Title
of Book: For Better and Worse
Author:
Stephanie Nicole Norris
Genre:
Romantic Suspense
Coming out of hibernation, Danielle Shumaker has
put behind her the pain and misery she’s caused Victoria and Joshua. Blinded by
her selfishness her ultimate goal is still her main one. As far as Danielle’s
concerned Joshua belongs to her, always has and always will. No amount of
therapy can cure her love addiction and no matter what anyone says she will
fight for him, even if she has to kill someone AGAIN.
Wedding bells are in Victoria and Joshua’s
future, Victoria is excited to be Mrs. Eubanks. However, when she closes her
eyes at night, Greg invades her dreams, the passion and love leaves her wanting
more and waking with doubt about her upcoming marriage. How will she get over
this man or does she even want to?
The phone rang and Joshua answered it on the first ring. “Yeah.”
“Yes, Joshua Eubanks, please.”
“You got him, who’s this?”
“This is Doctor Singh at Saint Francis Hospital. Danielle Shumaker
has you down as next of kin. She’s been in an accident and is currently in
intensive care.”
Danielle had been missing in action since last week, and Joshua
had wondered why she never called.
“What happened to her?”
“From what I know, she was found off road at an abandoned
warehouse. The warehouse was on fire and she lost consciousness. There seemed
to have been some sort of explosion,” the doctor said.
“An explosion!” Joshua yelled in shock. He didn’t know how to respond
after that.
“Yes.”
“Am I the only person on her next of kin list?”
“There is a January Peppers on the list as well. We contacted her
and she’s at work. She said she’s stuck in a conference but will get down as
soon as she can. I thought I would contact you too, just in case you wanted to
come see her. I didn’t think it would be good for her to be alone. Most
patients tend to give up when no one familiar is around. I’ll be honest with
you and just say, it doesn’t look good. Over sixty percent of her body is
covered in burns, and she has lost a kidney. Every day her condition worsens,
and I don’t know if she’ll make it through.
Joshua was stunned. Danielle had gotten herself into something
that she might not get out of. The news saddened him. With all the hell
Danielle had put him through, he never imagined the day someone would call
telling him her life was hanging on by a thread.
“I’m in Atlanta, Doctor Singh. It will take me a few hours to get
there, but I’m on my way.”
“Okay,” the doctor said.
“Thank you for calling me.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Doctor Singh said.
They hung up. Joshua sat down slowly on the couch, trying to
digest the information.
Victoria and Shay came through the front door. Seeing the ghostly
look on her fiancés face, Victoria asked, “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“I need to talk to you,” he said morbidly.
Shay rushed Dashia and Chelsea to the back.
Victoria took a seat next to Joshua. “What happened?” she asked.
He informed her of the news he was just given. Victoria didn’t
want to sound harsh, but she had to speak how she felt.
“I’m sorry the girl is dying, truly I am, but I don’t really care.
That has nothing to do with us. She has nothing to do with you, and I’m tired
of you running to her rescue every time the girl gets into trouble. There is no
telling what she was into.”
“Victoria, I know what she’s done to us, but the doctor said the
only people she had on her next of kin was me and her friend, January.”
“Good, let January go see about her then. You say you know what
she’s done to us, but you don’t act like it. Every time I turn around, you are
taking up for this ratchet chicken head, and I’m completely sick of it! For
goodness sake, she kidnapped Chelsea!”
“So, I should just forget about her and let her rot?”
“Why not? She made her bed, now she has to lay in it,” Victoria
said.
“How can you be so cold?”
“How am I being cold because I’d rather my soon to be husband in a
couple of days not still be running to the rescue of his high school psycho
ex-girlfriend? It’s like you don’t care what I say, how I feel, or what I
think, you’re going to do it anyway.”
“I bet if it were Greg, you would be on the next plane to Chicago.
But I’m wrong for bringing that up, right?” He shook his head. “Priceless.”
Joshua stood up angry; he grabbed his keys and walked out of the
door.
Shay stepped in the room. She’d been listening in the hallway.
Victoria looked her way. “What I say wrong?” she said.
“Is he really going to check on her after everything that’s
happened?”
Victoria shook her head in disgust. She wondered if Joshua was
truly over Danielle. Then she wondered would she run off if it were Greg. The
truth was sour, and left a bad taste in her mouth.
“I feel like—”
“Crap!” Dashia said.
Shay turned around and popped her on the mouth. “Didn’t I tell you
not to say that?”
Dashia ran off crying, but she was right. Victoria was feeling
like crap. Of course, she would run off if Greg were in the hospital. Coming to
this conclusion made Victoria wonder if she was ready for marriage.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Shay said.
“And how do you know that? You can read minds now?”
“I know you, and I heard the conversation you guys just had.”
“So what am I thinking, genius?” Victoria asked.
“You’re thinking about Greg.”
“Lucky guess,” Victoria said. “That much is true. I am really
trying to put him out of my mind, lock the door and throw away the key, but…”
“But what?” Shay asked.
“But, I keep having dreams about him. It’s disturbing too, because
in my dreams, we are husband and wife.”
“That’s deep.”
“You telling me. I told you about the one where we got married,
right, and all of you guys were there?”
“Yeah.”
“In all of them, I’m super happy. We’re always out doing
something. We feel so in love and meant to be together it’s scary. I never see
or mention Joshua. What does that mean?
“How do you feel about him when you’re awake?”
“I love him and fight every day to flush those emotions away.
Truth be told, the dreams only intensify my love for him. What am I going to
do?” she said.
“Are you and Joshua still going to the therapy sessions?”
“We haven’t gone ever since we started planning the wedding.”
“Maybe it’s time to go back,” Shay suggested. “Think real hard
before you answer this question. Do you really want to marry Joshua, or do you
want to be with Greg?”
Victoria took too long to respond.
“Okay, I definitely think you two should go to your sessions. You
have too many issues to get married. Well, you’re always going to have issues,
but the ones you have involve your love for other people. That’s got to be
worked out.
Shay was right. Victoria knew something had to be done, and things
needed to be right with her and Joshua, or there wouldn’t be a wedding.
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Author
Bio; Stephanie
Nicole Norris is an author from Chattanooga Tennessee with a humble beginning.
She, along with her six siblings, was raised by her mother, Jessica Ward.
Growing up a lover of reading, Stephanie loved to read books by R.L. Stine. She
always had a natural talent for writing and 2010 was the beginning of her
journey. In early 2012, her debut novel, "Trouble In Paradise", was published.
Seven
months later, Stephanie released her sophomore title, "Vengeful
Intentions", which is part 2 of “Trouble In Paradise”. September 27, 2014
"For Better and Worse", part 3 of “Trouble In Paradise” was released,
In the works is her first Christian fiction romance, "Catching Bees with
Honey". She has a series of short
stories that releases throughout the year called The Lunch Break series. These stories are not continuations of the
same story and can be read in your lunch break hour. The Lunch Break series, which features titles like “Wreckless” and
“Broken”, can be found on Amazon, Kobo and Barnes and Noble. Stephanie’s words
tell stories of love, drama, deception, suspense, and restoration.
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