14 Days of Sweet Stories: Christine Lindsay's story "Londonderry Dreaming"

Excerpt from Chapter 6 of Londonderry Dreaming:

Blowing wind and the keening of puffins and other seabirds were the only sounds.

At the bottom of the cliff the ground grew rough where the inlet opened up. Forty thousand, interlocking, basalt columns—the result of ancient volcanic eruptions—stood up from the crashing sea. A handful of tourists scampered from column to column that in all created a small hill.

Keith had eyes only for Naomi, standing with her hands tucked into her jacket pockets, her slender shape in faded jeans, her blond, chin-length hair kissing her cheeks. Without a word, he took her hand to help her climb over the columns to stand on one of the highest and closest to the ocean. Waves spewed upward as the surf surged and swirled around the causeway, and she released his hand to grab hold of him around the waist.

Laughter rippled from her as each wave hissed and lapped at the column.

“You remember the legend?” He wrapped his arms around her, clasping his hands at her back to hold her close.

“About Finn McCool’s fight with the Scottish giant across the sea who hurled an insult at the great Irish warrior?”

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Good old Finn McCool. Then the two giants picked up pieces of rock and started to pelt each other with great hunks of land. Thereby creating this fine piece of landscape we’re standing on. Nothing at all to do with any geological phenomenon.”

She laughed up at him, setting his heart to swell. “No of course not.”

He drew her closer so that his chin grazed her cheek, his voice going husky. He was going to take this moment no matter what. “Who cares about logical, scientific explanations when there’s a romantic legend instead?”

Her hands at the base of his spine opened up and flattened against his back. “There are times when logic should simply be ignored,” she whispered while lowering her lashes. Her eyes fluttered open. “Don’t you think?”

If he moved, lowered his head two inches, their lips would touch. This was what he wanted with all his heart. What he’d anticipated. She stood warm in his arms, her face lifted to his. Just like five years ago. “Do you remember the last time we stood together on this coast?”

“Yes.” Her sea-gray eyes grew wide, her mouth tremulous.

Barely able to breathe, he pulled her closer and bent his head to brush his lips across hers.

At the meeting of their mouths, all thought left him. His heart drummed in rhythm to the pulsing sea around them as her lips moved with his. Though his feet were firmly planted on the column, he felt it as he and Naomi swayed. He caught her closer still, bracing their weight with his stance. A tingle ran along his spine as her hands moved upward along his back, pulling him deeper into her embrace.

Her breath hitched, uneven, like his. A small sigh escaped her when they parted for only a moment. They came together, and he kissed her again, longer, slower.

At last they stood apart, her hands grasping his forearms that held her from him, supporting her. He slowly exhaled, and sunlight danced inside him at the euphoria awash on her face. Her lips parted, her eyes half closed, she swayed again, and he wanted to scoop her up into his arms and lay her down somewhere soft, warm and cozy, and never let her go.

It seemed forever before she spoke. With a little swallow she smiled up at him. “I always did lose my mind when you kissed me.”

His hands moved up her arms to cup her shoulders. “That goes two ways.”

She cleared the huskiness from her throat, but remained quiet. Nor did he feel the desire to talk. At this moment they didn’t need words. If only they could just keep on communicating in this language.

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Author bio:

Irish-born Christine Lindsay is the author of multi-award-winning Christian fiction and non-fiction. Readers describe her writing as gritty yet tender, realistic yet larger than life, with historical detail that collides into the heart of psychological and relationship drama. 

Christine's fictional novels have garnered the ACFW Genesis Award, The Grace Award, Canada’s The Word Guild Award, and was a finalist twice for Readers’ Favorite as well as 2nd place in RWA’s Faith Hope and Love contest.

This author’s non-fiction memoir Finding Sarah Finding Me is the true-life story that started this award-winning career in Christian fiction and non-fiction and speaking ministry. Finding Sarah Finding Me is a must for anyone whose life has been touched by adoption. Christine is currently writing a new fictional series set on the majestic coast of Ireland. 

Subscribe to her newsletter on her website www.christinelindsay.org and follow her Amazon Author Page.

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Blurb for Londonderry Dreaming:

Acclaimed New York artist, Naomi Boyd, and music therapist, Keith Wilson, loved one another five years ago, until her grandfather separated them.

That root of bitterness keeps them apart until a letter from Keith’s grandmother, Ruth, draws Naomi to Londonderry to find she’s too late. Ruth has passed on. After the death of his beloved grandmother, Keith has also come to Londonderry only to open the door to his past . . . Naomi . . . beautiful as ever, the girl who broke his heart.

A mysterious painting in Ruth’s attic brings up questions about their grandparents’ entwined past and their own broken romance. More comfortable with the unspoken languages of art and music, Naomi and Keith find it difficult to share their old hurts and true feelings.

Will the majestic coastline of Northern Ireland inspire them to speak the words to bring peace to their grandparents’ memory and to rekindle love?

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Buy Christine's book:

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ CBD ~ Pelican Book Group

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Connect with Christine: 
Website - http://www.christinelindsay.org
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CLindsayWriter
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/clindsaywriter/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ChristineLindsayWriter
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4767699.Christine_Lindsay

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Watch this fun book trailer about Londonderry Dreaming

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A five-star review of Christine's book by Noela Nancarrow on Amazon.com: 

A Sweet Romance on the Emerald Isle, February 21, 2014
By NoelaN

In ‘Londonderry Dreaming’, author Christine Lindsay sweeps the reader away to the rolling Irish countryside of Londonderry. The scenery throughout the novel is expressively illustrated, easily enabling the reader to visualize the emerald fields dotted with sheep, the ancient stone walls, and the cobblestone streets and winding roads of Northern Ireland. Of course, you can’t travel to Londonderry without viewing the Giant’s Causeway, and in this sweet contemporary romantic novella, Keith and Naomi - the hero and heroine of the story visit the coastal Causeway together, capturing what I thought was a sublimely-written romantic moment in time in the midst of God's majestic sculptures!

Five years ago Keith Wilson and Naomi Doyle were a young couple in love, but to Keith’s shock and subsequent heartbreak, Naomi’s grandfather had suddenly stepped in to whisk her back to the States to assist her in setting up a career as an artist. Naomi felt she had no choice at the time than to break up with Keith. And now five years later she has been called back to Ireland in a letter by Keith’s grandmother, only to discover that she has passed away. Keith and Naomi work together to try and solve the mystery surrounding the curious painting in his Grandmother’s attic and as they do, they are at a loss as what to do with their feelings for each other that have resurfaced – as neither believes their love is reciprocated.

‘Londonderry Dreaming’ is an enjoyable and sweet tale of friendship and forgiveness, of the rekindling of love, and of the importance of communication. It is a journey that takes the reader to both Ireland and the States to rediscover faith in God and in the power of love. And it’s also the story of a wise old grandmother that will not be kept silent, even from the grave! I highly recommend this engaging Irish love story that’s as enchanting with the romance as it is with the mesmerizing visit to the Emerald Isle.

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