Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II: "Darkest Before Dawn"
    Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II: "Darkest Before Dawn"
    Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II: "Darkest Before Dawn"
    Ebook62 pages39 minutes

    Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II: "Darkest Before Dawn"

    By Catharina Shields

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Part II of the Of Vinegar and Honey romance series:

    This time, however, he didn’t laugh.
    He saw she was in real physical pain. There were even tears in her eyes even though she fought to hide them from him. He felt something twist in his chest and a genuine sense of remorse in his heart for having laughed at her before.
    “Are you all right?” he asked with an unusually soft tone. But neither his tone nor the fact that he seemed genuinely concerned about her seemed to sink through with her.
    “I’m fine, Sir,” she said softly as she carefully rose to her feet, trying not to give in to the overwhelming urge to rub the sting from her butt-cheek.
    “You need to be more careful,” he said.
    “I-I will, Sir. I didn’t choose to fall, but thank you.” She looked curiously at him now, finally catching the tone in his voice.
    When he saw it, he cleared his throat as a troubled frown appeared on his brow. He lowered his gaze so he wouldn’t have to look at golden-amber eyes shimmering with unshed tears of pain.
    “I’m saying that because,” he paused a moment. “I’m saying that because if it had been serious . . . I’m not . . . I’m not in any condition to help you.”

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCatharina Shields
    Release dateNov 9, 2011
    ISBN9781465910721
    Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II: "Darkest Before Dawn"
    Author

    Catharina Shields

    {PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR THE LIST OF MY AVAILABLE E-BOOKS} I've always enjoyed storytelling, ever since I was a child. My love for storytelling has evolved from hand-drawn comic strips, to creating hand-puppets - "Meemies and Fluffies" - for my younger brother and sisters' morning puppet show, to writing stories in longhand in spirals armed with only a Penmate pen while battling a stiff hand and dreaming of a day when I'd finally own a typewriter. Today, in my peaceful Southern California home near the mountains, I can't go a day without my computer and I now enjoy storytelling via my e-books, specializing in mystery, drama, Young Adult and paranormal romance. If you've read one of my books and like them, please leave a review, good or bad, and add me as a favorite author {a single click on a button to your left is all it takes}. Remember . . . reviews are tips for Authors.

    Read more from Catharina Shields

    Related to Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II

    Titles in the series (12)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Performing Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Explore The Past

      Apr 13, 2021

      Prince Harry – why has he left royal life? A better question should be: was his heart ever really in it? In his previous life, Harry was a foundling, a child abandoned by his parents, who never ever found out who they really were, despite a lifetime

      2 min read

    • Article

      Glennon Doyle: ‘So Many Women Feel Caged By Gender, Sexuality, Religion’

      Nov 21, 2021

      The marriage wasn’t unbearable, but it didn’t feel right any more. The lightbulb moment came when she realised she needed to think about what she truly wanted, rather than about what society had trained her to think she wanted. Also, she became aware

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Abortions I Have Known

      Mar 17, 2019

      The Abortions I Have Known
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Life in Balance

      Aug 19, 2023

      A Life in Balance
      11 min read

    • Article

      GURUS, GOOP & GODDESS CIRCLES

      Dec 30, 2019

      GURUS, GOOP & GODDESS CIRCLES
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Symposium on Anger

      Mar 1, 2024

      A Symposium on Anger
      21 min read

    • Article

      Book Of Night

      Apr 20, 2022

      Book Of Night
      1 min read

    • Article

      Life, Death, and Love

      Nov 20, 2018

      Life, Death, and Love
      7 min read

    • Article

      Gold

      Nov 20, 2020

      Gold
      10 min read

    • Article

      Little Islands of Faith: The Millions Interviews Tupelo Hassman

      Aug 14, 2019

      To my mind, Catholicism has many of the prettiest and most satisfying ways of evidencing faith. Because we want to touch it, don’t we? The post Little Islands of Faith: The Millions Interviews Tupelo Hassman appeared first on The Millions.

