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Hey amazing people!

Are you reading along with the installments of Night & Day? There's a new one right at the bottom of this email!

A few weeks ago I announced my publication anniversary giveaway for subscribers. The entries came in, and three winners were random selected. Those lucky people are...

🎉 B

🎉 Connie

🎉 Carrie

I'll be emailing each of you to find out which book you want and get it sent your way.

Everyone who entered the giveaway and indicated they wanted a bookmark--I'm working on it! I was thrilled that so many of you were interested, but that means I had to make a plan to paint and draw them all and then set aside some time for getting envelopes stuffed. I hope to have all of them on their way in the next two weeks.

What I'm writing

In my Facebook group, I shared a short video explaining that I decided to completely rewrite the novella I drafted in August. While I know the decision is for the best, I do get a bit grumpy when I remember all the early mornings I climbed out of bed while the rest of the house was asleep, only to write words that ultimately aren't going to appear in a book.

I'm trying to remind myself that each of the stories I've written has been its own journey. Other authors can outline a very specific process that takes them from the start to the finish of their books, but I don't seem to work that way. Each one is a brand new problem that demands to be solved it in its own unique way. So, if this novella needed to be written twice in order to be written correctly, I can accept that. I guess. 😒

Live chat with Marie Sinclair, and giveaways

If you spend time on Facebook but haven't joined my group yet, you should! On Thursday, September 9 at 8 p.m. eastern time, Marie Sinclair and I will be live, talking about our new and upcoming releases, maybe answering a few of your questions, and of course, sharing giveaways! Marie is the first of several wonderful authors I'll be chatting with live in the upcoming weeks, so I hope you'll join the Party Barn and follow along.

Join Rachel's Party Barn

Speaking of giveaways...

Pre-Order Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Burning Season, I'm giving one lucky person a prize pack that includes signed copies of Long Winter and Signs of Spring! Unfortunately, due to the insanity that is international shipping, I'm not able to offer the prize internationally.

Enter the Giveaway

I think you're going to love Dylan and Bo, and I'm so eager for you to meet them. Here's an excerpt to give you a taste of their story.

Dylan just stood there, his eyes tracing the outline of Bo’s body. They’d both left their hats in the car, and a gentle breeze ruffled Bo’s hair, the dark crown of his head lit amber by the glare of the yard light.

“I told you I wouldn’t say anything about what we did,” Bo reassured him, his voice seeming afloat in the dark with his face in total shadow. “And I meant that. But just so you know…if we did it again, I wouldn’t say anything about that either.”

Dylan’s fingers curled into his palms, which he didn’t notice until he felt the bite of his short fingernails against his skin.

“I know how to be careful,” Bo went on. “Nobody’d know but you and me.”

The offer—the promise—rekindled the fire he’d been trying unsuccessfully to bank for two days. Even if Glen woke up, he wouldn’t be able to see them with the barn in the way, much less hear Bo’s quiet words. And all the way across the yard and on the other side of the horse pens, the house was dark, with no sign anyone was awake. Still, as he confessed roughly, “I’d like that,” he felt like the whole world would hear. “If we were careful.”

It was just for a few weeks. Then Bo would go, and Dylan’s disrupted life could return to normal. But until then…why not? How many chances would he have with anyone, much less someone who could enchant him with a single look, whose every bit of skin and every spoken word intoxicated him? He could store up the memories for all the days to come, when he wouldn’t be free to run off to Texas and find men alongside the highway or anywhere else. For the days after he stepped into his role as his brother’s right hand, and the course of his life would be set for good.

Sleepwalker ARCs are ready!

Sleepwalker is releasing in just one month! The story is about Oliver, a high-powered corporate attorney who exercises perfect control in all areas of his life, and Blake, his dog walker, who's also an artist struggling to figure out what he wants to do and who he wants to be. They're brought together when Oliver impulsively adopts a vicious, sweater-wearing Chihuahua, and turns to Blake for help.

ARCs are available to those who are willing to read the book and consider leaving an honest review.

Request an ARC

Have a great week!

I hope it includes at least one good book. 😘

xo,

Rachel

Website | Rachel's Party Barn on Facebook | Instagram | Discord

Books by Rachel Ember

Long Winter | Signs of Spring | Burning Season | As the Tallgrass Grows

Jaywalking | Sleepwalker

***

NIGHT & DAY

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

Chapter Six

When Jonathan picked up Isabel on Thursday, he knew something was wrong by the way the caregiver who always checked him out—by scanning a barcode by Isabel's name, like she was a library book—had her lip snagged between her teeth when he pushed open the door to Isabel's room at the care center.

Before he could panic, his nervous glance around the room showed him Isabel, held by another caregiver who smiled at him and wiggled her fingers at him before coming his way.

