Between Before and After
by Amanda Dick
Synopsis/Blurb:
Five friends. Three days. One heart-stopping discovery.
Three years ago, Danny Morris left behind a gun, a tonne of questions and a gaping hole in the lives of those who loved him. What he didn’t leave was a suicide note.
On the anniversary of his death, his closest friends gather at his parents’ beach house in New Zealand's idyllic Marlborough Sounds. Danny’s girlfriend, Kate, holds fast to his memory by continuing to live in the house they shared. Struggling to move on with her life, her blossoming feelings for Danny’s best friend, Finn, only complicate matters. Withdrawing from his high-flying lifestyle, Max has carved out a much simpler life. Self-medicating with alcohol, fighting off nightmares he refuses to talk about, the memory of finding Danny’s body has him sailing dangerously close to the edge. While Finn is finally ready to address his feelings for Kate, trying to save Max from himself dredges up long-buried anger and frustration that threaten to overwhelm him. For Lacey and Gavin, a recent bereavement gives them a heart-wrenching insight of a different kind.
Instead of time easing the pain, the group find themselves stuck in limbo, awaiting the understanding and peace that has so far eluded them.
Three years ago, a single bullet ricocheted through all of them - and this year everything will change again.
Guest Character Max:
Teaser - Max
Three Years Earlier
Max hated leaving her alone. She looked so forlorn, so fragile – as if he would come home from the supermarket to find she had withered away to nothing, disappearing into the atmosphere without a trace. He glanced at his watch. He had been gone half an hour already. He should get back.
Making his way through the checkout and out to the car with the essentials in a plastic bag, he hoped he had gotten everything they needed. He had no idea what would happen when he had run out of annual leave days and had to go back to work. Leaving Kate alone for an entire day gave him chills. He started formulating a back-up plan. Maybe he could take a leave of absence for a month or so? Or maybe he could work something else out?
The traffic seemed to crawl on his way back to the villa, and he tapped his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel. Pulling up outside the house, he grabbed the bag of groceries and headed inside. Every time he went through that front door, he wanted to vomit. The memories were brutal.
He pushed the door closed with his foot and stopped. He was greeted with silence. Taking the bag of groceries into the kitchen, he unloaded the milk into the fridge. He purposely avoided looking at that corner of the living room. The carpet had been ripped up and the wallpaper had been stripped prior to Kate coming back home after the funeral, but neither hid the stain from his memory.
He crept up the hallway and listened at her bedroom door for a moment. Hearing nothing, he followed it up with a soft knock on the door. When she didn’t respond, he carefully opened the door and peeked in. She was curled up in the foetal position in the centre of the bed, her back to him. She looked like a child, small and lost. She was still wearing Danny’s All Blacks jersey, having refused to take it off since she came home from the funeral. The room smelt of misery. She needed to shower but she refused to. She refused to do anything but lie here, on their bed, wearing Danny’s jersey. He crept over to the window and cracked it open slightly, hoping the fresh air would help with the smell.
He turned back to her. She was sleeping, but she didn’t look peaceful. Even in sleep, she was frowning. Her cheeks were damp and her hair matted. In the past three days, she had barely said two words. He was starting to wonder if she would ever speak again. Looking closer, he realised she was clutching something to her chest. Danny’s cellphone. He stood up straight again, although it felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. He had heard her last night, through the thin walls of the old villa, replaying the voicemail message on Danny’s cellphone over and over until he had to fight the urge to run in here, rip it out of her hands and smash it against the wall.
Sighing deeply, he made himself turn around and leave the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He managed to take three steps before he sank to the floor, his back against the wall. He closed his eyes to try and block out the reality of the situation. Thundering in to fill the vacuum were memories of that day, barely two weeks earlier.
Blood, so much blood – and the smell. He wrestled with the urge to vomit even as bile rose up from his stomach.
