Sand Dollar Chapter-a-Week
Posted on July 15, 2012
I’d like to thank everyone for following my Chapter-a-Week blog. However, I’m sorry to say that I will no longer be posting additional chapters of Sand Dollar to my website. So… if you have enjoyed what you’ve read so far, please buy the book. It’s only 99 cents as an eBook, $9.99 in paperback.
Click here to find out where to buy it.
Here’s what readers are saying about the SURPRISE ENDING:
“And despite the many twists of this heart-wrenching story for the reader to enjoy, the author gifted me with one more delectable twist that sent my heart-strings strumming!…And, when I finally surrendered and committed to these star-crossed lovers to watch the tale reach its fruition, Mr. Cole reveals one more gem of truth after all was said and done that warmed me to my toes.” — Bookideas.com
” Cole twists and turns this plot (which is why I couldn’t put it down) to where you can’t assume anything about the ending. You HAVE to read it.” — Kate Patrick
“Cole metes out important information at a good pace, keeping the reader as baffled as Noah by Robin’s strange changes of heart, and carefully manipulates details to lead to a real surprise ending.” — Feathered Quill
“You need to follow this and see how it turns out. This is a must read for anyone who loves pure romance.” — Let’s Talk Romance Reviews
“I was totally taken by surprise by the ending (sad in a way but ultimately it was a happy one), which I didn’t see coming at all, another plus!” — Johanna
“There were many times I wanted to reach into the book and honestly shake Robin, but luckily her character went on to be thoroughly explained, rectifying my need to smack her! The end was a slam dunk; totally unexpected.” — Pamela
“Sebastian Cole not only has one or two tricks waiting for you towards the end*** but many.” — Reesa
“It takes you on one hell of a rollercoaster ride, only to bring you to a very unexpected ending. That, to me, is what a well-written book is.” — Isabella
” It was a very emotional read for me, I spent time yelling at the characters, and then crying with them at the end.” — Bea
“The unexpected ending was perfect.” — Tina
“Wow I didn’t expect it to end the way it did. Very nice book with very vivid characters.” — Jalynn
Twenty-Fifth Chapter: Testing The Waters
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on July 9, 2012
“I wouldn’t listen to your parents if I were you. If your heart’s set on buying the lighthouse, then just do it,” Robin advised, stretched out in Noah’s arms on the teak deck of Noah’s boat, anchored out in front of the old lighthouse on a lazy summer day. “I can definitely picture us getting married there,” she continued. “It’s such a pretty spot. You know, it’s too bad they don’t make you wait a year to get divorced. Otherwise, we’d still be married right now, and we wouldn’t have to go through all that paperwork again just to get remarried. Speaking of paperwork, when are you planning on having me sign another one of your stupid prenups?”
“There’s not going to be a prenup this time. I guess I’ll just have to take my chances, that’s all.”
“But what about your parents?”
“What about them? You’re marrying me, not my parents.”
She smiled and continued with her list. “I want to have another child,” she announced.
“Of course, I’d love to have a child with you… but what kind of child exactly are we talking about?” he joked.
Robin laughed. “I’ve always loved the name Olivia — if it’s a girl, that is.”
“I think Olivia’s a beautiful name for a girl,” he said, eliciting a smile.
“Oh, and one more thing…” Noah looked at her closely. “I don’t want to be a social worker anymore. I’ve always wanted to be an X-Ray tech.”
“I think you should do whatever makes you happy, Robin.”
“Well, it would mean quitting my job and going back to school full time for a year until I get my certificate.”
“So when can you start?”
A big smile stretched across her face. “You’re the greatest. I love you, Noah Hartman,” she said, leaning in for a kiss, standing up and dipping her foot into the water, testing it.
Twenty-Fourth Chapter: The Three Reasons
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on July 2, 2012
Wearing a navy robe with matching slippers, Noah headed out the front door to fetch the Providence Journal, which was on the front lawn resting up against the For Sale sign. Shuffling back inside, he sat down at the patio table with the newspaper folded under his arm and a cup of coffee in his hand. It was a dreamy summer morning. The air was dry, and there was a light breeze shooting off the bay. Seagulls squawked as they fought over a scrap of food on the beach below. Noah’s coffee was getting cold as he sat there, staring off in the direction of the old lighthouse in the middle of the bay.
