"Sometimes it takes a storm to clear the air. . .
A contemporary romance novella, Tempest is the poignant tale of two damaged souls on the verge of losing the most important thing in either of their lives. . . Each other.
One year ago, Tracey and Adam Wesley's relationship was strong, happy, fulfilling. Now, their ten-year marriage is at a terrible crossroads. They stumble through their days, pretending everything is fine, but inside, they fear their love is dying.
Win or lose, the heartbreaking battle for the survival of their marriage ends tonight. Will a push from Mother Nature help them remember just how rare and precious their love truly is, or put an end to it forever?" Tempest is the story of Tracey and Adam, a long-married couple struggling to find their way back to each other after a difficult year. They no longer know if their love story will have a happily-ever-after ending...
What Reviewers Say...
"Emotionally and romantically satisfying, Tempest had me turning the digital page one after another." -J. Tate
EXCERPT
"It’s going to be all right.ABOUT Chantilly White
Tracey repeated the words to herself, staring into the depths of her still-full glass of dark red wine while a busboy removed her equally untouched meal from the table. Across from her, Adam stared at his own plate as he sawed through his steak with unnecessary force, chewing each bite as though the tender beef had turned to leather in his mouth.
What if it wasn’t all right, though?
Rubbing a hand over her pitching belly, Tracey took a small sip of wine. It was an excellent vintage, a favorite, but it burned going down her throat and bubbled like acid in her stomach. Almost as if she were pregnant, and delicate with it, but the comparison brought only another pang. There was nothing so joyful as a tiny beating heart resting in her womb. Only the weight of her sadness and worry, throwing everything off kilter.
Nothing tasted right. Or smelled right. Or felt right.
Half sick, she shoved the glass away. Keeping their weekly dinner date at Chez Charlie’s had been a mistake. They should have just gone home instead of trying to eat with such an important conversation hanging over their heads, pretending everything was fine. But she hadn’t been able to face one more break in their routine, and pretending had become their way of life. Adam had agreed, both of them clinging to this last, small tradition.
Adam chewed and swallowed, chewed and swallowed. How could he eat? If her throat closed down any more tightly she would choke on nothing more than air.
“Are you all right?” Adam asked, his gorgeous sherry eyes skating over her face, not looking at her directly. His gaze came to rest at a point slightly above her left shoulder.
Tracey nodded jerkily and said, “Fine,” the word rasping over her vocal cords like sandpaper.
She reached for her water glass, then set it back down without taking a drink, afraid she wouldn’t be able to swallow the icy liquid.
“Do you want to. . . talk now?” The fingers clutching his fork were white at the knuckles.
Tension tore through her already shredded emotions. Here, in the restaurant?
“N-no.” She shook her head to emphasize the word. She cleared her throat. “No.”
A heartbeat passed in silence, then two, before Adam nodded and returned his attention to his steak.
She forced a deep breath into her lungs, and another, lightheaded from lack of oxygen and hoping to tame the wild tremors coursing through her body. Nerves made her fingertips numb with anxiety. She twisted them in her lap, while the ‘D’ word trampled all the once-tranquil pathways in her heart.
Divorce.
Di-vorce.
D-I-V-O-R-C-E.
It pulsed in her mind with dark menace, an evil heartbeat. Di-vorce. Di-vorce. Such a cold, awful word. A word that sounded exactly like what it meant. To divide. To forcefully separate into two parts, like an axe blade striking something precious and cleaving it down the middle, leaving only broken pieces behind out of a once-beautiful whole.
Divorce.
As yet unspoken, its specter haunted the battleground of white linen stretched between them while they endured their quietly strained dinner. The oh-so-solicitous passing of bread, the refilling of a glass. Politely formal as they never were, except when an argument was brewing.
Did Adam feel that poisonous ghost creeping along his spine the way she did, digging its sharp-taloned fingers into the tender skin at the base of his throat? Did he recognize the danger, the red-flashing warning signs screaming, Turn back now, before it’s too late?
Chantilly loves providing sexy, romantic diversions to her readers. Pure Hearts ~ Sinful Pleasures is more than just her tagline. It's her promise. Whether they're looking for a sweetly fluffy romantic tale or a spicy-hot romp, a sweeping historical romance or a contemporary love story, Chantilly White's readers know when they delve into one of her stories, they will be transported to a world where love reigns supreme and everyone gets their happily-ever-after. Guaranteed.