The woman biting her lip, who Jonathan remembered was named Courtney, scanned Isabel's code and then sighed. "Sir, I'm so sorry to be telling you this, but due to a staffing problem, we are unable to accommodate Isabel until further notice."

Jonathan, who'd just taken Isabel from the other caregiver, froze. Gurgling happily at him, Isabel banged one of her soft little fists against his chin.

"Pardon me?"

Courtney sighed again. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. "Labette had a family emergency out of state, and left without notice. She won't be back for a month. Even if we could provide adequate care without Labette, our license won't allow us to fall below our required caregiver-to-infant ratios. And the center has decided not to replace Labette, but to wait for her to come back. I hope you understand."

Jonathan slowly bent down to place Isabel in the carrier he'd brought in with him from the car, his thoughts racing. There was no way he could stay home from work the next day. He had a closing, and while ordinarily Landry was on one of his rare holidays. 

He'd have to figure it out, he thought with a grimace as he buckled Isabel in. Gazing up at him, she pushed the tip of her tongue against her gums and flashed him one of her little smiles. She was just beginning to try them out, and the sight of this one melted him. He smiled back at her, which coaxed another little baby grin before she noticed the toy clipped to her harness, and narrowed her eyes at it, fully distracted by the effort of grabbing it with her still-clumsy hand.

"If you want a refund of your deposit, they will process that for you immediately," Courtney went on, "but we hope that you'll wait and stay with us. We'll welcome Isabel back when Labette comes home."

Jonathan nodded tiredly. The irritated part of him wanted to cancel his agreement with the center and get his exorbitant deposit back. But the reasonable part of him knew that it was a safe place for Isabel with people he trusted, and throwing away her place out of spite was a bad call. Not to mention, considering that the waiting lists were up to a year long at comparable centers around town, he probably couldn’t find another place that could take Isabel right away, anyway.

"I'll wait," he told Courtney, who beamed, then frowned sympathetically and apologized some more, promising him that someone would call him when they had more news about the timetable for Labette's return.

Jonathan wished he hadn't driven, so he could have pushed Isabel home in the stroller that Ty had used to drop her off. Instead, he hoisted the folded contraption from the storage room off the lobby where several other strollers and a few child's bikes were stowed, and awkwardly carried both Isabel in her carrier and the stroller out to the SUV.

Ty. As usual, thinking about him made Jonathan feel warmer and more at ease, even given his present levels of agitation. But this time there was a practical thought interwoven with the emotions. Was it possible that Ty would be free to watch Isabel the next day? At least in the morning, so Jonathan could take care of the closing before signing out for the rest of the day?

The more he thought of it, the more tentatively relieved he became. If Ty could stay even a couple of hours, then meet Jonathan at work, the most pressing problem would be solved. From their occasional conversations, Jonathan remembered Ty saying that he spent most of the day resting up for his shift at Jonathan's. Because Isabel still, after three weeks of Ty doing his best to calm her and encourage her to sleep, spent most of their time together wide awake.

When he got to the townhouse, it was about a half-hour before Ty was due to arrive. Jonathan parked in the single spot by the backyard gate, he happened to notice a light on in the house a few doors down, and was surprised to see it. The house had been empty for two years straight. The couple that had lived there when he and Natalie moved in were still the owners, as far as he knew, but hadn't been seen in or around the neighborhood after the first few weeks they'd lived there.

The mystery had entertained him and Natalie over the years. Natalie liked to imagine macabre reasons for their absence, while Jonathan would posit, hopefully, that they'd inherited an island somewhere and just hadn't gotten around to coming back to pack up and sell their now-extraneous, half-million-dollar townhome.

He looked at the lit square of the second-story window for a long moment, suppositions about the neighbors quickly turning into thoughts of Natalie, which he always tried to avoid. But he couldn't help a flare of worry. She might as well be on that fictional island with the neighbors, for all Jonathan knew. When she'd left, they'd agreed that their marriage should end. But that didn't mean Jonathan didn't still miss his best friend. And the more time that went by without her so much as checking to be sure Isabel was all right, the more Jonathan's worry combined with frustration.

Natalie had been the one who couldn't stand not having a baby. Natalie had been the one to insist on fertility treatments, to persist after a year of no success. Jonathan hadn't been opposed to being a parent, but it was never something he would have pursued if it weren't for her. He'd always been willing to do almost anything for Natalie. She was his best friend.

The problem with their marriage was that all she’d ever been was a friend. Now, alone with their daughter and with their marriage over, he didn’t know how they’d ever thought they could make one another happy.

Pulling his focus from the neighboring window and all the strange thoughts and feelings it had led him to, Jonathan collected Isabel and carried her inside, making funny faces at her until, to his delight, she hiccuped a deep chuckling laugh. 

