One Day Too Late: One Carefree Day, #0.5

By Whitney Amazeen

A nice, clean break. 

 

That's Ash's solution when Joseph, her on and off boyfriend, admits he loves her right before she leaves for her Hawaii vacation.

 

Love is messy. Love is disappointing. Just ask her parents.

 

But when Ash seeks out a fling in her new surroundings to help the guilt in her heart disappear, she can't stop herself from fantasizing about Joseph at all the wrong times. 

 

Worried breaking his heart was a horrible mistake, Ash must decide if love is as awful as she's always believed, or if she just threw away the best thing that's ever happened to her. 

 

Set before Whitney Amazeen's One Carefree Day, One Day Too Late is a novella told from the perspective of Ash, Willow's best friend and cousin. It can be read before or after One Carefree Day. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Swan Pages Publishing
• Release date: Jul 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781961559974

Whitney Amazeen

Whitney Amazeen's love for reading started in third grade and has been going strong ever since. As a result, Whitney has evolved into a full-fledged daydreamer with more stories in her head than she can count. When she's not immersed in a novel, Whitney spends the majority of her time writing down stories about characters in her head who demand to be heard. Whitney lives in California with her husband and son, and can often be found drinking tea, hoping for foggy weather, and obsessing over fictional characters. Whitney is a Ravenclaw.

Book preview

Chapter One

She’s almost nineteen. My mom’s voice is hard, straight to the point. She always speaks like this when it comes to my dad, and I don’t blame her. She can make her own choices, Mark.

Dad says something back to her through the phone. He’s probably using his no-bullshit tone as well. And it makes sense. My parents are the most stubborn people I’ve ever met. In fact, I’m pretty sure their mutual distaste for losing an argument is how they bullied each other into a relationship. Or maybe it was love.

Which is equally as pathetic.

I sigh. Give me the phone. I gesture for it impatiently and my mom walks across the living room to me and hands it over. My dad sure as hell isn’t going to listen to her, and there’s no way I’m missing out on going to Hawaii just because he thinks an outdated court order can stop me.

I bring the phone to my ear. Hey, Dad.

Ashton? He softens his voice a tad when he realizes it’s no longer my mom talking.

I’m going to Hawaii. End of story. When I hear myself talk, I’m amazed at how much I sound like the woman standing next to me. In addition to her tone, I also have my mother’s tan skin, slender build, brown eyes, and shoulder-length blond hair. I probably seem like her twin at times. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and all that bullshit. But I have to admit, being a hard-ass has served me well in life, so I can’t really complain. It’s bad enough you’re not going to let Chris and Dean come, so just drop it.

"It’s my week, he says, sounding like a child fighting over a toy. Your mom only planned this trip during my week to piss me off. I’m not going to let her win."

I raise an eyebrow. Well, you sound pretty pissed to me. So it sounds like she already has.

He’s silent for a moment. You’re never going to give me my time again, are you? He’s referring to the schedule I used to have to follow before I turned eighteen. Back when I spent every other week with him, alternating with my mom.

Nope, I say. Going back and forth was annoying. That judge should be fired.

He sighs, and something in me thaws just a little. It’s not his fault he’s only slightly more unbearable than my mother. Otherwise, I’d have probably chosen to live with him. Even though he’s not my biological father, the man adopted and raised me, so he’s my dad in every right. That doesn’t, however, mean I have to listen to him, now that I’m legally an adult.

But he’s still my dad.

Hey, why don’t we go to Apple Hill when I get back? We can do a picnic with the boys, just like old times.

Next to me, my mom has a faraway look in her eyes.

I can’t remember the last time we did this, but I know it will make him happy. We used to