Exposed (A Short Story Novel)

It’s been five years since her husband's death and Zoe Parson is finally ready to move forward with her life. That is until a letter arrives that threatens to rip up the bright future from her grasp. She knows she must make a choice. But does she have the courage?

Zoe Parson turned off the car with one hand while tapping her thumb against the steering wheel with the other to the beat of her favorite song. She pulled a couple of breaths,
then softly smiled.

Since her husband’s death during a morning jog, she’d avoided dating like the plague, despite everyone’s urging to get back out there.

“You’re too young to be alone,” her mom had said.

“You’ll feel better if you have some fun,” her friends urged.

She had ignored them all for five years. But when Ethan Hughes asked her to dinner, Zoe decided it couldn’t hurt. After all, he had managed her husband’s estate and had been
an ear to listen when she sat up late at night unable to sleep. He had proven to be an irreplaceable ally against a system eager to dismiss her.

Ethan, ultimately, had proven to be a friend. If anyone understood her, it was him.

So why not enjoy dinner with him? What harm could it do? Should it matter how attracted she was to him? Should it matter that he made her think of those things for the first
time in five years?

Thoughts of pulling back out of the driveway and taking a good drive to settle the hoard of
emotions spiraling within her body (from tiptoe to the crown of her head, or so it felt), but Zoe swallowed hard against them all. It was already after eleven, and she had to work in the morning. More importantly, it was time to plant both feet on the ground before heading into the office. The jabs her coworkers would take, knowing she'd been out on a date-like dinner, would be relentless. Light-hearted and well-meaning as they might be, she wasn’t ready for questions
or comments. Not after a single dinner with a very kind man.

No one would grasp the reality that there was no reason to make a big deal out of the night. Not when they were all so eager to fix her.

She climbed from the car and set the alarm. Zoe still didn't park in the garage where Mike's tools - and the motorcycle that he loved so much - still remained. Though most of the house had long since been cleaned out, those last material memories of
him in his favorite man-cave-ish part of the house were ones she hadn't been
ready to part with. Not yet.

But after the night she'd had, Zoe wondered if maybe she was getting close.

She stepped into the ranch they had built together and moved into after the honeymoon in Hawaii.
It’d taken years for her to not hate every inch of it following his death; to not find pain in seeing him around every corner. But now, it was home again. And that was a good feeling.

Exchanging her keys for the pile of mail she'd left behind before dinner, Zoe flipped through the bills until she came to the last envelope. Absently, she dropped the rest of
the unopened mail on the counter, then poked one finger under the flap and pulled
out the letter.

All the warmness in the pit of her stomach soured as she read the words.

“This can’t be right,” she said quietly.

Language: English

Number of Pages: 63 pages

Estimated Time to Read: 1 hours

Word Count: 10,507

Formats: ePub & Mobi

Devices: Kindle, Apple, & Android Devices, Nook & Kobo Readers, Computers

Delivery Time & Method: Instant delivery to domestic and international readers via the email address provided at check-out

Also available on:Amazon