      9 min read

    • Article

      Screw Wisdom

      May 16, 2017

      Screw Wisdom
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Orphan’s Dilemma

      Aug 10, 2021

      In a few minutes they’re going to say, “It’s your turn, Harold.” He will face Ms. Wickham with her thick black frames and smiling, slightly bugeyed look, the question more in her eyes than on her lips because he already knows what that question is. H

      11 min read

    • Article

      Explore The Past

      Nov 26, 2020

      Chris Martin from Coldplay is known for being deeper and wiser than his years. He’s never fallen into the ‘celebrity trap’. This is because he was once Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and was a composer then too. But as a philosopher in the 1700s he also brou

      2 min read

    • Article

      Turn To The Angels

      Sep 1, 2020

      Hallowe’en has always been a time to remember our loved ones in spirit, a time when the veil between life and death is said to be thin enough that they can communicate with us. This year in particular, when so many of us have lost someone close, the

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Bridle

      Oct 10, 2021

      Saliva pooled on her tongue beneath the rusty depressor. She endured a constant urge to swallow, afraid of choking on her own fluids. The taste of metal and blood are so akin, it is easy to mistake one for the other. This early in the day, blood was

      11 min read

    • Article

      I Killed My Wife. Now I Want to Help Prevent Domestic Violence.

      Oct 4, 2019

      “If I could save one man from doing what I did, then I will have found a calling for my final years.”

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Of Vinegar and Honey, Part II - Catharina Shields

      Of Vinegar and Honey

      Part II

      Darkest Before Dawn

      F:\001 MY DOCUMENTS\A-Story--Of Vinegar and Honey e-books\SMASHWORDS\01_BCTitle_(Rory_House)_96dpi_400x259_PNG.png

      Published by Catharina Shields at SMASHWORDS

      2nd Edition

      © 2014 by Catharina Shields

      Cover Design by Catharina Shields

      Edited by D.C.Greenes

      All Rights Reserved

      01_Divider

      Author’s Note / Disclaimers

      01_96_DividerHeart_PNG

      This is an original work of fiction.

      All characters, organizations, and events portrayed herein are either

      products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

      All characters depicted in this work of fiction are

      18 years of age or older.

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite eBook Retailer and purchase your own copy.

      Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Happy reading!

      And remember, reviews are tips for authors

      Divider

      Contents

      {please click on Chapter headings to return here}

      01_96_DividerHeart_PNG

      Chapter 4: A Realistic Accounting

      Chapter 5: An Unfolding Miracle

      Chapter 6: Baptism of Fire

      Chapter 7: Rory O’Dell’s Two Faces

      Chapter 8: O’Dell’s Evolution

      01_Divider

      Of Vinegar and Honey Parts Listing

      Other Titles by Catharina Shields

      Connect with Catharina Shields

      About the Author

      01_Divider

      Chapter 4

      01_96_DividerHeart_PNG

      A Realistic Accounting

      It had been three long days since Madelaine’s arrival at the home of ex-playboy Rory O’Dell. She was surprised to have lasted that long! For a pious, gentle-hearted woman, her almost saintly patience had been sorely tested to the limits, and those three days had begun to feel like a life’s sentence in a high-security prison.

      O’Dell proved to be beyond difficult. He was outright impossible.

      Having spent most of his adult years racing, womanizing, and terrorizing those he felt were beneath him, O’Dell now, unsurprisingly, lived a life that excluded family and most of his friends. He painted a picture of a man who would not have been missed had he not survived the crash. It was a harsh thing to think, but a sad truth nevertheless.

      So Madelaine found herself pondering, why was he chosen? Why was this impossibly arrogant, narcissistic, unkind man chosen by the Almighty for a second chance? For the life of her, she just couldn’t understand it. It’s true that God works in mysterious ways, but Rory O’Dell was anything but mysterious. He was as open a book as one could be. No. There was no mystery to this mean and uncharitable man, so why oh why had He, her beloved god, chosen to provide help to this impossible man?

      Whenever she thought these unkind thoughts, she felt instant remorse and guilt. It also affected her in ways that made working for O’Dell that much harder because doubt undermined the strength she needed just to survive a day in his presence. She had to force herself to keep a positive mindset even though it took every ounce of strength for her to do so.

      She soon learned a little about O’Dell’s past, though. During one telephone conversation with his only friend, Ron Palo, she learned O’Dell’s unrelenting, offensive behavior toward those who loved him was not a newly acquired…attitude. It was just how he was, only, it had escalated when he had emerged from a brief coma in the hospital.

      According to Ron, when O’Dell discovered he was paralyzed from the neck down, he was gripped by bitterness and self-pity. She understood being this way was hard on this overly proud man—one who had an ego bigger than Alaska, and just as cold!—but that still didn’t excuse his ugly and arrogant disposition.

      He genuinely believed he didn’t need anyone or anything he couldn’t buy. She had to keep telling herself, though, that deep down inside this proud, bitter soul cried the lonely heart of a man who felt lost in a world he once ruled. He must be asking himself, where did he fit in now? Why did he survive an accident that should have taken his life? Why had things always come easier to him than to other

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1