“As long as we draw breath, we owe it to the ones we loved and lost to live out our lives without wasting them on regrets.”
―
Sharon Sala,
The Warrior
“I didn't forget you. To this day, I have yet to walk through an airport without looking for your face, and every time it snows, I remember what it felt like to kiss you.” ― Sharon Sala, Second Chances
“I'm a woman. We mature faster than men, remember?” ― Sharon Sala, Second Chances
“You cry, girl. You cry all you want, and when you're through and all this pain is nothing but a memory, I will find a way to make you smile. Do you hear me China Brown? That's a promise from me to you.” ― Sharon Sala, Butterfly
“... he wasn't crying for the woman who had died. He was crying for the woman she had been.” ― Sharon Sala, Going Once
“They’re our families, but they’re not us. Whatever hitches they carry in their steps does not cripple you or me.” ― Sharon Sala, A Thousand Lies
“There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good . . .” His voice trailed off in the middle of the sentence.Laura found herself caught in the intensity of his gaze and muttered the end of the rhyme. “. . . She was very, very good, and when she was bad . . .”Gabriel finished what he had started, grinning at his own wit. “. . .She was better.”Laura’s eyebrows arched as she hid a quick smile. “That’s not the way I learned it.”Gabriel picked up his fork and dug back into his salsa-spiced eggs. “If you’d been a boy, you would have.” ― Sharon Sala, Reunion
“Back in Tahoe, when he had broken the news to her that they had to go home, he had been put on the defensive by the fact that he was the one who’d had personal contact with a murdered woman.He had the feeling now that she was never going to forgive him for what she viewed as rape, and this latest incident had only fueled her fire. For the first time in their married lives, she’d stood up to him and rejected his excuses. He was beginning to think she’d known about his dalliances for years but for her own reasons had chosen to play dumb. But when she’d learned that the police wanted to question him regarding Marsha Benton’s murder, her days of playing dumb seemed to have ended.Penny feigned interest in her magazine, but inside, her thoughts were tumbling wildly.Last night while Mark was in the shower, she’d called Ken Walters, their lawyer. Ken had started off by claiming he couldn’t divulge his conversations with Mark, at which point she promptly reminded him that the money in their house was hers first, not Mark’s, and if he wanted to stay on retainer for the Presley Corporation, he’d better start talking.So he did.Learning that Marsha had been pregnant when she was murdered had nearly sent her to her knees. Knowing that her body had been found on their oil lease outside Tyler only made what she was thinking worse. She’d known Mark was devious, but she’d never believed him capable of murder. Now she wasn’t so sure. What she was certain of was that she wasn’t going to be dragged down with him if he fell. Tonight they were back in Dallas in what had been her father’s home first and was now hers. This was her territory, and she wasn’t leaving anything to chance.Mark glanced up from the chair where he’d been reading, watching the casual attitude with which Penny was sipping her drink. She was flipping through the pages of the magazine in her lap and humming beneath her breath as if nothing was wrong.It was unnerving.As he watched, he began to realize Penny wasn’t her father’s daughter by birth alone. There seemed to be more of the old man in her than he would have believed. Ever since he’d put his hands around her neck back in Tahoe, she had been cold and unyielding, even when he’d apologized profusely.Then, when he’d had to tell her that the police demanded his presence back in Dallas for questioning regarding Marsha Benton’s death, she’d been livid. He’d tried to explain, but she wasn’t having any of it. He didn’t want to lose her. He couldn’t lose her. Even though the world assumed that Mark Presley was the reigning power behind the Presley Corporation, it was really Penny. Mark had the authority simply because Penny was his wife. If she kicked his ass to the curb, the only thing he would be taking with him were the bruises.” ― Sharon Sala, Nine Lives
“As long as we draw breath, we have the option to change what we don’t like.” ― Sharon Sala, A Rainbow Above Us
“And, yes, there would be laughter again one day, and there would be times of calm, and times she felt peaceful in her heart. But it would be the absence,” ― Sharon Sala, Family Sins
“when it was time to go back to get ready,” ― Sharon Sala, The Way Back to You
“nothing is random. The Universe knows what's happening, and what's needed, even when we do not.” ― Sharon Sala, Broke-Ass Women's Club
“When she was six, she and her mother had been shopping for groceries when they’d been hit by a drunk driver. It had killed her mother instantly and put Cat in the hospital for days. When she was finally dismissed, her mother’s funeral was over, and she and her father were on their own.Over the years, she learned to adjust, and she and her father grew closer. Then, just before her thirteenth birthday, and only days before she and her father were planning to leave on vacation, a man with a tattooed face broke into their house, stabbed her father and cut her throat, leaving her unable to scream as she watched him die.After that, the Texas Social Services system finished the raising of Catherine Dupree, during which time she’d acquired the nickname Cat.” ― Sharon Sala, Nine Lives
