Excerpt & Giveaway: For You Love by Beverly Jenkins
For
Your Love
Blessings # 6
Blessings # 6
By:
Beverly Jenkins
Releasing
April 28th,
2015
William
Morrow
Blurb
NAACP
nominee and bestselling author Beverly Jenkins returns to Henry
Adams, Kansas-an unforgettable place that anyone would want to call
home-with a story of family, friends, and the powerful forces from
our past that can irrevocably shape our future.
Mayor
Trent July and his wife Lily are enjoying life as newlyweds and
embracing the challenges and joys that come with being adoptive
parents to two wonderful boys. But being a father has inevitably
forced him to think about his own birth mother. Raised by his
grandmother Tamar—and in many ways the good people of Henry
Adams—Trent was blessed with a childhood full of love.
But
now he can’t help wondering what happened to the scared teenage
girl who gave birth to him. And questions that he’s never voiced
are now begging to be answered: Who was she? Is she still alive? Why
didn’t she want him?
Trent
has always believed no good comes from dwelling on the past,
especially when you have a loving family, a strong community, and
folks who depend on him. But when the past comes to Henry Adams,
Trent has no choice but to face it—and the woman who left him
behind. The truth will shake his very being and everything he thought
he knew about life, love, and the bonds that hold families
together…yet can also tear them apart.
Excerpt
CHAPTER
ONE
Hearing
the high pitched peals of female laughter coming from inside the new
addition he’d built for his wife, Lily, Trent July smiled. She and
the ladies of the Henry Adams Auxiliary were celebrating the room’s
grand opening. He’d been promising her her own space for some time.
Being the only female in the family, she needed someplace to escape
all the testosterone generated by him and their sons - fourteen year
old Amari and twelve year old Devon. He was glad she was enjoying it.
“They’re
having way too much fun in there,” Amari announced entering the
living room and dropping down onto the couch beside Trent watching
the NFL game between the Indianapolis Colts and the home team Kansas
City Chiefs.
Trent
chuckled softly. “Yes, they are.”
Trent
loved his oldest son. He’d come to him as an 11 year old foster
child - a pint sized car thief extraordinaire, filled with swag,
street smarts and a talent for asking a million questions. Since
finalizing his adoption two years ago, Trent watched Amari grow into
an exceptional young man. Yes, there’d been incidences when Trent
had to lay down the law, like the time Amari and his friends were
caught surfing the internet in places they had no business being, but
such was the life of a parent. All in all, Amari July was a good kid
with a big heart. “What’s your brother doing?”
Amari
shrugged.
As if
cued, Devon entered. “Dad, can I go in and see what Mom’s doing?”
“No,
sorry.”
“Why
not?”
Trent
loved Devon too, but the boy was at that trying stage between child
and teen. “Because you weren’t invited.”
“It’ll
just be for a minute. I have something I want to ask her.”
“No,
Dev, but you’re welcome to ask me. What’s the question?” Trent
assumed Devon wanted to be nosey, but he was willing to give his son
the benefit of the doubt.
“Um,
I wanted to know what we’re having for dinner.”
Amari
sighed and shook his head at his brother’s grasping at straws
answer but Trent kept his voice kind. “The three of us are going to
the Dog for dinner.” The Dog – real name, the Dog and Cow –was
the local diner owned by his father Malachi July, and the social hub
of the community. “Do you want to watch the game with us until
then?”
Devon
quietly turned down the offer. “No thank you. I’ll just go back
to my room.”
“Okay.
I’ll call you when we’re ready to go.”
He
nodded and left them.
Watching
him exit, Amari drawled, “I still think we should trade him for a
draft pick.”
The
two boys were sometimes like oil and water, but even when things got
hairy, Amari put up with his younger brother because Amari was all
about family. Before Trent and Lily married last year, Devon had been
her foster son. Back then, all Devon wanted in life was to be the
town preacher. The reality of being nine years old made him reset
that goal, and now he was having difficulty just being a kid. His new
mission in life seemed to be getting on everyone’s last nerve
though. Even Zoey Garland, Devon’s former BFF had grown so tired of
his behavior she’d given him two serious beat downs recently just
to make her point. Reverend Paula, the town’s priest and certified
Child Psychologist, was meeting with him a few days a week to help
him work out his issues. Trent and Lily remained hopeful. Even
though he’d been spoiled rotten by his maternal grandmother, Devon
was loving, talented and charismatic.
“Do
you ever think about your mom, Dad?”
The
question caught him off guard but Trent answered truthfully, “Every
now and then.” Trent’s parents had been teens when he was
conceived and according to what he’d been told by Malachi, her
family moved away once the pregnancy became known. After Trent’s
birth, his maternal grandmother brought him back to town, handed him
over to his paternal grandmother Tamar like someone returning shoes
to a store, and promptly drove away. The Julys hadn’t heard a word
from them since. “Have you been thinking about yours?”
“Yeah.
After Brain’s bio mom came for Thanksgiving, they’ve been
emailing each other every day. Hard not to be jealous when mine wants
nothing to do with me.”
Preston
“Brain” Payne was Amari’s BFF and another of the adopted kids
in the small town of Henry Adams, Kansas. Preston’s biological
mother, famous NASA scientist Dr. Margaret Wenthworth visited him and
his adoptive parents, Barrett and Sheila Payne for the first time
during the holidays. As a result, Brain was on Cloud Nine. In
contrast, Amari’s biological mother had made it clear she wanted no
contact with her son and her adamant stance weighed heavily on the
boy’s gawky teen age shoulders. Considering Trent’s own
situation, it was a weight they shared. “Maybe she’ll change her
mind, but in the meantime, all you can do is go on with your life.”
Just as he’d done, even though to this day he wondered why his
mother had never sent him so much as a postcard.
On the
TV the Colts quarterback threw a fifty yard pass to the end zone to
score on the home team Chiefs. The disappointment caused Trent and
Amari to shake their heads sadly.
As the
Colts celebrated, Amari said, “I know you’re right Dad, but it’s
really hard. I don’t want to make it sound like I don’t
appreciate Ms. Lily as my mom. I mean, she’s the kind I used to
dream about in foster care – but, … .”
“You’d
like ties to your bio mom.”
“Yeah,
I would.”
“Understandable.
I feel the same way.”
“Deep
down inside, I’m really happy for Brain, but it’s still rough.”
Amari glanced over. “You’re an awesome dad, by the way.”
Trent
smiled.
The
Chiefs fumbled the kickoff and Amari cracked, “Too bad we don’t
have an awesome NFL team.”
“Keeping
hope alive for the second half.”
“Yeah,
right.”
Author
Info
Ms.
Jenkins is the nation's premier writer of African American historical
romance fiction and specializes in 19th century African American
life. She has over thirty published novels to date.
She has
received numerous awards, including: five Waldenbooks/Borders Group
Best Sellers Awards; two Career Achievement Awards and a Pioneer
Award from Romantic Times Magazine; a Golden Pen Award from the Black
Writer's Guild, and in 1999 was named one of the Top Fifty Favorite
African-American writers of the 20th Century by AABLC, the nation's
largest on-line African-American book club.
She has
also been featured in many national publications, including the Wall
Street Journal, People Magazine, Dallas Morning News and Vibe
Magazine. She has lectured and given talks at such prestigious
universities as Oberlin University, the University of Illinois, and
Princeton. She speaks widely on both romance and 19th century
African-American history and was the 2014 featured speaker for the
W.W. Law Lecture Series sponsored by the Savannah Black Heritage
Festival.
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