Hagan Bennett didn’t believe in a “feeling.” Facts and evidence. No compromise. After finding his best friend and girlfriend together and because of the long, long hours that goes into his profession, a relationship is out of the question. To deal with his heartbreak, he takes a cruise and a woman of unusual beauty and mannerisms literally falls into his arms.

She has turned his world upside down. Now, believing in a feeling and the thought of being in a lasting relationship fight against any rational explanation. His life would change in every way; even physically. Is he ready to make that drastic of a change in his life?

 

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Release Date: March 7, 2023

Genre: Fantasy Romance

~ A White Satin Romance ~

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Excerpt

Chapter One

Follow your heart...Make a splash.

It was a perfect blue sky, mild-temperature kind of day in the Atlantic Ocean near Barbados. A father and son stopped and fished in one of their regular spots. A day of bonding. They stopped at their favorite spot and pulled in a couple of nice keepers. The son chattered endlessly about the catch.

But what happened next...

THUMP. Something hit the bottom of the boat with incredible force, causing the boat to rock violently back and forth. Grabbing the handrail of the boat tightly with white-knuckled hands, the man looked over at his son, who was beginning to fall out of the boat. With a forceful grip, he grabbed the boy and held him tightly to his chest. After putting life jackets on, he sat the boy in a safe place on the deck and pulled in the anchor.

The boat started swaying from the current developing, churning and pulling it almost in circles. The man glanced back and saw what appeared to be a whirlpool developing. Heart thumping, the anchor was now inside the boat and he started the engine. He had fished for years in this spot. A whirlpool? This just isn’t a place for these conditions. His fingers automatically scratched his head.

The tidal conveyor belt was working against him, mighty and forceful, so he used small throttle adjustments to move forward. Thankfully, his experience in boating saved them and he moved away just in time before his boat was sucked into the vortex that was growing wider minute by minute. Beads of sweat poured into his eyes. The man used a cloth to wipe them, squinting because it left a stinging sensation. His head turned back and forth as he sped away, relieved. Boat journal in hand, he scribbled in the location, never to fish in it again.

The boy pulled himself up and sat on the seat, scanning the treacherous water they had just left behind, and noticed it had settled down. He jumped up and yanked on his dad’s shirt, trying to get him to stop the boat. “Dad, look! You have to look at this.”

But his dad ignored his request and drove as fast as possible to escape a potential disaster. The man would never be able to witness what the boy saw. A large whale’s fluke came up out of the water and splashed the surface before it submerged into the ocean; at least that’s what it looked like to the boy. But what is the rainbow of colors that keeps bubbling up onto the surface? And how could the boy explain it all to his father, especially since he didn’t even know where to begin? They would never return to their best fishing spot ever again.

 

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Chapter Two

 

The aroma of coffee hypnotically pulled him out of bed. That’s okay, because getting up for work wasn’t something he dreaded. He looked forward to his job every day. It seemed he and his parents lived in the water, always collecting specimens, measuring seismic activity, and so many fascinating and important duties as oceanographers. They had seen things most people dream about, like a new sea creature or unexplainable formations under the sea. He couldn’t wait to see what unbelievable things they would uncover each and every day.

It was completely silent, and the thump, thump, thump of his jogging down the steps echoed through the house. The sun shone brightly on the family portrait, as though trying to catch his attention. He stopped and looked at it. Mom takes it with them wherever they go. He smiled, thinking about his sentimental mom. Back home, he has an apartment on the beach, but his job working for his parents’ diving company, takes them all over the world, so he ends up staying with his parents in temporary apartments.

He studied the portrait, seeing himself, Hagan Bennett, in fourth grade, a snaggletoothed, string-bean boy. He giggled, glancing down at his body now. He looked nothing like that boy.

His dad tapped down the stairs and stopped beside him, placing his arm around Hagan’s shoulders. Then he stares at the portrait with a smile. He squeezes Hagan’s shoulder and walks to the kitchen.

A peculiar notion kept Hagan entranced, and the oddest thing started happening. In the portrait, he saw himself begin to fade in, then out. He was there and then gone, repeating over and over. He wiped his hands upward across his face and ran fingers through his hair, clutching the strands before releasing them. This was disturbing. Maybe he was dealing with a medical issue just beginning to materialize. Even stranger was how he felt excited and happy, but sad thoughts popped up in between them. What could this possibly mean? Is God trying to tell me something? Am I about to die? Sheesh!