“How’s your hand?” she asked, as she opened the driver’s side door.Bud tweaked her ear. “You are such a mother hen.”Holly grinned. “So shoot me. I’m practicing for the real thing.”Bud stumbled. The thought of someone else being the father of her children was physically painful.Holly grabbed his elbow, then slipped an arm around his waist to steady him. “See? You do need a keeper.”Bud gritted his teeth to keep from sweeping her into his arms. “As long as it was you, I guess I wouldn’t mind.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
“He had turned forty yesterday, and a bunch of his friends had thrown a big party for him down at the bar across the street from his bail bond office. The beer had been flowing freely. They’d even sprung for a day-old cake from the deli section of one of the big grocery stores across town. Their gift to Wilson had been Wanelle, the prettiest hooker on their side of the city, which was a title Wanelle held proudly, even if her claim to fame came from a real long stretch of the truth.Still, Wanelle had all her own teeth and clear skin, and she was almost pretty when she laughed. Wilson knew her slightly. He’d seen her around Ft. Worth from time to time, but buying a woman had never been his style. He’d felt trapped when Wanelle had been presented to him, especially since his buddies had tied a big red bow around her neck. Turning her down would have been a serious social faux pas to his friends and to Wanelle. So, rather than hurt everyone’s feelings, Wilson had graciously accepted, and they’d spent the night in her fifth floor apartment, only to be awakened by the scent of smoke.” ― Sharon Sala, Nine Lives
“Once I’m marked as the Hunter’s daughter, what man will ever love me? I won’t dare have children for fear they might turn out like him. No one will ever want me—ever!”“That’s not true!” Bud yelled. “I want you! I’ve always wanted you.”Holly choked, then clapped a hand over her mouth. Her pulse was roaring in her ears. Had she really heard that, or was it just her imagination?Bud groaned. Now he’d done it, but by God, he wasn’t taking any of it back. When she didn’t answer, he knew she was shocked.“Are you going to cry all night?”“No,” Holly said, then winced. She sounded like a damn mouse, squeaking in the dark.“Good. So keep your sweet ass in one piece and come home as soon as you can. Do you hear me?”“Yes.”“Good. Talk to you later.”Holly shivered. “Later.”The dial tone was suddenly buzzing in her ear. She dropped her phone and then covered her mouth with both hands, muffling her words.“Oh, my God, oh, my God, he did not just say that.”She bolted out of bed, dashed into the bathroom and flipped on the light. What she saw in the mirror made her wince. She looked like hell, with her hair all over the place, her eyes red and puffy, and her lips all swollen. “Bud Tate loves me,” she whispered. It was her best dream come true.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
“Don’t leave your room again until I get there.”Holly’s heart leaped; then her eyes filled with tears. “You’re coming here?”“My plane leaves Missoula at six o’clock tomorrow morning. I’ll be in St. Louis around 2:00 p.m. if there are no delays.”“Thank you, Bud, thank you so much.”“I don’t need thanks.”Holly shivered. The gruff, raspy tone in his voice rattled her. Even as she asked the question, she knew what he was going to say.“What do you need?”“Just you, baby.”“That scares me, too,” she whispered.Bud pinched the bridge of his nose to quell a surge of panic. Was this where she told him that she didn’t feel the same way he did? He had to make it right. He couldn’t bear it if she suddenly became afraid or uneasy around him.“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have ever said anything to—”“No, you misunderstand me,” Holly said softly. “I’m not scared of you. I’ve loved you for years.”Bud could have wept with relief. “Then it’s all good,” he said softly. “I just want you to stay safe until I can get to you. Can you promise to do that for me?”“I didn’t leave the room all day,” Holly said. “I won’t budge until you get here, I promise.”“Thank you, honey,” he said. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this thing you’re dealing with, but we’ll do it together, so you won’t be in any danger, okay?”“Okay.” “I love you, Holly.” The breath caught in Holly’s throat. “I love you, too.”“Thank you, God,” Bud said, and hung up.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
“SIGN” ― Sharon Sala, I'll Stand By You
“I love you, Robert Tate.”Bud fingered her ring. “I love you, too. I think I’m going to rest now. Promise you won’t go anywhere without me.”“I promise.”He closed his eyes.Holly lay facing him, burning every nuance of his misery into her brain. She was determined to remember, when she was in labor giving birth to their first child, that, for the love of his woman, he’d been the first to bear pain.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
