For What It's Worth , livre ebook

J Merrill Publishing, Inc. - Kelli Milligan Stammen

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268 pages

English

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As an entry-level broadcast journalist in 1968, stubborn and strong-willed Becca Schmidt has been working behind the scenes to cover the war. When she meets Jesse Wanger, her immediate attraction to him rocks her to the core. Jesse is just as taken with the raven-haired beauty but is hiding a painful past that has taught him to keep those he cares about at arm’s length. Despite a world full of uncertainty, the Vietnam draft hovering, and the always complicated nature of romance—Jesse and Becca continue to be irresistibly drawn together. But they both must fight inner demons and real-world obstacles to find their way to each other.

Sujets

Historical

Erotica

Fiction

Informations

Publié par	J Merrill Publishing, Inc.
Date de parution	01 février 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781950719716
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0450€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH

KELLI MILLIGAN STAMMEN
J Merrill Publishing, Inc., Columbus 43207
www.JMerrill.pub

Copyright © 2022 J Merrill Publishing, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact J Merrill Publishing, Inc., 434 Hillpine Drive, Columbus, OH 43207
Published 2021

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020924736
ISBN-13: 978-1-950719-72-3 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-950719-71-6 (eBook)

Title: For What It's Worth
Author: Kelli Milligan Stammen
Cover Artwork: Amanda Kolitsos
CHAPTERS

Prelude

1. Ides Of March

2. Ring Of Fire

3. The Times They Are A-Changin’

4. Time Has Come Today

5. Bad Moon Rising

6. Wake Up Call

7. Gimme Shelter

8. The Odd Couple

9. Nothing But A Heartache

10. You Make Me Feel

11. Blood Runs Cold

12. Pray For Us

13. The Sound Of Silence

14. A Whiter Shade Of Pale

15. Angel Of The Morning

16. Day Is Done

17. All Along The Watchtower

18. Light My Fire

19. Piece Of My Heart

20. Grand Central Station

21. Georgia On My Mind

22. Little White Lies

23. When A Man Loves A Woman

24. Fortunate Son

25. White Rabbit

26. Tell Me Why

27. River Deep, Mountain High

28. Make The World Go Away

29. The Glory Of Love

30. Unchained Melody

31. (Reach Out) I’ll Be There

32. I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You

33. Only Thing That I Know

34. Stand By Me

35. In Dreams

36. Let It Be

37. For What It’s Worth

38. Paint It Black

39. The Twelfth Of Never

40. Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

41. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

42. Unforgettable

43. At Last

44. What A Wonderful World (Epilogue)
*Note: Most chapter titles originate from songs of the 60s and 70s.
To say this work was a labor of love is to sell it short. So many people, places, hopes, fears, dreams, and realities in my life, and the lives of those I love and admire are wrapped up in this work.
Thank you to my family and friends, all who have helped flesh out this other baby of mine. My biggest love and gratitude go to my husband, Ken, and children, Ava and Aidan, who inspire, test, and love me every day.
For what it's worth, I hope you laugh, cry, live and love the story of Jesse and Becca as much as I do.
PRELUDE

Late December 1968
Rain.
He was vaguely aware that it was raining, pouring, in fact.
Wave after wave of water fell off the trees above him, crashing down onto him in a relentless onslaught. He tried to open his eyes. Actually, he believed his eyes were open, but he couldn't see anything. As he lay flat on his back in mud and puddles, all he could do was feel. He could feel pain -- a sharp, searing pain radiating throughout the top of his body. The pain seemed to be coming straight from his heart.
He used all the strength he had left to raise his right hand, weakly attempting to swat at the rain. His stark white face was fixed in a pinched grimace. Giving up on making the rain go away, he tried to roll over from his back, trying to push himself up with his right hand. But he couldn't find the ground under him, and soon, with a sound somewhere between a sob and a primal moan, he gave up and let his hand slide back to the ground with a gentle thud.
Between the rain and the pain, he couldn't breathe. Taking a deep breath was impossible. Small, shallow breaths were all he could muster. He was waiting for the darkness to come, almost welcoming the numbness ahead. Almost.
Then he remembered he had legs. If only his legs…
"Move," he whispered weakly to no one, willing his body to do anything, anything he asked it to do. "Move…"
In that lucid moment, he realized the agony he felt from his chest up seemed to stop at his waist. He couldn't feel his legs. The numbness had started to creep up his body.
An overwhelming feeling of sadness and loss that he had never once associated with this moment in his life crushed against him. His tears started to mix with the downpour as both rolled down the sides of his face.
As he lay there for several minutes, body and soul broken, the rain started to let up, though he didn't realize it. What thoughts he could piece together all swirled around her -- knowing deep down that he'd never see her again. He yelled out more from emotional wreckage than physical pain, and yet the darkness still stubbornly refused to come.
Suddenly a wave of strength washed through him, and he forced his eyes open a crack. He could see the trees and the sun through the rain. He felt a swift, strong wind that seemed to drown out all other noise. The numbness started to seep into this chest as he raised his right hand again and slowly, clumsily fumbled with the drenched pocket of his shirt. After several attempts, he pulled out the soaked contents inside with shaking fingers.
He tried to focus on the faded photo, but his eyes wouldn't cooperate, and the small amount of strength he had seemed to run away as quickly as it had come.
His hand dropped with the picture against his chest, and his eyelids fell closed once again.