Unfolding the Providence Journal and glancing at the date — June 10th, 1997, he tore off the corner with the date printed on it, crumpled it up, and tossed it on the ground before getting up and going inside. Upstairs in his closet, he climbed a wooden stepladder and reached for a box on the top shelf. As he grabbed it, a large manila envelope resting on top of the box fell on his head. Sitting on the bed with the box and the manila envelope, he removed the lid from the box and looked inside. Resting on top was his wedding invitation, the date reading June 10th, 1996.
“It would have been our first wedding anniversary. We never even made it a year. God, I missed her.”
Twenty-Third Chapter: The Educated Decision
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on June 25, 2012
A line of Mercedes, Lexus, Range Rovers, BMWs, and Porsches waited in front of Capriccio restaurant, followed by a black Ford F150 pickup truck. Wearing a sport jacket and tie, Noah got out of his new pickup truck and tossed the keys to the valet. He walked into the dimly lit interior and passed a baby grand, where a man in a tuxedo was playing That’s Life by Frank Sinatra. He joined Scott, Sharon, Jerry, and Miriam at a candle-lit table.
“What on earth were you thinking?” Miriam exclaimed, angry. “How could you just quit like that? There isn’t another company around that will pay you half as much money as your dad’s been so generously paying you. And this is how you thank him?”
“I don’t care about the money,” Noah responded. “I care about being happy.”
“Don’t be a fool,” Jerry added. “You could be happy anywhere. It’s your responsibility in life to take whatever job pays you the most amount of money. Everyone else seems to enjoy making money. Besides, how do you plan on paying your bills without it?”
“I guess I’ll just have to downsize, that’s all… sell the house… whatever it takes. At this point in my life, it’s more important to me to have a career that I love.”
“And what career would that be?” Miriam asked.
“Well, I’ve got this new idea I’m working on. You know that lighthouse on an island in the bay across from my house? Well, guess what? It’s for sale ! I could buy it, fix it up, and turn it into a charming bed-and-breakfast.”
Twenty-First Chapter: To Tell The Truth
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on June 18, 2012
“Why did I have to push her into making a decision? Because I couldn’t wait to feel loved again? I should have been more patient — you know, wait out the storm until it blows over. I should have given her all the time in the world, whatever she needed. If only I hadn’t given up so easily… If only I had held on, never letting go…”
Looking like a Catholic schoolgirl with her hair in braids, a red plaid skirt, stockings, and a white cardigan, Robin was standing in the witness stand at the Newport County courthouse, her right hand in the air and her left hand on a Bible. Noah looked dazed, wearing a suit and sitting next to his lawyer, Ben.
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I do,” she replied.
Nineteenth Chapter: The Problem With Memories
Don’t forget to check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on June 4, 2012
Tony had a kind of arrogance about him, gawking at Robin as she reclined in the chair in his office and straightened her blouse.
“So how was your honeymoon?” he asked, laying a picture frame on his desk face down.
“Perfect… like a fairy tale,” she replied. “Which reminds me, did you ever see Pretty Woman, the movie?”
Before he could answer, she continued, “Julia Roberts wanted the fairy tale, remember?”
Tony nodded.
“Well, that’s what I got — the fairy tale. The only problem is… it’s a frickin’ fairy tale. I mean… that stuff only happens in the movies, right?”
Tony opened his mouth, but Robin spoke first. “I keep thinking any minute the clock’s gonna strike twelve, and I’m gonna get tossed aside, sent back to where I came from, while Prince Charming over here rides off into the sunset with someone else on the back of his fancy white horse. I hate feeling insecure like this. It’s a terrible feeling…” she said, shaking her head, “expecting that someday everything is going to be taken away from me, ya know what I mean? And where does that leave me, huh?” she said, looking at Tony, waiting for an answer.
He paused to observe her body language, and figuring it was safe to speak, he started to talk.
“ABANDONED, that’s where !” she shouted. “I don’t know, what do you think? Is it really too good to be true?” she asked desperately.
Twelfth Chapter: The Marriage Proposal
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on April 30, 2012
My seventy-seven-year-old sister-in-law enters my hospital room and walks over to my brother standing beside my bed. “Hi, honey,” she says, kissing him. “Hi, Noah,” she says softly, looking down at me.
“Hi, Sharon. Thanks for coming,” I say, happy to see her. “I’d like you to meet my new friend Josh over here. I was just telling him the story about Robin and me.”
She looks into my eyes, smiles, and kisses my head, making me blush.
