Excerpt: Nocturne by Andrea Randall and Charles Sheehan-Miles
From the bestselling authors of In The Stillness and The Last Hour, a new story of forbidden love and second chances.
Savannah Marshall is a gifted flutist and daughter of musical royalty when she enrolls in the elite New England Conservatory of Music. Brilliant, eclectic and passionate, she lives music, but struggles with her plans for the future.
Gregory Fitzgerald is one of the most renowned cellists of his generation. A member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and professor at the Conservatory, he is laser focused on his career to the exclusion of friends, family and especially romance.
When Gregory and Savannah’s paths cross in the classroom, it threatens to challenge more than their wildly differing beliefs on music. Friendships, ethics, and careers are put on the line as Gregory and Savannah play a symphony of passion and heartbreak.
In the final movement, Gregory and Savannah are handed their greatest challenge, as the loss of absolutely everything they’ve held as truths hangs in the balance.
Savannah
It was only a few blocks down Huntington Ave back to the conservatory and my room. I set off through the rain, trying to clear my mind. Nathan. Gregory. It was all just … too much. And as much as I loved walking in the rain under normal circumstances, even that was becoming too much. The rain was coming down in sheets, and it was getting cold.
Ahead of me, turning onto the block and walking quickly, I saw a man in a black overcoat with a black umbrella and matching hair. From behind it almost looked like … it was.
I ran, my feet splashing up dirty rainwater, and ducked under the umbrella.
Gregory came to a shocked stop, and I heard the rain pounding against the fabric of the umbrella.
“What are you doing?” He had to shout to be heard.
“Trying to get out of the rain!”
A gust of wind blew the rain at us, almost horizontal, and the umbrella nearly collapsed. Gregory looked around and then grabbed my upper arm in his right hand. “Come!” he shouted, then pulled me toward the next building an underneath an awning.
By the time we got under the awning, his umbrella was in shreds, the fabric completely torn from the wire spokes. He looked at it in frustration for a second, shaking it, as if giving it a stern look or a strong lecture might force it back into shape.
Finally he tossed it aside. I wrapped my arms across my chest, my teeth chattering. My coat had soaked through.
The rain was coming down harder now. Hard enough I could hear it rattle off the awning and the nearest cars, a roar of a sound. Behind us, the walls and windows were covered with signs reading Boston Shawarma: Lamb, Kebab, Hummus, We Deliver! To both sides and our front, a wall of rain, almost completely blocking the view of the street.
Right in front of me … his face. Rain still dripped from his hair, past his sapphire eyes. Eyes that were fixed on me. I couldn’t hear my heartbeat over the pounding of the rain. But I could feel it, rushing in my ears. Because he brought his hands up, cupping my face. As he did I reflexively raised my hands, placing them flat on his chest, as if to hold him back.
“Why didn’t you have an umbrella?” he asked.
I swallowed. I didn’t know how to answer that. So I told the truth. “I don’t like having to prepare for rain.”
He shook his head, just slightly, and his mouth quirked up into a grin, one eyebrow raised. Then he threw his head back and laughed, a loud, hearty belly laugh. Without thinking, I shifted my hands to both sides of his face.
Andrea Randall
I started writing poetry long before writing fiction. I firmly believe Poetry is a solid foundation for all other forms of writing. It taught me that a single word can make or break the world.
I write fiction because my characters have a story and they want me to tell it.
I hope you enjoy the pieces of my soul that I share with you.
Visit Andrea on her Facebook page and her website.
Charles Sheehan-Miles
Sheehan-Miles has been a soldier, computer programmer, short-order cook and non-profit executive, and is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, including the indie bestsellers Just Remember to Breathe and Republic: A Novel of America’s Future.
Visit Charles at his Facebook page and his website.
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