Page 1 of Who's that Girl?
Prologue-ish
If you’re here, it might be because you read my novel, Cruel to be Kind and have been dying to know what Adam said in his text messages and appeals to Claire at the end of that story. I’m happy to finally be able to offer the closure so many of you wanted, and am delighted that the wait for Adam’s tale is over in time for the holidays. Revealing a bit more about Adam’s inner thoughts was always part of the plan, but it did take me longer to get here than expected, and I appreciate your patience.
If you haven’t read Cruel to be Kind, I highly recommend you stop, go back, and read that book before diving into this story. In addition to avoiding spoilers, it will all be much sweeter if you do.
Cruel to be Kind is the first in a linked series about The Madison family and this story/novelette is a chronological extension of that tale (book 1.5, technically speaking) but it’s also a story about something that happened long before the events of that book.
There are more wacky closed-door romcoms and emotional chick-lit dramas from the whole Madison clan out there in the world. Visit the series page on Amazon or the Agency Press website below for all currently available offerings.
Feedback helps and I am grateful for it all, so please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever else you fancy.
For sneak peeks, ARC opportunities, freebies and more, sign up for the exclusive newsletter Letters from Liv if you haven’t already, via a link on the main Agency Press website. And follow Liv (me) on Instagram for direct access.
The Agency Press Collective is a group of diverse indie authors offering new reads for almost everyone, so please do check us out! Sorry for the bait-and-switch prologue. Just wanted you to read it.
www.agencypress.org
Adam
Adam: Claire?
Adam: Claire, where are you? Where did you go?
Adam: Please answer me.
Adam: Claire???
I can’t believe this. She’s ignoring me. My wife is ignoring me.
Are we over? Is that what this means?
It’s a terrifying thought.
Granted, she wasn’t wrong. We’ve been having a rough time for awhile now. Ever since we lost the baby things have been … hard.
But it’s not her fault.
It’s mine. I see that now.
I’ve been such a clueless asshole.
Claire Madison — no, Claire Mason-Madison — the best thing to ever happen to me, my gorgeous, kind, unbelievably hilarious wife — is leaving me (I think) and I have no one to blame but myself.
I can’t believe I let this happen.
Stupid, Adam. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
~
For the next twelve hours, all night in fact, I text Claire three times an hour, at the top of every hour. She never replies. The little dots that show she’s composing something don’t appear and disappear, like they would if she were at least considering her reply. The messages don’t even show as delivered. I can’t even tell if she’s read them.
Where is she? Where did she go? She’s been out all night. It’s completely out of character. She must know I’d be worried.
I guess she … doesn’t care about that anymore?
The other night, when this whole thing started, she brought home that guy — that kid, Drew Fox. Her brother’s childhood friend. I’ve known him a long time, practically forever, but he’s not a kid anymore.
She brought him home.
