more of SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN

I'm hoping to get this book completed to go into print very soon! Between working full time and planning my wedding in 4 weeks...ugh! There is much to do behind the scenes of completing a novel. I wish I could just write it and turn it in to someone else to handle all the endless little details. Writing turns out to be the easy part! For anyone reading this, please leave me feedback, I'd really enjoy the opinions!! And please share this with any of your friends. I promise to let you know when this novel will be released on Amazon.

...Jake’s new camaraderie with Tess irked Brad, making him feel as if a barb were stuck in his side. It bothered him to see Tess laughing with Jake, bumping shoulders and saying silly things. It plunged his already sour mood deeper. She became all smiles when Jake was near.
Tess glanced in Brad’s direction and caught him watching her with an intensity tha she couldn’t understand, but then he quickly looked away. It was obvious that his reception of Jake wasn’t very warm. I can’t believe he is back to that surly, hostile attitude again, Tess yelled in her mind. I thought we were past this. She kept her attention on getting the meal ready, doing her best to simply ignore his rude behavior. But she was finding it hard to ignore, since his eyes followed her every move.
Jake came over and pulled out a chair for Tess. She accepted it and sat down. He made small talk with her, and Brad sat sulking at the opposite end of the table. Brad was darkly silent while Jake supplied most of the conversation. Brad only cut in every so often to make a snide remark. Jake tried to draw Brad into the conversation, but Brad’s anger seemed to be directed at anything Jake said or did.
“I can see you’re gracin’ us with your usual charmin’ self,” Jake drawled, knowing exactly what was setting Brad off this time. He had pestered Brad too much, pushing him beyond his limit, but it looked like the stubborn man was finally going to confront his feelings. Jake just hoped he escaped with his teeth intact.
Tess sensed the explosion that lay just beneath his surface. She folded her hands in her lap and boldly looked over at him. His eyes wandered to hers.
“Nice ride today, Jake?” he spoke slow and precise. Although his words were directed to Jake, his eyes didn’t waver from Tess.
“I don’t care for your tone,” Jake cautioned.
Brad turned his gaze directly to Jake, the slight tension in his cheek betraying the violence that was riding beneath the surface. Suddenly, he threw his roll down on the table and jumped up, knocking his chair over in the process. Jake pushed himself up, too, although in a much calmer manner.
Tess was getting to know these two men enough now that she realized their tempers could flare at the drop of a dime and either they would come to blows, or in the next breath all would be forgotten. She was praying for the second of the two options.
Jake’s earlier words had been grating at Brad over and over all day. If you don’t want Tess then I do.
Jake leaned on the table toward Brad, acting offended by his bullying attitude. “Every time I turn around you’re mad at me. I’ve cut you more slack than you deserve and my patience is growing thin. If you’re accusing me of something, then have your say, let’s settle this now,” he demanded, forcing Brad to finally cross that line.
Brad felt the spurs of jealousy digging at him. “I’ll share everything I have with you,” his clear blue eyes flared hotly, then in a flash of movement, he slammed his fist down on the table, jarring and rattling all contents on the top, “except her.” His voice dropped to a deadly tone.
Tess flinched, then slowly closed her eyes in frustration, fighting the urge not to scream at him, but wanting to. How could he say such an ignorant thing? She sucked in her breath, trembling with exasperation, her green eyes snapping to life. She had never felt so beside herself in all her life. It was too much. She stood up, slowly, her furious eyes riveted on Brad.
“Did your momma drop you on your head when you were a baby? What the hell is your problem?” Jake yelled, flinging up his hands in mock exasperation and giving him a stare of disbelief. “You’d best put a lid on it, or I won’t be responsible for what happens,” Jake warned with fake indignation.
Tess’s temper was now reaching a crest as she stared at the two men, thinking they both had lost their minds. Driven beyond restraint and tired of being ignored, Tess gripped the table, seething with anger at Brad. “Your male ego is beyond belief. You are the most arrogant, stubborn, bull-headed, short-sighted man that I have ever known,” she said through clenched teeth.
Tess’s harsh words had the affect of tossing cold water in Brad’s face. He had never seen her angry before.
“I swear I will never understand you.” Tess dismissed his blistering look aimed at her and turned to Jake. “I’m sorry, Jake. We need to be alone and get a few things straight.”
