post short vignettes allowing you to peek into the lives of the main characters of the book…a sort of prequel to the book.

Now for the fun part…repost, tweet (#breathingonherown), pin, or email this link to your friends. Use whatever social network suits you best. 

Email me at rwaters.author@gmail.com and tell me how you shared the link. I will enter your name in a drawing and give away a $5 gift card each week from those persons who email me. Drawing is on Tuesday evening at 10:00pm. 

Now for the first story…

New Year's Eve 

Molly pulled the pan of brownies out of the oven. “When Laney asked if we were busy for the evening, I thought she was inviting us to a New Year’s celebration.”

“Just as well,” Travis said. “I’d rather keep our grandkids than spend all night awake waiting for a ball to drop on television. M-m-m, those smell great.”

“Hold your horses, Travis Tipton. They have to cool.”

“How long?”

“About as long as it takes for Hunter and Ellie to get here.” Molly turned to face her husband. “I picked up ice cream and chocolate fudge topping at the store, too.”

A smile spread across Travis’s face. “See? Isn’t this better than any old party to welcome in the New Year?” He put his arms around her waist.

Molly slipped her arms around him. “Remember when we were in Tahoe for New Year’s Eve and we watched the New York broadcast?”

Travis laughed. “The girls thought it was midnight and went to bed without a whimper.”

“Well, don’t count on Hunter and Ellie being as cooperative tonight. Hunter is determined to stay up all night. Ellie wants to see the ball drop, but I guarantee she’ll crash around ten.”

The front door opened letting in a gust of the cold winter wind and two giggling children. “Grams! Grandpa!” Laney and Rob followed close behind, shivering. Laney grabbed the jackets off of the floor, shook them free of snow and hung them in the hall closet while her family raced ahead into the kitchen.

“Something smells good.” Rob said. “Looks like the real party’s here.”

“Grams made brownies. We’re going to have ice cream and brownies,” five-year-old Ellie told her dad. Travis picked up his granddaughter and gave her a hug.

“So where is this party you two are going to?” Molly asked.

“Remember Laney’s friend, Andrea from college?”

Molly remembered. A cold chill ran up her spine. Andrea and Tori had been Laney’s best friends in college. A bad influence. A bad crowd. What kind of party was this anyway?

“Will there be…”

“…other people there you know?” Travis interrupted. He shot her a look that warned her to be careful what she said.

“A few, I guess. I know her husband, Evan. He’s a good guy.”

“Where do they live?” Molly asked.

“Who?” Laney asked, coming into the room. “Where does who live?”

“Andrea. Rob said the party’s at her house.”

“They live out past Milford.” Laney called to her two children to take their overnight bags upstairs.

“Well be careful out there,” Travis advised. “There’ll be a lot of crazy people on the road tonight and with the snow and all, it could get messy.”

As predicted, Ellie was asleep by ten. Travis carried her upstairs to the room his daughters had once shared. He watched as Molly tucked Ellie in. “Bring back memories?”

“Sweet memories.” The two stood at the door in silence for a moment, reliving the days Laney and Lissa whispered their own good nights in this very room. Molly rested her head against her husband’s chest. “I worry about Laney being out tonight.”

“You mean with drunk drivers ringing in the New Year and the like?”

“That, and…well, this party they’re at. It’s at Andrea’s. I’m sure there’ll be drinking. You remember what happened when they were in college. Besides that, I have this feeling…”

“Your intuition flaring up again?” Travis laughed. “Look, Molls, first, you can’t assume there’s drinking because of what happened over ten years ago. Second, Rob and Laney are adults. You can’t live their lives for them. And if you’re worried, then pray about it. I’m going back downstairs. I told Hunter we’d play a video game and maybe watch a movie.”

“Have fun. I’m going to bed.” She kissed her husband goodnight. “See you next year.” How can I not worry?

Molly lay in bed and willed herself to sleep, but it didn’t come. I should have told them to call when they got home. Strains of music filtered up from the man-cave where Travis and Hunter were racing jet skis around a virtual track on the big screen TV. How could he do that? How could he play as if he didn’t have a worry in the world.

Andrea. Andrea had seemed like such a sweet girl. Maybe she was, too. At least until she met Tori. Yep. Tori was the real problem. She was self-centered and strong willed. Worse yet, Tori was wild. The kind of person who gave the college a reputation for being a party school. If the party Andrea was throwing tonight was anything like the ones the girls attended in college, Molly had plenty to worry about. Maybe it was intuition. Maybe it was common sense.

Sleep was not to be found. Molly looked at the clock. 11:48.  Molly headed downstairs to join Travis and Hunter welcome in the New Year.

“You didn’t get much rest last night,” Travis said the as he poured himself a second cup of coffee the next morning. “I figured you’d sleep in.”

Molly pulled a yellow mug from the cabinet. “I couldn’t. I just kept thinking about Laney and Rob and kept praying they were okay.”

“They’re okay. Laney texted to say they’ll pick the kids up around eleven. You prayed for the wrong child.”

“What?”

“Lissa. She called this morning. She was helping at the church youth group overnighter and when she left the parking lot this morning, she slid on a patch of ice and hit a tree.”

Molly pulled her hand to her heart. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Dented her fender. One of the guys there, a Mark somebody, followed her home to make sure everything was okay.”

“Praise God! But Travis, you have to admit my intuition worked. I just had the wrong daughter.” Molly put her coffee down. “And don’t laugh at me. I can’t help it. A car accident is every mother’s nightmare.”