“I didn't forget you. To this day, I have yet to walk through an airport without looking for your face, and every time it snows, I remember what it felt like to kiss you.” ― Sharon Sala, Second Chances
“I'm a woman. We mature faster than men, remember?” ― Sharon Sala, Second Chances
“You cry, girl. You cry all you want, and when you're through and all this pain is nothing but a memory, I will find a way to make you smile. Do you hear me China Brown? That's a promise from me to you.” ― Sharon Sala, Butterfly
“... he wasn't crying for the woman who had died. He was crying for the woman she had been.” ― Sharon Sala, Going Once
“They’re our families, but they’re not us. Whatever hitches they carry in their steps does not cripple you or me.” ― Sharon Sala, A Thousand Lies
“There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good . . .” His voice trailed off in the middle of the sentence.Laura found herself caught in the intensity of his gaze and muttered the end of the rhyme. “. . . She was very, very good, and when she was bad . . .”Gabriel finished what he had started, grinning at his own wit. “. . .She was better.”Laura’s eyebrows arched as she hid a quick smile. “That’s not the way I learned it.”Gabriel picked up his fork and dug back into his salsa-spiced eggs. “If you’d been a boy, you would have.” ― Sharon Sala, Reunion
“Back in Tahoe, when he had broken the news to her that they had to go home, he had been put on the defensive by the fact that he was the one who’d had personal contact with a murdered woman.He had the feeling now that she was never going to forgive him for what she viewed as rape, and this latest incident had only fueled her fire. For the first time in their married lives, she’d stood up to him and rejected his excuses. He was beginning to think she’d known about his dalliances for years but for her own reasons had chosen to play dumb. But when she’d learned that the police wanted to question him regarding Marsha Benton’s murder, her days of playing dumb seemed to have ended.Penny feigned interest in her magazine, but inside, her thoughts were tumbling wildly.Last night while Mark was in the shower, she’d called Ken Walters, their lawyer. Ken had started off by claiming he couldn’t divulge his conversations with Mark, at which point she promptly reminded him that the money in their house was hers first, not Mark’s, and if he wanted to stay on retainer for the Presley Corporation, he’d better start talking.So he did.Learning that Marsha had been pregnant when she was murdered had nearly sent her to her knees. Knowing that her body had been found on their oil lease outside Tyler only made what she was thinking worse. She’d known Mark was devious, but she’d never believed him capable of murder. Now she wasn’t so sure. What she was certain of was that she wasn’t going to be dragged down with him if he fell. Tonight they were back in Dallas in what had been her father’s home first and was now hers. This was her territory, and she wasn’t leaving anything to chance.Mark glanced up from the chair where he’d been reading, watching the casual attitude with which Penny was sipping her drink. She was flipping through the pages of the magazine in her lap and humming beneath her breath as if nothing was wrong.It was unnerving.As he watched, he began to realize Penny wasn’t her father’s daughter by birth alone. There seemed to be more of the old man in her than he would have believed. Ever since he’d put his hands around her neck back in Tahoe, she had been cold and unyielding, even when he’d apologized profusely.Then, when he’d had to tell her that the police demanded his presence back in Dallas for questioning regarding Marsha Benton’s death, she’d been livid. He’d tried to explain, but she wasn’t having any of it. He didn’t want to lose her. He couldn’t lose her. Even though the world assumed that Mark Presley was the reigning power behind the Presley Corporation, it was really Penny. Mark had the authority simply because Penny was his wife. If she kicked his ass to the curb, the only thing he would be taking with him were the bruises.” ― Sharon Sala, Nine Lives
“As long as we draw breath, we have the option to change what we don’t like.” ― Sharon Sala, A Rainbow Above Us
“And, yes, there would be laughter again one day, and there would be times of calm, and times she felt peaceful in her heart. But it would be the absence,” ― Sharon Sala, Family Sins
“when it was time to go back to get ready,” ― Sharon Sala, The Way Back to You
“nothing is random. The Universe knows what's happening, and what's needed, even when we do not.” ― Sharon Sala, Broke-Ass Women's Club
“When she was six, she and her mother had been shopping for groceries when they’d been hit by a drunk driver. It had killed her mother instantly and put Cat in the hospital for days. When she was finally dismissed, her mother’s funeral was over, and she and her father were on their own.Over the years, she learned to adjust, and she and her father grew closer. Then, just before her thirteenth birthday, and only days before she and her father were planning to leave on vacation, a man with a tattooed face broke into their house, stabbed her father and cut her throat, leaving her unable to scream as she watched him die.After that, the Texas Social Services system finished the raising of Catherine Dupree, during which time she’d acquired the nickname Cat.” ― Sharon Sala, Nine Lives
