Title: Waiting on Justin
Author: Lucy H. Delaney
Genre: New Adult
Can everlasting love grow amidst never-ending despair? Best friends Justin and Haylee learn early on that the answer is yes. Their parents would rather spend time drinking and partying than raising children, so the two rely on each other for the care and emotional support they need. Over time, Justin and Haylee become lovers despite the age difference between them.
Theirs is a forbidden romance that would destroy them both if discovered.
The older of the two, Justin is more than a little rough around the edges. He does everything he can to protect Haylee from as much abuse as possible, but when tragedy strikes there is nothing he can to do keep her from being taken into the foster system.
The system meant to save kids threatens to pull the two of them apart.
Haylee begs Justin to run away with her, but the powers-that-be force him into an inescapable corner. Blaming Justin for the distance that separates them, Haylee shuts out everything and everyone from her past - including Justin. She tries to forget him. She tries to replace him. But he is always there. So is her own addiction. When it finally gets the best of her, she finds herself utterly alone.
She soon discovers what Justin has always known: Their love was worth waiting for.
About the Author
Lucy H. Delaney lives with her blended family in the Pacific Northwest town of Leavenworth, Washington, nestled at the feet of the Cascade Mountains. When not tucked away in her writing room making up stories or standing in her cubicle in one of the offices of corporate America, Lucy spends her time with family and friends.
Along with her husband and four children, Lucy loves to be in nature: She can often be found on her homemade backyard swing, curled up with a good book, hiking the surrounding mountains or running country roads and game trails. A fitness enthusiast who regularly practices crossfit, yoga, and distance running, Lucy also volunteers for the Chelan-Douglas CASA organization and her church's AWANA program to help keep kids safe and smiling.
Connect with Lucy online
Twitter: @lucyhdelaney
Facebook: Lucy H. Delaney
Links
Book Excerpts
He woke me up early the next morning before he had to be at work. I packed the clothes I could carry into my backpack along with the book he let me keep to finish. Inside the cover he wrote the address to the apartment that was not ours but his alone and the number to Treadmore's since we didn't have a phone yet.
“As soon as you know where you'll be, write me. Promise.”
“Yeah.” I cried again the whole way to the car and during the ride to the school. It's so much faster to get somewhere when your heart is breaking; it felt like mere seconds between the beginning and end of the trip.
“I can't go with you or I would.”
“I know. I'm afraid.”
“Don't be, baby. It'll be OK.” He pulled me in a sideways hug.
“I don't want to leave you.”
“Haylee, don't do this again; just go. Write me as soon as you can; call me at work if they'll let you.” We hugged so hard, I was trying to disappear into him, but it didn't work.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, so much!”
My hand rebelled against opening the door.
“C'mon, Haylee, you gotta do this.”
“I can't!”
“You have to.”
“I don't.”
“Yes, you do.”
He waited for five minutes before slamming his hand on the steering wheel and pulling out from the curb. I thought I had convinced him to run away with me, but I was wrong. All I convinced him to do was put his neck even more on the line for me. He peeled into the high school parking lot and jerked the car to a stop in a visitor parking space.
He opened and slammed his door shut then came around the car to my side. “Get out of the car, Haylee; you have to go.”
I was hysterical, bawling like a baby and shaking my head, “No!”
He looked around, worried someone would hear and misunderstand.
I was holding my backpack to my chest, but when he opened the door I grabbed the door handle with all my might to stay in. School wasn't scheduled to start for forty-five minutes, so the lot was empty, which was a good thing for us.
“C'mon, Haylee, get out!” he said through gritted teeth.
“No! I'm not going.”
He fought me for the door a little longer then stopped and shook his head.
“You're really going to make me do this, aren't you?” Then he turned and walked toward the building. He was going to be the one to turn me in, which meant he would be in trouble, too, for being with me. I couldn't let him do it.
“No! Stop! Fine, I'll go!” I said getting out of the car.
“You mean it?” he shouted as he stopped and turned back to me. He was already halfway to the door.
As I got out, anger, frustration, and confusion were taking over where the sorrow had been. I would not let them see me cry. I was done with the tears.
He came to me, looked around warily, and hugged me. “I love you,” he said putting our foreheads together. “You can do this. Tell me you're OK as you can.”
He stayed to make sure I went inside; then I heard him leave.
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