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2019
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Publié par
Date de parution
29 novembre 2019
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9781645368120
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
1 Mo
Publié par
Date de parution
29 novembre 2019
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9781645368120
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
1 Mo
Red Teddy Bear Candles
Margot Pickard
Austin Macauley Publishers
2019-11-29
Red Teddy Bear Candles About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgment Prologue The Formative Years Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four The Finest Years Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen The Final Years Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven
About the Author
Margot Pickard is married and a mother to an amazing son, Michael, who together with his beautiful wife, Adriana, created five adorable grandchildren. Following a long career in the marketing and communications industry, she retired and left city life behind for a more rural existence, where she finally made time to pour her passion for words onto paper.
Dedication
This work is dedicated, first and foremost, to my mother, Kathryn, who instilled in my siblings and me the passion for and power of words and reading. She is a remarkable woman, in so many ways, and I’m incredibly fortunate that she chose me to be her daughter. I must also thank my favorite sister, Linda, and our dear friend Marylou, who agreed to review the original draft and provide their honest feedback, with assurances that no harm would come to them. I’m happy to report that they are alive and well, and willing ‘ to take another one for the team .’
Copyright Information ©
Margot Pickard (2019)
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 non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Ordering Information:
Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Pickard, Margot
Red Teddy Bear Candles
ISBN 9781643785561 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781643785578 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781645368120 (ePub e-book)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019914115
The main category of the book — FICTION / Thrillers / Psychological
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published (2019)
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
40 Wall Street, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10005
USA
mail-usa@austinmacauley.com
+1 (646) 5125767
Acknowledgment
I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge Warren MacDonald for his wisdom, experience, and encouragement. Thank you, my friend.
Prologue
She’s being kept within the too tiny confines of a holding cell deep within the dank, dark bowels of an old courthouse, awaiting yet another day of her trial. The only daylight she has absorbed over the past few days is what little filtered through the tinted and barred windows of the police van that shuttles her between the jail and the courthouse.
Time crawls. Second after second. Hour after hour. She’s fighting to keep control. Control over her mind and its erratic thoughts. Control over her body and its want to twitch. Control over her very life.
How had it come to this? How had it all gone so wrong? Where had she gone so very, very wrong…this time?
One thing she knows for certain, though…she’ll never make the same mistake again, just as she never did after that last mistake. This was a new mistake, though. A different mistake. And one must always learn from one’s mistakes.
If nothing else, Mama had taught her that lesson…and taught it well.
The Formative Years
A teddy bear is a furry friend
whose love and support never end.
Keeps your secrets, never lies,
friendly, fuzzy, cozy, wise.
Tell it your secrets, it’ll keep them well.
You don’t have to worry, it won’t ever tell.
- Jon Wimer
Excerpt from Teddy Bears and Good Friends
Chapter One
‘Ms. Foster, you are the defendant’s aunt, is that correct?’ the cocky, immaculately dressed criminal defense attorney, Blair Scott, asked the woman who now occupied the witness seat at the front of the courtroom.
‘Yes,’ Ms. Foster answered. ‘Megan’s mother was my older sister,’ she added, but quickly changed her mind, ‘sorry, I suppose I’m to now refer to her,’ she looked briefly toward the defendant, ‘as Jessica, but she was born Megan and I’ve always called her Megan.’
‘I’m sure the court won’t object to you referring to your niece by the name you know best, Ms. Foster.’ Mr. Scott smiled easily at her, nodded his head with encouragement that she was doing fine, and continued, ’and would you please describe for the ladies and gentlemen of the jury what your sister was like, both as a person and as a mother to Ms. McCallum.’ Mr. Scott gestured toward the defendant, his client, who sat tensely at an overbearing desk behind him, her hands twisting anxiously in her lap, her eyes not daring to look at anything, nor anyone. Just the floor; her go-to place. Her lungs struggled to maintain steady breaths, while her chest rebelled against the intensifying thumpidy thump of her heart. She can do this. She has to do this.
‘My sister, Suzie, was always a very free spirit…that’s what our mother used to say about her,’ she admitted. ‘I don’t think she did things on purpose to get into trouble, though. I just think she had such a curious nature, she wanted to try things for herself. It didn’t matter if someone told her she might get hurt or that she might get into trouble, she’d just go ahead and do it anyway, because she wanted to find out things for herself. She never could nor would rely on just the say-so of others.’
Ms. Foster took a moment before she continued, ’Suzie always seemed to be in such a hurry to grow up, and never really made time for dolls or toys and such. But she loved to watch television, especially those old black and white movies. You know, the ones where the handsome young hero rescues the beautiful maiden.’ Ms. Foster’s eyes wandered for a moment, the smallest hint of a smile on her lips as she recalled distant and oh-so-different memories.
’Please go on, Ms. Foster,’ Mr. Scott prompted her.
‘As she got older, Suzie became a real handful for our parents. She’d stay out all hours of the night and constantly skipped school to the point where she was expelled for good. So, at 17, she went looking for a job,’ Ms. Foster recalled. ’She wanted her independence.
’I thought my parents were angry then, but a few months later, Suzie came home and announced she was pregnant.’ Ms. Foster shook her head. Not about that particular incident itself, but because it was the spark that had ignited all the emotional fires that were to come.
‘We honestly thought that, although it was far from an ideal situation, maybe this would be the making of Suzie. Maybe this would force her to grow up and settle down,’ Ms. Foster continued. ’And it did…at least for a while anyway. She married the boy who got her pregnant, but it wasn’t long before he realized he’d made a terrible mistake and one night he just disappeared, never to be seen nor heard of again,’ she remembered. ‘About two months later, our Megan was born,’ Ms. Foster paused and looked directly at the defendant, a smile lighting up her face. ‘She was absolutely perfect, in every way. I used to tell people that when she had a messy diaper, you’d open it and there the mess would be, perfectly wrapped in a little pink box that was neatly tied up in a matching pink bow, just waiting every time,’ she laughed to herself quietly, as did most of the courtroom. ’That’s how adorable she was…is,’ Ms. Foster added with conviction, looking at the jury to make sure they had heard her. ‘Is,’ she repeated in an almost whisper-like voice, her self-confidence suddenly wavering, but she forced herself to carry on.
’Unfortunately, as Megan grew, she found herself alone and lonely most of the time. Her mother made it abundantly clear that she preferred the company of men, whether they were tall or short, dark-haired or blond. In other words, it didn’t matter.’ With each word she uttered, Ms. Foster’s emotions ascended, growing louder and stronger. ‘Just as long as they had enough money in their wallets and a penis in their pants!’ she spit out the unexpected words. Her face flushed at her out of the blue and completely out of character choice of words.
Scott was momentarily caught off guard by her blunt remark but recognized and appreciated its immediate value. There was no uncertainty left in anyone’s mind within the entire courtroom as to where her sister’s interests had lain, literally .
Scott remained silent. He was counting. Four was the number he most often counted to, silently of course, while he waited for a jury to catch up, to keep up. One. Two. And just enough time to whet their hopefully increasingly curious appetites. Wanting them to want more. Three. Four.
‘Ms. Foster,’ he continued, ’can you please tell the court what happened on the night of June 6, 1990, with respect to the defendant, your niece, Ms. McCallum.’ He once again gestured toward the young woman who sat mannequin still behind him. He was using every opportunity to influence the jury’s perception of his client. To form