In the few minutes before Ty was due to arrive, Jonathan finished his dinner and was considering pouring himself a whiskey. Ordinarily, he would have had one by now, sipping it while he began cooking the simple meal and possibly having another after he’d washed up the dishes. But since the night a week ago, when he’d shared a drink and a conversation with Ty, the ritual felt suddenly unfamiliar. He had a hard enough time not thinking of Ty in ways that were inconvenient and inappropriate, but there had been something painfully sensual about watching him experience the whiskey, and how he’d slowly relaxed into sipping it, draping his lean body back against the wingback chair beside Jonathan’s and telling Jonathan stories about his sisters, when they were Isabel's size up until now.

"And what about you?" Jonathan had asked after Ty told him proudly that Danielle was in her first year of cosmetology school, and Molly was a sophomore in college, and pre-med. "Do you want to go on with school?"

"Oh," Ty had said, with a nervous smile and a pause to sip his whiskey. As he lifted the glass close to his face and angled his head more toward the lamp on the end table beside his chair, the light had struck the whiskey tumbler and Ty's eyes in the same moment, so that Jonathan was startled to realize that Ty's eyes were whiskey-colored, a comparison he'd somehow not drawn before. "Well," Ty had said when he'd swallowed, "I would, yeah. Actually, I'm hoping to start next semester at UMKC."

"The campus is near here," Jonathan had said. "I hope that means Isabel and I won't lose you if you decide to enroll."

Ty had shaken his head firmly. "Oh, you won't lose me. I'm here as long as you want me." His smile had immediately vanished and he'd rushed to add, "I mean, want me working here. For Isabel. Well, for you, with Isabel." Then he'd hastily averted his eyes and changed the subject.

Now, that memory still making his heart thud warm and heavy in his chest, Jonathan nudged the whiskey deeper into the bar cabinet and closed the door. 

What Jonathan hadn't asked Ty, though he was intensely curious, was why Ty seemed to be the primary supporter of his siblings now, not to mention when he'd been no more than a child himself. He didn't have to strain to understand that the answer might reveal more about Ty than Ty was ready for him to know. But Jonathan hoped that might change one day.

Five minutes later, Jonathan heard the sound of someone opening the front door, which Jonathan had taken to leaving unlocked for Ty. He carried Isabel into the foyer propped up in the crook of his arm so that Ty would see her when he came in, and because he liked the way she always wrinkled her nose in delight when she first noticed Ty.

"Sorry I'm late," Ty was saying as he let himself in, locking the door behind him automatically. His expression melted into a smile when he turned, and Jonathan wondered if it made him a despicable person that he was a little jealous of his daughter for so easily putting that look on Ty's face. 

"You're not late," Jonathan corrected as he handed over the baby, who was rocking excitedly in his arms at the sight of her favorite person. 

"It's eight-oh-three," Ty countered. "I'm three minutes late." He finally lifted his beaming face from Isabel's to Jonathan's, and immediately frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Jonathan said, and when Ty lifted a brow, he sighed. "When I picked her up, I was informed that Isabel's center doesn't have room for her over the next month. They had an employee emergency, and they don't have the right staffing until she comes back."

"Oh, that sucks. Starting when?" Ty asked.

"Starting now," Jonathan said grimly. And before he could go on about work and the closing and only needing a couple extra hours of Ty's time if he could possibly spare it, Ty frowned thoughtfully.

"Well, I could probably watch her during the day, too. If you want."

For a moment, Jonathan could only stare at him. Then he managed, "What day? Tomorrow? Because that would be such a huge help."

"I meant, I don't know. All the days, I guess. Until you make other arrangements, I mean. Or until the center re-opens." Ty was flushing. "It was a weird idea, I'm sure. You probably wouldn't want me here day and night." He laughed nervously.

"I would," Jonathan interrupted him, and Ty's whiskey eyes snapped to his.

"Yeah?" he asked, with a tentative smile. "I don't know, you might regret that. My sister Sam tells me I can be, and I quote, 'a lot.'"

Jonathan smiled back. "You'd be doing me an enormous favor. And I'd pay you, obviously, for the additional time. We can work it all out." He found himself dangerously energized by the idea the more he thought about it. "I know you've barely had an opportunity to use the cot in the nursery, but you can have the guest room instead so you'll have more space. And we'll work out a portion of the morning and evening where you'll have time to yourself."

Ty's eyes widened. "Okay. Sure. I hadn't thought about all of that, but—yeah. Sounds good."

Jonathan hadn't thought about it either. Or had he? All the pieces were flying into place in his mind now, whatever the case. He felt feather-light as they went into the kitchen to work out the rest of the immediate details, with promises to discuss the rest over the weekend. 

Underneath the relief of having Isabel's care sorted out after the shock at the center, Jonathan recognized a shadow of unease. The danger of his own feelings would be heightened by spending even more time with Ty, by making him more a part of his home with Isabel than he'd already become. But Jonathan tamped down those worries. He was an adult, not a teenager who was a slave to his emotions. He'd be fine.