Jake noticed with a pang of remorse that her eyes were bright and her face flushed. He hadn’t meant to make her upset. Maybe he had gone a little too far with his objective. “Are you sure?” he was asking Tess, but Brad leaned toward him as if to emphasize his own wish.
“Get out,” Brad growled through clenched teeth.
“I can take care of myself,” she said, laying a hand on his arm and giving him an apologetic look.
Jake hesitated and looked to Brad. “You watch your tongue,” he warned and pointed a finger at Brad. Knowing his friend as well as he did, he knew Brad wouldn’t harm a woman. Besides, he had his money riding on Tess. She wouldn’t tolerate his mood swings. “Behave yourself or I’ll make you regret it.” He started for the doorway, then paused after a few steps and shook his head sadly when it dawned on him that Brad didn’t trust him. “I know you better than anyone, Brad, but at this moment, I wonder if I really know you at all.”
Tess watched Jake leave. She could feel Brad’s heat from across the table, and met his fierce gaze with her own defiant look. “What is the matter with you? Do you honestly think your best friend would be so low as to compete for the same woman? Do you realize that you just hurt Jake’s feelings? Sometimes you are mean and rotten.” She was truly angry at his behavior, but kept her voice low.
Brad slowly stepped around the table toward her, trying not to notice a hint of tears brightened her eyes, or the endearing way her voice thickened with a Texan accent when she got angry. However, he couldn’t ignore the cool, calmness of her voice. She did not raise her voice-she didn’t have to. Her fury was obvious in every taut line of her beautiful face. Julia had always avoided any kind of confrontations with him. She used temper tantrums to avoid issues and sulked in her room for hours, giving him the silent treatment for days to punish him. Tess went straight to the heart of the matter like she wanted to figure him out. Julia had never figured out anything about him.
Tess immediately began to feel like a cornered doe, his eyes would not release her. She sidestepped around her chair to put it safely between them. Brad reached out and flung the chair away from them, all the while his gaze never leaving her. She matched him frown for frown, then summoned her inner courage, not about to let him get away with his outlandish behavior. “You are your own worst enemy. Do you really think so little of Jake and me as to believe that we would sneak around behind your back?” she spat brazenly, holding her chin up. Would he ever get over whatever his wife had done to him? With that thought, in a rush she added, “I’m not like your wife.”
Another woman would have been frightened by his conduct. Not Tess. One blond brow lifted in surprise. The words hit him like another bucket of icy water, but he couldn’t help himself from impulsively asking, “Tell me you have no interest in Jake.” He knew Jake’s comment earlier was to goad him, but he couldn’t stop that nagging doubt that she might be the one smitten with Jake.
Tess wondered what was going on behind those steely blue eyes. Out loud, she said, “Why are you acting like a jealous idiot about Jake? Have you given me any indication that you want more than friendship? You’ve only talked about helping each other through the rough patches.” She waited and watched as some of the heat left his expression, leaving only a trace of a frown, but he still didn’t answer her. She tried to give him an opening to confess his feelings. His stark blue eyes were dark as a brewing storm, but she pushed on, “You are acting like a jealous fool.”
Her blunt honesty sliced through his haze of anger, making him realize that she was right. He was acting like a jealous fool. What was wrong with him? A small voice nagged at him, getting louder by the second, saying Tess was nothing like Julia. Julia threw tantrums and pouted like a child to win her way. Tess stood proudly before him, the rippling shine of tears in her eyes, but she wouldn’t allow them to fall, a testimony to Brad, telling him how strongly she was keeping her emotions in control.
Tess read the sudden change in his eyes. Fear, longing, and anguish all rolled up into one. Well, she wanted to find out once and for all if there was a chance. “Do you want to know what I think?” She didn’t give him a chance to respond. “I think you’re just using Jake as an excuse to end things with me. You’re getting too close and it is scaring you.” She was scared too.
She wondered if she was right, was he looking for an excuse to end things before they had a chance to build something? Was he incapable of committing now? She knew he had warmth in him, she’d witnessed it regularly, specifically where his daughter was concerned. She wanted him to feel about her the way he was now feeling for his little girl. She knew he had it in him, but could he maintain it? She waited.