All she could clearly make out was the word "die."
She watched through a haze all the flurry of activity around her. She was there, but she wasn't there at the same time. Doctors, nurses, all of them running around, not listening to her, not letting her tell them what needed to happen. They weren't listening.
The nurse, the one who had been so kind, moved in front of her, took her hand, and gave her a gentle, sad smile. Becca began to panic in earnest.
"What?!" she demanded, her blue eyes wide and watery and her heart pounding so hard and loud in her ears she was certain everyone could hear it.
"It's time," the nurse said quietly.
"No!" Becca yelled, trying to jerk her hand away, but the nurse held firm. "No, it's not time!"
"Miss Schmidt…"
"No!" she whispered fiercely, now gripping the nurse’s hands in both of hers, squeezing her so tight her knuckles turned white. "It can't be…not now!"
The other nurse came over, the one who had been so rude before. She had a syringe at the ready between her fingers. She was waiting for the first nurse to give her the order.
"Should we sedate her?" she asked in a cold, matter-of-fact voice.
"Wait, Gladys," the first nurse said, somewhat exasperated at her colleague, but her gaze never left Becca's.
"Miss Schmidt," she said, her heart breaking for the young woman before her. "I know this is…difficult…but..."
"You don't understand," Becca said desperately, searching the woman's eyes with a crazed look on her face. "He needs me…I…I need him…"
Gladys took another step toward Becca before the kind nurse put up her hand in a "stop" gesture to halt her, and then she motioned to the side of the room.
Becca could see Liz and Penny come into view through her tears. Tears were streaming down each of their faces. She vaguely thought she caught a glimpse of her mother, too, but knew at that point she must have been hallucinating.
"Becca…Rebecca," Liz whispered softly as she took her hand, and the nurse stepped back a moment.
"Don't let them do it," Becca begged, imploring first Liz, then Penny. "Don't let them take him away from me…"
"Becca," Penny choked out, stroking her hair. "He…he wouldn't want…it…this way. We have to let the doctors…do what's best…"
Liz nodded and cried harder as Becca's fingers clamped down on hers.
Becca started to tremble as she looked at her best friends; her last rays of hope…and the betrayal and despair she felt ran deep.
"How could you…" she said miserably, looking right at Penny, her breathing deep and ragged. With enormous strength, she grabbed Liz's hand and jerked her until they were face to face, causing Liz to gasp in pain.
" How could you ?!" she growled at her, sweat beading around her temples now.
"Rebecca," Liz said sternly, tears spilling unchecked down her cheeks, trying to disengage her hand. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry. Becca…"
Becca's nails scraped against her hand as her friend made one more attempt to pull away.
"Let go," Liz said a little more forcefully. "Becca, you have to let go!"
Liz snatched her hand away and started massaging it, both she and Penny sobbing now.
"I won't let you do it," Becca said, trying to move away from them. "I won't! I swear to God, I won't!"
"Gladys," the kind nurse said, quickly coming to the young woman’s side and grabbing her arm, struggling to hold her still.
"Now!"
1

IDES OF MARCH

Crashing red-striped, wooden pins and the unyielding thud of bowling balls beginning their journey down hardwood lanes served as exclamation points to the chatter filtering through the smoke-filled haze in the room.
Jesse pulled the last loop of his laces tight to secure his bowling shoes and sat up in the blue, plastic chairs lined along with the scoring table. He reached over to grab the last half of his cigarette out of the ashtray when he saw Penny trying to walk back to their spot while balancing a martini and three cans of beer through the crowd.
He stood and ran his fingers through his dark chestnut hair to brush back the bangs that had fallen too far down his forehead.
"Need some help?"
"Thanks," Penny said, handing him a beer can and the martini. "Martinis?"
Jesse set down the drinks and picked up his half-finished cigarette, taking a quick drag.
"Drink of the month," he said, squinting at Penny through the smoke of his exhale.
"Drink of the rich," Penny scoffed, lifting her curly, strawberry blond locks over one shoulder and walking to the scorer’s table to begin writing in the names of the bowler