Brady, a contractor, is swiftly building his business into an empire. Work is a faithful companion that never lets him down like Palmer did. When he sees women now, it’s on his terms. And his terms are simple: just sex. He won’t let a woman break him again.
Palmer is barely holding it together when she and Brady are unexpectedly paired on a project after a year apart. The pull between them is stronger than ever, but the fallout from their reconnection leaves them both wondering if maybe some things are better left unsaid.
**Part of the Proceeds of the Sale of Unpsoken will go toward The Keith Milano Memorial Fund at AFSP for the rest of the month of October.**
For More Information on AFSP and The Keith Milano Memorial Visit:
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Chapter 1
I grinned at the image of the bride in the magazine I held,
picturing her classic, beaded veil and big cascading curls on myself.
“You like?” I asked, turning the magazine around for my
design partner Georges to see.
“Eh,” he said, frowning. “Maybe if you were going to prom in
1985. Add some pink frosted lipstick and dark blue eye shadow.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t want my hair pulled back
tight the way you like. Brady wouldn’t like it, either. He likes to touch my
hair. You know, run his hands through it.”
Georges gave me a horrified stare. “Not on your wedding day,
Palmer! What about the photos? Tell him to keep his caveman hands to himself
until the wedding night.”
Just the words wedding
night brought on a tingle of excitement. Not that Brady didn’t bring it
every time we had sex, but the idea of wedding night sex was especially hot.
He’d told me about a fantasy involving his face between my thighs while I still
had the dress on, and I couldn’t deny that I was now fantasizing about it, too.
“We still have quite a few details to work out,” Georges
said, looking up from the bridal magazine he was flipping through to give me a
chastising look over the dark rims of his glasses.
“I know,” I said, snapping out of my sexy reverie about
Brady. “Let me get out my wedding planner.”
“Let’s finish this over sushi,” Georges said. “I skipped
lunch and I’m starving.”
I glanced down at my watch and shook my head. “Ugh, it’s
after six. I can’t. My mom asked me to stop by her house on my way home and I
told her I’d be there around six.”
“Damn you. Now I have to get carryout.” Georges rolled his
eyes dramatically.
“I’ll buy lunch tomorrow,” I said. “Don’t forget that we’re
going to the florist’s shop for a dry run of the centerpieces.”
Georges’ face brightened. “Let’s go visit the dress again,
too.”
“Maybe,” I said, smiling at him. “It has been a full week
since we last saw it. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
He nodded and turned back to the magazine. I checked my
phone on the way to the parking deck, smiling when I saw a message from Brady.
Brady:
Going to see Dad. Be home late. Lunch tomorrow? Love you.
I wrote back, glancing up occasionally to make sure I didn’t
crash into anyone.
Me:
Lunch with G tomorrow. I’ll cook dinner tomorrow night at my place. Love you
too.
We still called it my place even though he’d practically
moved in. One married, we planned to live in my tiny bungalow after instead of
his tiny apartment. Between Brady’s building skills and my design ones, we’d
made my place into a cozy love nest.
On the drive to Mom’s, I let my mind wander to the job I’d
just been hired for. I was designing a nursery for twins – a boy and a girl. My
client loved a traditional look, so I was using gingham, soft yellows and
greens and gorgeous white painted furniture.
This job was creating unexpectedly strong maternal pangs.
Brady and I both wanted kids, but we wanted to wait a couple years. He was
paying a price for his father’s lousy decisions, and we both had to focus on
our careers for a while.
Still, I let myself dream about the day we’d have a baby.
Hopefully one with his dark hair and bright green eyes.
I parked in front of Mom’s house, noticing the faded maroon
shutter that had been hanging by one screw had finally fallen off. Brady had
offered to paint the dingy brownish exterior when Mom and Danny moved in here
last year, but Mom always put him off, saying she knew he was too busy with
work.
This place needed a spruce-up, though, even if Brady and I
had to show up and just do it. Weeds were beginning to overtake the small
flower bed next to the front porch.
