Book Title: A Good Man's Life (The Real World Series)
Author: Barbara Cutrera
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: February 1, 2014
Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions
Daniel Nash struggles to reconcile his feelings of betrayal with his desire to understand his life. His hopes of uncovering the secrets revealed in his father’s journals are quickly dashed, and he works with a private investigator to discover the truth. Worry about his wife, Sarah, combines with his efforts to cope with his childhood trauma, an unexpected death, and the recent revelations. His obsession with the past threatens to destroy his stable life. Meanwhile, Sarah and her father, Tristan, continue to combat the lingering discord that developed between them years before but refuse to take their main focus from Daniel. As he reviews his biological father’s efforts to be a good man, Daniel searches for a way to comprehend shocking disclosures. He questions his own goodness as he fights not to emotionally withdraw from those around him, especially the two people he knows will always love him, Sarah and Tristan.
Barbara Cutrera has been a writer since childhood but didn’t begin writing novels until 1999. Her first novel to be completed was Over, Under, Across & Through, which is the initial book in her Real World fiction series. Not satisfied to be limited by writing in only one genre, she next penned a mystery called In a Manner of Speaking. Cutrera took a dare from friends who suggested she write a romance and wrote The Healer’s Gift, a fantasy romance. Her fourth book to be released was True: 3 Short Stories. A Good Man’s Life, Book 2 in The Real World Series, has a release date of February 1, 2014. Novels in queue for publication include Mercy, Book 3 in The Real World Series, A Lovely Dream, a romantic thriller, A Lovely Reality, the sequel, Prim and Proper, a contemporary romance with a touch of mystery, and Lucky, a thriller set in the not-so-distant future in post-plague Earth. Cutrera has also completed another work of fiction entitled Compromising Positions and a new contemporary romance entitled Sight Unseen. She has begun work on a sequel to The Healer’s Gift, which she has decided to call Jordan’s Way.
Cutrera, a member of the Romance Writers of America, the Florida Writers’ Association, and the Tampa Area Romance Authors was born and raised in Louisiana and moved to Florida with her family in 2004. She works with the visually-impaired and is visually-impaired herself. She firmly believes that our minds are only limited by the restrictions we place upon them. Her literary credo? “Transcending reality by exploring it one story at a time….”
“Grandma Lillian and I were talking about swimming, ‘cause Amanda goes to a pool in her own backyard. Amanda says her daddy doesn’t wear a shirt in the water. I asked Grandma how come you never take your shirt off, and she said that you had another daddy before Grandpa Max and that he hurt you a lot. Will he come and hurt me, too?”
Lowering himself onto the edge of the bed, Daniel said soothingly, “Never, Kris. He wasn’t my real daddy, and I haven’t talked to him in over twenty years.”
“Why did he hurt you?”
“Because he was a very bad man.”
“You would never hurt me, would you?”
Daniel swallowed the lump in his throat that threatened to choke him. He was trying rather unsuccessfully to swallow the anger that was about to render him speechless.
“Never, ever.”
“Is it really terrible on your tummy? Is that why you don’t want people to see?” Kris persisted. “Does it still have pain?”
“If I don’t exercise, then my body hurts. I have scars, like when you cut your lip and it made a scar. Understand?”
“Can I see your scars?”
“Maybe when you’re older.”
“Did you cry when you got hurt?”
“Yes, I did.”
Kris pulled the covers up around his neck and asked, “Will you and Mommy stay with me until I go to sleep?”
“Sure.”
“Are the windows and the doors locked?”
“Yes,” Daniel said firmly. “You’re perfectly safe.”
The combination of the decongestant and the Tylenol took affect within minutes. The moment Daniel was certain Kris was sleeping, he leapt from the bed and stalked towards the front of the house. Sarah darted out after him, moving quickly but quietly in an attempt to keep up with her husband.
“Daniel, wait!”
“I’ll be at Lillian’s.”
He hadn’t been this enraged about anything since he’d been a child. He drove too quickly and too recklessly all the way to the house. Screeching to a halt in the driveway, Daniel parked and wrenched the key from the ignition. Jumping out, he slammed the car door behind him and stormed to the back door.
In his anger, it took him three tries to insert the key into the keyhole. Finally, he unlocked the door and charged into the kitchen, just as Lillian flicked on the lights.
“Daniel! What on earth?”
“Why did you do it?” he cried, as tears of frustration and rage welled up in his eyes. “You had no right to tell Kris about my scars!”
Lillian asked calmly, “What was I supposed to do? Lie? I thought you were upset that we lied to you before.”
“He’s five years old! He’s too young to even comprehend what happened and why!”
“You tell me what I could have said,” she retorted belligerently.
Daniel was dumbfounded. This was not his mother talking. This was insanity.
“You could have told him I get sunburned easily on my shoulders,” he replied evenly. “You could have told him everybody has a different way of doing things.”
“That wouldn’t be the truth.”
“Goddamn motherfucking son of a bitch! Do you remember what the truth is, Lillian?” His fingers tore at the buttons of his shirt. “Do you?”
“Daniel! Don’t you use language like that! Don’t you take the Lord’s name in vain!”
Flinging his shirtfront wide, Daniel yelled, “Do you remember this, Mom? You think Kris needs to know about this kind of horror and fear at his age? Damn you for taking his sense of security away!”
He ran from the house, his shirt unbuttoned, his feet thudding on the concrete steps. When he got to the Mazda, he roughly twisted the key in the ignition then sped back down the long drive that extended to Highland Road. A half a mile away, he pulled into the empty parking lot of the Victorian Doll Mansion and shut off the engine. Then, he pounded the steering wheel until the side of his hand throbbed. Raw and shaken, Daniel drove home.
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