“You know, Noah, you’re a man after my own heart,” Josh admits. “I had no idea you were such a romantic. ‘And on that day you and I will simply sail away into heaven together’ — now that’s good stuff. Did you think of that all by yourself? Anyway, go on, go on; I love a good love story.”
They were all looking at me with pleasant eyes that encouraged me to continue. “So, like I was saying… it was a wonderful summer that I’ll never forget. But all good things must eventually come to an end. The air was getting colder and the leaves were starting to fall. And like the song says, ‘Seasons were made for change’, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Nothing could have prepared me for what would happen next…”
Fifth Chapter: Life At First Sight
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on April 5, 2012
While Y-M-C-A by The Village People was playing at the main dance floor inside the Mardi Gras complex in Cranston, people were lined up outside, waiting to pile into the club. Noah and Scott were handed bottles of Heineken by the pretty, young ponytailed bartender as they stood watching the DJ spin records inside the mirrored booth. Scott resembled his brother, only with glasses, a slightly receding hairline, and an extra fifteen pounds from all the years of his wife’s good home cooking. Scott looked tailored, lawyer-like as a matter of fact, with a navy pinstriped suit, white shirt with gold cufflinks, and blue tie. Noah, on the other hand, was dressed more casually, wearing a blue sport shirt and tan pants.
“Thanks for coming,” Noah said as they stepped away from the bar. “The last time I came to a place like this, it didn’t go so well. At least this time I have good moral support and a shoulder to cry on,” he said, laughing.
“Anything to help, Little Brother, but I can’t stay too long, or I’ll turn into a pumpkin. I promised Sharon I’d be back by midnight. I figure if she can have Girls’ Night Out once a week, I can have Brothers’ Night Out once in a blue moon, right?”
“Sounds good to me,” Noah agreed, clanking his Heineken to his brother’s.
Fourth Chapter: Life Before Robin
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on March 29, 2012
“Rachel was a complainer,” I explain to Josh, continuing with the story, “always complaining about one thing or another. She complained that I was shallow and self-centered. She complained I never listened to her, especially when it came to having enough chutzpah to stand up to my parents. Let’s see, what else… Oh yeah, she complained I was materialistic and loved my boat more than I loved her. Maybe she was right — I don’t know. In any case, it didn’t matter anymore because my lawyer had called to tell me that my divorce from Rachel was now final, and I could start dating again. But finding the right woman was going to be quite the challenge. I needed to find someone that would love me for me and not for my money. And with Internet dating, finding the right match soon became a full time job.”
“So I started with the Jewish pile first, not because it was important to me, but because it was important to THEM — my parents.
“What was important to me?” I say, repeating Josh’s question. “That’s easy… LOVE.”
Third Chapter: Priorities
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on March 22, 2012
“It was four years before that incident in Saint Barts with the sand dollar,” I tell Josh. “I had everything a man could possibly need — or so I thought. The year was 1992 and the place was Jamestown, Rhode Island…”
High on top of a hill rising up from a private, sandy beach sat a gray, shingled Nantucket-style house with six bedrooms, three balconies, and a large deck overlooking the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Scaffolding flanked the house on two sides. Thirty-five-year-old Noah stepped out onto the back deck wearing jogging shorts, a tank top, and running shoes, the sun just moments away from rising over the tranquil sea. He jogged down the numerous wooden steps leading to the beach below and along the vacant shoreline. Seagulls flew out of his way as small waves broke gently against an orange background.
The sun was shining as he made his way back to the house, running by a sand dollar sticking up in the sand, undetected.
Second Chapter: FRAGILE: Handle With Care
Check back every week for a new chapter!
Posted on March 16, 2012
Look at me. Not too shabby for an eighty-year-old man, huh? I’m feeling pretty good, although I can’t seem to remember how I got here or how this bandage ended up on my forehead. I hope I get out of here soon; I’d like to go home. After all, today’s our anniversary.
I lean closer to the mirror, turning my head to the side and touching the edge of the white medical tape holding the square gauze to my forehead. Let me just pull the tape up a little bit over here and see what this looks like. I hear a knock at the door. Better get back in bed.
I scurry out of the bathroom and run back to my hospital bed, jumping in with relative ease. There’s a second knock, this time louder. “Come on in,” I say, pulling the white cotton sheet up over my hospital gown.
sebastiancoleauthor.com 