Yesterday’s Sins
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“Where my family comes from we believe in an eye for an eye—a life for a life—” these words changed Catriona’s life forever.
After years of running from a past she cannot bear to remember, a bouquet of flowers, unlooked for and unwanted, makes Kate Audley look over her shoulder in trepidation.
For eight years, she’s lived under an assumed name in the tiny South Auckland village of Clevedon after fleeing Australia . Eight years in which Kate has had time to regret the impulsive decision to visit Alexandros Korda in a bid to clear her name of the of a hit and run that left Marcos Korda dead…and the devastating events that followed….
Now, Alex Kreagan has found her… Is it possible to heal the wounds of the past…and can Kate lay the past to rest and find peace…
Excerpt:
The doorbell shattered the early morning quiet, reverberating through the sparsely furnished rooms. Kate’s hands stilled as she combed her short, ink-black hair. The bell pealed, longer and more insistently. As she walked toward the front door, it pealed again.
“Hold your horses, I’m coming.“ Shoulders squared beneath the boxy black jacket, she picked a piece of lint off her black skirt as she opened the door. “Yes?“
A profusion of flowers almost obscured the delivery man as he thrust them at her. “Ms. Audley? Flower delivery.”
“For me?”
“You Ms. Audley?“ He tapped a finger on the cellophane and she nodded. “Then these are for you.“
He dumped them in her hands and strode down the path, whistling and Kate’s already dark mood, deepened.
Retreating indoors, she put the flowers on the kitchen table, the only place in her cottage that would hold something this size.
She inhaled a shaken breath.
And the sweet, cloying smell of lilies and stephanotis sent goose-bumps dancing across her skin, the potent scent evoked equally powerful memories…
He escorted her into another room darkened by heavy curtains and illuminated by candles; scores of dark eyes watched as he handed her a candle. She lit it from a taper and carried it to the bier, setting it among other candles burning there.
In the white coffin lay a dark haired child, silent and still, his skin marbled with death.
Tears gathered as she looked at that serene, innocent face.
Devastated and wracked with guilt, she knelt and laid her flowers amid other scented white blooms as she offered up a prayer for forgiveness…
Sucking in a harsh breath, Kate backed away from the flowers as she rubbed her hands up suddenly chilled arms.
Am I finally going crazy?
Nestled among the flowers she saw a white envelope. Sick with trepidation, she opened it and extracted an embossed card.
Happy Birthday, Catriona.
Her harsh, indrawn breath was loud in the silence.
Few people knew it was her birthday. Fewer still, knew Kate was shortened from Catriona in her new identity.
Panic clawed and ripped at her self-control. Who the hell has sent me these flowers?
She touched a perfect carnation with a shaky finger, whispering, “Happy birthday, Chris.”
A broken laugh escaped.
Eight years ago Chris and her father died in a fiery car smash.
And nothing filled the empty place her twin left in her life. Embedded with their memory was one of the grey eyed man who’d taken her ordinary life and thrown it into chaos.
Trembling, she stared at the slashing black script.
Where my family comes from, we believe in an eye for an eye, a life for a life, his deep voice ghosted through her memory.
A shudder ripped at Kate. Feverish questions bombarded her from all sides. She’d only seen his handwriting once and, at the time, had been too dazed to do more than register he held a pen.
Had he found her?
The phone shrilled. Another shudder shook her, and loath to pick it up, Kate let it ring several times.
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What fans are saying about Yesterday’s Sins
C C First pregnancy/baby romance I have read in which the woman is strong and the man is the one who has to acquiesce. Very enjoyable.
DeeDee This is my first Shirley Wine book and it won’t be my last… I enjoyed how the heroine overcame her past…good books are about how the character deals with the changes life brings…