Welcome to the Wednesday Spotlight. Today we have an exclusive excerpt of Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights by Jean Joachim. Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights was voted best Front Cover of the Month for April at Sinclair Books. Jean Joachim is a brilliant author and I highly recommend this book.
She remembered a group her mother belonged to in the community, the Moonlight Maidens they called themselves, a group of middle-aged women who like to go skinny-dipping together at night in the lake. When she was a child, Sunny found out what they were doing and was mortified. She never told anyone and always got embarrassed whenever her mother or another lady made a joke about it. But tonight on this hot, hot night, skinny-dipping in the lake sounded like a good idea.It was late, too late to round up anyone else to go, so she slipped down to the lake quietly by herself. Swimming in the lake alone could be dangerous, but Sunny decided she would get in to cool off and not swim. She could lie on the cord and flotation devices that attached the float to the dock. She’d just lie there, look at the sky and cool down. She wore a skimpy jersey dress with nothing underneath and placed her towel close to the stairs so she could make a quick getaway if necessary. Then she shed her little dress and dove in.
****
As the day of Ben’s arrival approached, Mike got more
anxious about explaining Sunny to his son. Although Ben’s mother
had remarried, Ben had not even met one woman Mike had dated
because Mike had not fallen in love with anyone and didn’t want to
parade woman after woman before Ben. But Sunny was different.
He couldn’t keep her a secret and didn’t want to, but he didn’t know
what to say to Ben. Perhaps the old fashioned way worked best.
“Ben, this is my girlfriend, Sunny,” he said aloud, testing the words.
What else was there to say? He got up from his bed and
paced. Was he sure enough of Sunny to be introducing her to Ben?
What would Ben say? How would he feel about sharing his father’s
time? Mike had plenty of questions but no idea what the answers
should be. The night was hot, he went out for a walk to cool off and
sort things out.
As usual, he ended up down at the lake. As he was walking
along, something moving in the lake caught his eye. He stopped. No,
he was not mistaken; someone was swimming in the lake, alone. He
saw shadows in the moonlight as the lone swimmer moved back
and forth between the ropes holding the float and the stairs to the
dock. Then the swimmer disappeared under the water and came up,
then went under again. This time he didn’t see the swimmer
reappear. The person could be drowning and no one would know!
Mike raced down to the dock, ripped off his clothes and dove in
wearing only his boxers. When he broke the surface, he heard a scream.
“Don’t come near me!” Sunny hollered.
Mike stopped and looked at her.
“Sunny? Is that you?”
“Yes. Stay where you are.”
“What are you doing in the lake alone so late at night?”
“I’m skinny dipping. Stay where you are.”
“Skinny dipping? Alone?”
“Of course alone!”
“You’re not waiting for Gavin, are you?” he asked, jealousy
and suspicion tightening in his chest.
“No. Don’t be ridiculous. But I’m not dressed, so please keep
your distance,” she said, bobbing up and down by the rope.
Mike swam closer.
“Looks like I have you just where I want you,” he teased as he
slowly closed in on her.
“Mike! Come on,” she pleaded.
He swam up until he was just across from her. Even with the
full moon shining down on them, he could not see beneath the water,
it was too dark. He did see her bare shoulders bobbing up and down
and a bit of the tops of her breasts, looking lovely in the moonlight.
“That’s too close!”
“Relax, I can’t see anything. It’s too dark. Just your beautiful
shoulders,” he said softly, treading water about four feet away from her.
“What are you doing out here alone?” he asked her.
“Cooling off, looking at the stars, Enjoying myself…until you
showed up,” she snapped.
“It’s dangerous to be out here swimming alone. What if you
get a cramp?”
“I’m not going to get a cramp. I’m not swimming, just floating.”
“I jumped in because I thought you were drowning,” he explained.
“Well, I’m not, so just jump right out again.”
“Sure you’re not meeting Gavin?”
“No. I have no desire to be out here naked with Gavin.”
“How about naked with me?”
“To be honest, I was looking forward to being out here naked
by myself,” she said.
****
Mike swam a little closer to her, so Sunny pushed off from
the ropes and swam back to the dock, enjoying the feel of the cool
water swirling around her body, unobstructed by a bathing suit. He
followed her. When she got to the ladder, she stopped. He was
about three feet away from her.
“Back off, Mike!” she demanded.
“Okay, okay,” he said, moving away from her.
“Farther!”
“Hey, I’m halfway across the lake already!”
“Don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head.
He swam back another few feet.
“That’s fine,” she said, steadying herself with one hand on
the ladder.
“Sunny, I…”
“I’m not ready…not for you to get so close…not now,” she said.
It was almost too much for Sunny to bear because she wanted
him so much, but they would have to wait. Mike moved a little closer.
“Don’t you want me, too?” he asked her softly.
“Back. Please…please don’t ask me that,” she said, close to tears.
He swam to the dock about five feet away from her and held
on so he could stop treading water. Sunny knew she had to leave.
Just as he reached over to touch her shoulder, there was a flash of light.
“What was that? Summer storm coming?” she asked.
“Maybe a flash, like from a camera?” he asked her.
Suddenly, she realized they were not alone.
“Oh, no!” she exclaimed, pulling herself up the ladder quickly,
grabbing the towel on the deck and rapidly wrapping it around her
wet body. The flash went off two more times.
Don't forget to vote for Jean on this month's Book of the Month. You can find Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights at.
I would also like to announce the release of Jean's latest book.