When I pulled open the creaky back screen door, Mom glanced
up from the kitchen table and stood, meeting me for a hug. She held on longer
than usual, and I studied her face when she pulled away.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She headed for the stove, not meeting my curious
gaze. “I made you a plate of dinner. Chicken pot pie.”
I sank into a chair at the table, looking around the kitchen
for my younger brother. “Where’s Danny?”
On cue, his wheelchair came rolling into the room.
“Almer!” he cried, reaching out his arms. I grinned and
stood, bending down to hug him tight, the way he liked.
As soon as I released him, he turned his chair around,
grunting with the effort, and worked his way back out of the room.
“Where are you going?” I called behind him. “I just got
here!”
“Cubs,” he said shortly.
I smiled at his retreating form, realizing I should’ve
guessed from his baseball hat and Cubs t-shirt that he was immersed in a game
on TV. Though he was 23, Danny’s doctors said he had the mental capacity of a
four-year-old. I knew he was smarter than they gave him credit for. But no matter
what his mental capacity, he was the brightest ray of sunshine in my life. I’d
been in one fist fight in my life – when I was eight and a kid in our
neighborhood called my five-year-old brother stupid.
Mom set a plate down in front of me, fussing over grabbing
the salt and pepper shakers and a napkin and pouring me a glass of iced tea.
“I can get that stuff. Sit down,” I said. “This looks
delish.”
“How are the wedding plans coming?” she asked, her eyes
warming with excitement.
“Good. I’m going to make the final decisions on the flowers
tomorrow.”
I blew on a steaming forkful of pot pie, studying my mom’s
drawn expression. She didn’t bother with fixing her hair or makeup, since she
spent her days taking care of Danny. But the lines on her face were more pronounced
than usual. Something was off.
“What’s up?” I lowered my fork and set it on the plate. “You
look worried.”
She sighed deeply. “It’s probably nothing.”
“What’s probably nothing?”
“I got a call from the hospital today about the pre-op
testing for my back surgery.”
“That’s right,” I said, chiding myself for forgetting to
call her about it yesterday. “Is there a problem with the surgery?”
Hopefully the doctor hadn’t changed his mind about it
helping her or the insurance hadn’t denied coverage. Mom needed this surgery.
Years of lifting Danny in and out of his chair had left her back aching every
minute of the day, though she rarely complained about it.
“They did an x-ray and it showed a possible mass,” she said,
wrapping her arms around herself. “In one of my lungs.”
My heart pounded as her words sank in. “A . . .” I cleared
my throat. “A possible mass? What does that mean?”
She sighed again. “It means I have to get a CT scan
tomorrow. Aunt Claire came over to be with Danny while I was at the hospital yesterday,
and it’s an hour drive for her. I didn’t want to ask her to come back tomorrow.
Is there any way you could come over in the morning, around 9:30?”
“Of course.” Emotions swirled inside me. This was so
unexpected that I was still trying to wrap my mind around it. “But I want to go
with you. I’ll ask Brady to come stay with Danny.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know that they’ll do anything
but the scan tomorrow, Palmer. The results may take time. I can handle it on my
own. If you’ll be with Danny, that’d be perfect.”
“Sure,” I said, not sure at all. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and attempted a smile. “It’s probably nothing.
Just a precaution. They haven’t cancelled my surgery or anything.”
I nodded, too, trying to see that as a positive indication.
But the worry that had kicked up my heart rate and drained my appetite in an
instant was still there.
Flowers, cake and the perfect wedding hairstyle suddenly
felt like ridiculous things to care about. All that mattered right now was my
mom being okay. She had to be.
Unspoken by
Brenda Rothert is a story about love lost and found, learning to let go
of a past that hurt in order to embrace the future that was always
wanted and of remaining strong in the face of the most difficult
circumstances. I often found myself wiping away tears while reading
and I was unable to put down the story of Palmer and Brady, finishing
this amazing story in one sitting. This was a 4.5 star read for me and I
highly recommend this book to others! You will become immersed in the
lives of Palmer and Brady, at times feeling like you are standing there
with them in any given situation. Brenda Rothert has done it again!
