what it's all about
Miriam Andes seemingly has it all
. . . work, family, friends, and the children at the Center keep her fulfilled, even after she unwittingly walks out on 6-month old boyfriend Ray — her longest relationship ever. But that all changes when Scottish golf course architect Sinjin Hunter opens up a new and foreign world, awakening her body and mind in ways she had never expected. Not knowing that her choices have always been shaped by her mother’s secret past, Miriam walks in her mother Laura’s shoes … leaving Laura to wonder if it would have been better to have no secret at all. House in shambles and relationships strained, while her sisters follow as if she were a pied piper, Miriam tramples the line between needs and wants, pushing away all she actually wants closer.
But she wants ONE thing & ONE THING only.
excerpts
“I think you’ve got it.” She’s not forthcoming and he should leave her alone. There’s fire in her eyes, a fight within. A lot more than what he bargained for when he saw her and was drawn by the swing, her hair, the fact that she’s alone. His brain tells him to walk away and hope to get out of there without another word. One more word, just one, would be a risk.
Miriam hits balls, paying attention to her stance and grip even though she’s also paying attention to the man whose words she can barely understand.
He tees up another ball, and just can’t help himself, “How long have you been playing?” Wants an excuse to find out if she is as she seems: forbidden.
She hits a ball, and right through the swing asks: “What is it that you really want?”
A gorgeous stranger gone . . . but at least now she can freely hit balls.
“You have the agenda?” Miriam flares her hands open. “What’s up with that?”
“Shield up. That’s what’s up.”
“With Rob? A shield’s for cleavage.” She sweeps her hair to one side and gathers it at the neck.
“Said who? A shield’s a shield, to keep you from looking.”
“But he’s a guy. What could I look at, or not? Is his shirt open to his belly button?”
Lisa tilts her head back and groans.
“OK, OK. I’ll go!”
“You can’t remember his name? The restaurant owner, the sportscaster, the lawyer perhaps?”
Laura drops her napkin on the table. “Cristina!”
“There’s always a mystery around her and I’d like to know what it is.” She turns from her mother and looks directly at Miriam. “You go out with men then they disappear, but there’s always someone around, almost immediately, as if waiting on wings.”
Miriam scoops potatoes onto her plate, then slams the plate on the table. “You spend way too much time paying attention to what I do, so let me save you the trouble, OK? Because there is no mystery to any of it!”
Sinjin wants to look at them and pierce the sudden outburst of passion that has settled over the Thanksgiving meal, probably over something he said. But he will have to wait, for now, and keeps his gaze on the otherwise perfect dinner table.
After a bit of perseverance, she does more than verify that it was in San Diego. Sandy discovers that her parents married while her mother was pregnant, but so what? She slides the credit card in her pocket and cleans out the history and temporary internet files, logging off before her instincts encourage her to also do a search on Kenneth Andrews.
a secret
Laura Andes, Miriam’s mother, left home to bring back a wayward sister, but instead fell scandalously in love, shattering her future and the future of those whom she loved most. She returned home years later: married, with three girls, and an aching secret. To atone for the passions of her past, a past Sandy’s beginning to unravel, Laura leads a quiet and subdued life, showing nothing for it but sad brown eyes and three daughters who control about every aspect of their lives.