“How’s your hand?” she asked, as she opened the driver’s side door.Bud tweaked her ear. “You are such a mother hen.”Holly grinned. “So shoot me. I’m practicing for the real thing.”Bud stumbled. The thought of someone else being the father of her children was physically painful.Holly grabbed his elbow, then slipped an arm around his waist to steady him. “See? You do need a keeper.”Bud gritted his teeth to keep from sweeping her into his arms. “As long as it was you, I guess I wouldn’t mind.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
“He had turned forty yesterday, and a bunch of his friends had thrown a big party for him down at the bar across the street from his bail bond office. The beer had been flowing freely. They’d even sprung for a day-old cake from the deli section of one of the big grocery stores across town. Their gift to Wilson had been Wanelle, the prettiest hooker on their side of the city, which was a title Wanelle held proudly, even if her claim to fame came from a real long stretch of the truth.Still, Wanelle had all her own teeth and clear skin, and she was almost pretty when she laughed. Wilson knew her slightly. He’d seen her around Ft. Worth from time to time, but buying a woman had never been his style. He’d felt trapped when Wanelle had been presented to him, especially since his buddies had tied a big red bow around her neck. Turning her down would have been a serious social faux pas to his friends and to Wanelle. So, rather than hurt everyone’s feelings, Wilson had graciously accepted, and they’d spent the night in her fifth floor apartment, only to be awakened by the scent of smoke.” ― Sharon Sala, Nine Lives
“Once I’m marked as the Hunter’s daughter, what man will ever love me? I won’t dare have children for fear they might turn out like him. No one will ever want me—ever!”“That’s not true!” Bud yelled. “I want you! I’ve always wanted you.”Holly choked, then clapped a hand over her mouth. Her pulse was roaring in her ears. Had she really heard that, or was it just her imagination?Bud groaned. Now he’d done it, but by God, he wasn’t taking any of it back. When she didn’t answer, he knew she was shocked.“Are you going to cry all night?”“No,” Holly said, then winced. She sounded like a damn mouse, squeaking in the dark.“Good. So keep your sweet ass in one piece and come home as soon as you can. Do you hear me?”“Yes.”“Good. Talk to you later.”Holly shivered. “Later.”The dial tone was suddenly buzzing in her ear. She dropped her phone and then covered her mouth with both hands, muffling her words.“Oh, my God, oh, my God, he did not just say that.”She bolted out of bed, dashed into the bathroom and flipped on the light. What she saw in the mirror made her wince. She looked like hell, with her hair all over the place, her eyes red and puffy, and her lips all swollen. “Bud Tate loves me,” she whispered. It was her best dream come true.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
“Don’t leave your room again until I get there.”Holly’s heart leaped; then her eyes filled with tears. “You’re coming here?”“My plane leaves Missoula at six o’clock tomorrow morning. I’ll be in St. Louis around 2:00 p.m. if there are no delays.”“Thank you, Bud, thank you so much.”“I don’t need thanks.”Holly shivered. The gruff, raspy tone in his voice rattled her. Even as she asked the question, she knew what he was going to say.“What do you need?”“Just you, baby.”“That scares me, too,” she whispered.Bud pinched the bridge of his nose to quell a surge of panic. Was this where she told him that she didn’t feel the same way he did? He had to make it right. He couldn’t bear it if she suddenly became afraid or uneasy around him.“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have ever said anything to—”“No, you misunderstand me,” Holly said softly. “I’m not scared of you. I’ve loved you for years.”Bud could have wept with relief. “Then it’s all good,” he said softly. “I just want you to stay safe until I can get to you. Can you promise to do that for me?”“I didn’t leave the room all day,” Holly said. “I won’t budge until you get here, I promise.”“Thank you, honey,” he said. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get through this thing you’re dealing with, but we’ll do it together, so you won’t be in any danger, okay?”“Okay.” “I love you, Holly.” The breath caught in Holly’s throat. “I love you, too.”“Thank you, God,” Bud said, and hung up.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
“SIGN” ― Sharon Sala, I'll Stand By You
“I love you, Robert Tate.”Bud fingered her ring. “I love you, too. I think I’m going to rest now. Promise you won’t go anywhere without me.”“I promise.”He closed his eyes.Holly lay facing him, burning every nuance of his misery into her brain. She was determined to remember, when she was in labor giving birth to their first child, that, for the love of his woman, he’d been the first to bear pain.” ― Sharon Sala, Blood Trails