He opened his eyes and tried to breathe through it, deep and slow. Turning his head slowly to the side, he caught a glimpse of that corner of the living room, where the horror had unfolded, where his nightmares began. His pulse raced and he closed his eyes again, slamming his head back against the wall viciously. Pain rocketed down his neck and throughout his body. He had to get a grip. Kate needed him. He couldn’t leave, even if he wanted to. As much as he wanted her to snap out of it, he was grateful for something to do. He would take care of her, even if it was here, in this hall of mirrors, this house of horrors. He owed it to Danny.
And once she was well again, he would leave this house and never come back.
Interview:
1) This is for Max: What is your favorite drink?
Max:
If you'd asked me that not long ago, I'd have said beer. No one looks
twice at you when you drink it (unlike the hard stuff, like whiskey).
Beer's a social drink - everyone drinks beer. Now, though, I'd have to
say Coke. Not the diet stuff though - that is God-awful crap - the
real, honest-to-goodness, full-fat, high-calorie version.
2) For Max: If you could tell or ask Danny one
thing, what would it be?
Max:
Ala "A Christmas Carol", I'd go all Ghost of Christmas Future on him -
I'd grab him by that shaggy mop of his and show him what was going to
happen to all of us because of what he did. Especially to Kate. She
didn't deserve that. I'd like to think it'd change his mind. I guess we
all would.
3) For Amanda: What was the hardest scene to write?
Amanda:
The whole story was pretty tough, to be honest. I do remember
re-writing the scene with Finn and Kate several times. After their
almost-kiss, where she's trying to explain to him how she feels - while
not actually understanding it herself. That was pretty pivotal to the
story, and I must've written it a hundred times. I just felt that it
was really important to get inside her head for that, but it was such a
jumbled up mess in there, the scene kept coming out wrong. I had to
change tack several times. Then, one day (very close to my editing
deadline), it just came to me. I saw the conversation in my head -
about Danny being the last man to break her heart, and how the way their
relationship ended would forever haunt her - and it all just settled
itself. I wrote in a frenzy for about an hour, and that's pretty much
what you see in the book. Sometimes that happens - once the motivation
and what drives the character presents itself, it's so much easier.
Sale links for “Between Before and After”:
Amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/Between-Before-After-Amanda-Dick-ebook/dp/B00KP4H2MU/ref=la_B00GH5HC80_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1402817383&sr=1-2Barnes & Noble -
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/between-before-and-after-amanda-dick/1119572976?ean=2940045955164Kobo -
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/between-before-and-afteriBooks -
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/between-before-and-after/id880896998?mt=11
Amanda Dick – AUTHOR BIO:
Amanda Dick is a night-owl, coffee addict, movie buff and music lover. She also writes.
Born in Opotiki, New Zealand, she is rather partial to dark chocolate and believes in the power of a
good vanilla latte. She has a passion for the colour green (particularly in clothes and gemstones) and
insists there is nothing sexier than a man in a kilt.
She spent several months traveling around Europe in her late 20’s (there’s a story there – she’ll get
around to writing it one day). After ridding herself of her wanderlust, she met the love of her life
(while working to pay off said wanderlust) in Edinburgh, Scotland. They moved in together the week
after their first date – so yes, she believes in love at first sight. She also believes in Women's
Intuition and following your heart.
She writes on her trusty laptop, predominantly late at night, when it's quiet and interruptions are
few. Most of all, she enjoys writing about human behaviour - love, loss, joy, grief, friendship and
relationships in general. She loves to put normal, everyday people into situations that will test their
boundaries. She is passionately curious about how we, as human beings, react when pushed to the
edge.
After living in Scotland for five years, she has now settled back home in New Zealand, where she
lives with her husband and two children.
Author links:
Goodreads –
www.goodreads.com/author/show/7265772.Amanda_DickFacebook –
www.facebook.com/amandadickauthor Amazon page –
www.amazon.com/Amanda-Dick/e/B00GH5HC80/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 Website –
www.amandadick.com Twitter –
www.twitter.com/AmandaDick_ Blog -
www.muse-needs-coffee.blogspot.co.nz
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