Welcome to The Cover Contessa's stop on the Burying Water blog tour!
The top-selling, beloved indie author of Ten Tiny Breaths returns with a new romance about a young woman who loses her memory—and the man who knows that the only way to protect her is to stay away.Left for dead in the fields of rural Oregon, a young woman defies all odds and survives—but she awakens with no idea who she is, or what happened to her. Refusing to answer to “Jane Doe” for another day, the woman renames herself “Water” for the tiny, hidden marking on her body—the only clue to her past. Taken in by old Ginny Fitzgerald, a crotchety but kind lady living on a nearby horse farm, Water slowly begins building a new life. But as she attempts to piece together the fleeting slivers of her memory, more questions emerge: Who is the next-door neighbor, quietly toiling under the hood of his Barracuda? Why won’t Ginny let him step foot on her property? And why does Water feel she recognizes him?
Twenty-four-year-old Jesse Welles doesn’t know how long it will be before Water gets her memory back. For her sake, Jesse hopes the answer is never. He knows that she’ll stay so much safer—and happier—that way. And that’s why, as hard as it is, he needs to keep his distance. Because getting too close could flood her with realities better left buried.
The trouble is, water always seems to find its way to the surface.
Excerpt:
Jane Doe
Now
I close my eyes as a tear slips out from the corner of
one eye, the salt from it burning my sensitive skin. Why did this happen to me?
Who could have done such a thing?
Raped . . . STDs . . . “What about . . . I mean,
could I be pregnant?” The question slips out unbidden.
True to her promise, Dr. Alwood quickly readjusts my
gown and covers. Peeling off her gloves, she tosses them in the trash bin and
then takes a seat on the edge of my bed. “We can certainly rule that out from
the rape.” She pauses. “Because you were already pregnant when you were brought
in.”
The air sails from my lungs as she delivers yet another harsh punch of news. My gaze
drifts to my flat abdomen. I have a baby in there?
“You were about ten weeks along.”
Were. Past tense.
“Do you not recall any
of this?” Dr. Alwood’s brows draw together as she watches me closely.
A soft “no” slips out and I can’t help but feel that
she doesn’t believe me.
“Well, given your extensive injuries, it is not at all
surprising that you miscarried. You’re lucky to be alive, as it is.” She
hesitates before she adds, “I don’t think that whoever did this to you intended
for you to survive.”
A strange cold sweeps through my limbs as I take in
the ruined body lying on this bed before me. I’ve been lucid for all of five
minutes—the long hand on the clock ahead tells me that—and in that short time,
this doctor has informed me that I was beaten, raped, . . . and left for dead.
And I lost a baby I don’t ever remember carrying, or
making.
I don’t know who the father was.
I don’t even know who I am.
“I’m going to send you for another CT scan and MRI.” I
feel the weight of her gaze on me. “Are you sure there isn’t someone or
something that you remember? A husband? Or a boyfriend? Or a sibling? A parent?
Maybe a city where you grew up? The hospital would like to find your family for
you.”
Her barrage of questions only makes my heart rate
spike and the annoying EKG ramp up again. I can’t answer a single one of them.
Is anyone missing me right now? Are they searching for me? Am I from Bend,
Oregon or do I live somewhere else?
Dr. Alwood sits quietly, waiting, as I focus on a
small yellow splotch on the ceiling. That’s water damage. How can I recognize that and not my own name?
“Even a tiny detail?” she presses, the urgency in her
voice soft and pleading.
“No.” There’s nothing.
I remember nothing at all.
Born in small-town Ontario, K.A. Tucker published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader, and currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures.
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This story sounds really good, I've added it to my to read list!
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