Sweet Saturday: The Legacy #2

Welcome back! I'm sharing another excerpt from The Legacy, my very first publication at Astraea Press. Leigh Becker is returning to her parents' home after a visit to the Tanaka home:

The house was dark. Hopefully, both her parents had gone to bed. Life was much simpler when she didn't have to talk to either of them. Mom was always so distracted, so focused on her career. And Dad was ... unpredictable. Sometimes he was morose, bemoaning the cards he had been dealt. The unfairness, the sadness, the impossible odds he faced. And other times he would lash out, finding fault with everyone and everything. Leigh didn’t blame her mother for immersing herself in work. But that often left Leigh alone with—

"It's about time you got home. Did you forget where you lived? Or were you practicing shacking up with that Jap kid?"

Oh no. He was awake, drunk, and mean. Not a good combination. She held on to the door handle, thankful she hadn’t come all the way in. Though Frank had never hurt her, she didn’t want to find out what he was capable of.

"Where's mom?"

"Took off on another business trip. I'll bet that 'business' includes some young dude with a fancy suit and an expense account."

Time to go. "I'll be right back, Dad."

Quickly, she scrambled out the door and tore across the lawn, around the thick hedges separating their yard from the neighbor's. She heard her father calling her from the front door. Thank goodness for the darkness. She ran along the hedge toward the neighbor's backyard.

From past experience, she knew there was an opening in the back hedge through which she could squeeze into another backyard and over to the next street. From there, she could walk over to Main Street, and then to the Shadyside Motel. Hopefully Jenna would be working the desk tonight.

****

Thanks for stopping by! The Legacy is one of July's choices for the Astraea Press Book Club, so you can get it FREE by joining the Book Club's through its Facebook page and then emailing the club coordinator. At the end of the month I'll be on hand to answer any questions you might have!

Check out the excerpts offered by other authors by clicking the links at Sweet Saturday Samples.