The
love that Palmer and Brady had for each other could be felt through
every word written, often almost jumping off off of the page making the
reader feel it as well. Engaged to be married with the upcoming wedding
only a few weeks away, as I started reading I thought, nothing could
tear this couple apart. Until something did. When Palmer discovered
that her mother was terminally ill and that she would need to begin
helping care for her disable brother, she talks to Brady about
postponing the wedding. Speaking in the wake of hearing the most
devastating news that a daughter
possibly could, she simply is too overwhelmed to go through with the
wedding. Taking Palmer's words as a direct hit to his pride and his
heart, and not really hearing the meaning behind them he decides that
she doesn't want to marry him after all and he walks away in the
process. Sometimes love isn't enough.
"The
main reason i was going tomorrow was to see him again. It had been so
long-almost a year. And even though he was still angry with me, seeing
him angry was better than not seeing him at
all."
Almost
a year after their emotional break-up Palmer and Brady are paired up on
a job building an house for Brady's childhood friend and Palmer's former
interior design client who are now engaged. Brandy deciding that he
would avoid Palmer at all costs unless it involved the project, was an
idea that he quickly abandoned when all of the feelings he once had for
her came rushing to the surface. Palmer was running on a tank that was
close to empty each day; taking care of her mother who was deteriorating
more and
more each day and her disabled brother who was unaware of what was
going on all the while trying to keep her design business profitable.
Seeing Brady again brought everything she once felt for him rushing
back because when she finally admitted it to herself, she never stopped
loving him and never wanted to break off their engagement in the first
place.
"That man. Even with his ability to frustrate the hell out of me, he'd become my port in the storm."
Brady
starting an arrangement that only involved sex with Palmer, he thought
he could get her out of her out of his system before he returned to his
life in Colorado where he had relocated after their breakup. Little did
he know that his heart and his head where not on the same page. Coming
to depend on Brady a little more than she would have liked, but needed
the strength and comfort that he provided her throughout this difficult
and emotional time, Palmer loved him even more now than she did a year
ago.
Will
Brady and Palmer get past the issues that tore them apart to have their
happily ever after? You will have to read this utterly amazing story
to find out! I promise that you will not be disappointed.
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Unspoken was a story about powerful love that you thought would stand the test of time, but when tragedy strikes lives will change...and here begins the journey of Unspoken. This story will show you that family will always come first and that nothing can stand in the way. I really enjoyed reading Palmer and Brady's story the love they share is something most couples never share in a lifetime. I would give this book a 4 star. It is told in dual POV's and I would recommend this story to friends. This is a standalone no cliffy book (thank heavens!) and even though there is rocky journey in the end they will find there HEA and its a beautiful one.
Palmer and Brady have a power house kind of love and they are only weeks away from there wedding. Palmer makes a decision to put a hold on the wedding because her mother will fall ill, but when Brady takes it as her not wanting to marry him her life will crumble because he leaves her. Month's will go by and Palmer is struggling to take care of her dying mother and her brother that is disabled. She often thinks of Brady and what there lives could have been...but he moved on moved far away. When she gets an job assignment that is sure to bring in a huge pay she finds her self finally excited about something since Brady left. But what happens when she is brought face to face with Brady again because he also is assigned to the project? Can they work together and not be reminded of there pasts? Or will they both soon realize that maybe they shouldn't have let each other go so easily. Brady is torn between hating and loving the woman who broke his heart..she is like a drug to him ..but he can't let his heart get involved again.. when the settle for a just sex relationship feelings will return for them both but will they be able to hold onto what they have created again or will it get lost when tragedy strikes again?
"I ride my brother's ass all the time about drugs, but you know what? You're my drug. You've been on my mind nonstop since Friday night. I crave you, Palmer. No one else. My heart's always belonged to you, and you broke it, but there's something about knowing your body belongs to me that makes it feel just a little bit better."-- Brady
That Man. Even with his ability to frustrate the hell out of me, he'd become my port in the storm-- Palmer
This is the first story I have read by Brenda Rothert but I will definitely be reading more! Thanks for a great story and can't wait for more in the near future hopefully! GO get this book now you won't be disappointed!
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