Again, his hands feel around his head, face, shoulders, arms, even bending downward to feel his toes. Ahh, all there. Hmmm, I need coffee, he decides, tapping his head with his index finger.

The coffee was not made with some special, exotic bean, just a brand picked up from a grocery store. But it must be the fact that Mom still used a percolator to brew it. It makes the coffee smell heavenly. Hagan breathed in the intoxicating aroma. And who doesn’t love hearing that bluh-bluh-blup sound? It gurgled as he entered the kitchen. Scratching his head, he still couldn’t shake what happened with the portrait, but he was not about to tell his parents about it. No way was he going to spend the day in an office. Ugh! Shoot me now! I’m an outdoorsy kind of guy.

He picked up the paper and was glued to a story about how facts and evidence don’t apply in all circumstances. He began to wonder if he could ever come to understand that ignoring feelings was dangerous, especially ones that alert us to a warning. It felt like he’d just got hit in the brain with a two-by-four yelling at him, Trust me, do not ignore them. Talk about a mental ouch! Fingers massaged the oncoming migraine. What is happening to my sensibility? Get it together, Hagan, he urged himself.

After breakfast cleanup, he and his parents head to the pier that the owners built for the apartment complex they are staying at in Holetown, of the parish in Saint James, Barbados. The owner allowed them to keep the boat tied up there for the duration of the time they will be here for work. They arrive at the boat. Now, involved with work for the day, how is it remotely possible to be sweating in his current circumstances? Beads of sweat slide down his forehead and into his eyes. No way to wipe them off. Driving. Me. Crazy. In his mind, facial expressions showed thoughts of fear, excitement, and sadness. Trying to get his focus back, his face revealed a mishmash of emotions that hit him like a brick, producing slanted eyes and a face that squished together with questions. Anyone who knows Hagan will testify that he doesn’t trust a feeling. If only I could splash my face with cold water to cool off.

From the corner of his eye, he sees a shadow go by, and when he turns his head to follow it, thoughts overwhelm him. His body engages in the old dance called the Shimmy. Beautiful rainbow colors swirl and dissolve like the mist from the morning sunbeams. It was a Sci-Fi moment. There is an inability to process what this could be, something urging him to investigate it. People take it seriously when they have a feeling about something, while scientists have lacked reliable testing on the subject or any reason to be objective about it. Being “Hagan” he disregarded the warning begging for his attention.

The expedition begins like any other expedition. Their assignments on each job are relatively the same: Enter the water, collect sediment samples and specimens, research seismic activity, ecosystems, and their inhabitants, study attributes of the oceans, and so much more. So much to do and research with not enough time in the day to get it all done. But what promises to be a normal day proved to be anything but normal.

He’s in the water when, wham! Out of nowhere, something just bumped into him, jerking his body with force. Bump. Whomp. And another forceful hit. Like a fight scene from a Batman comic book. Pain in his face, doubling over, his body felt like a punching bag, the last strike more like an outright, full-force assault, causing him to double over in pain. He wrapped his arms around the stomach area for a few seconds. There has to be severe bruising, or heaven forbid, more serious injuries. He held one hand over the sore spot, using the other arm and legs to gain control back. I am too rattled to think clearly. It startled him because he never saw it coming. Scary, downright fear, entered his thoughts: sharks?

The water is nothing but turmoil at this point, so he remains still while it clears up. He looks for sharks, but there aren’t any around. Anywhere. Then, it’s difficult to make out what appears to be an elasmobranch or shark—fish. Now, far away, it’s only a guess.

Feeling silly, because he actually starts to think he might die, he looks around for his teammates, but they aren’t close enough to see what’s going on. Could this be the reason he’d started dissolving in the portrait? These thoughts of death were anything but peaceful, as he feared he would be torn apart and eaten by sharks. Not a good way to end a life.

Memories flash through his mind of his family, closest friends and meeting the good Lord above, what is most important to him at the time of death—and his car, which he loves. That is what he would focus on as he took his last breath. They have been in several life-threatening situations throughout their lives because of this profession, but never once had there been this strong of a sense of dying. The fear inside him would not subside, and his body shook from being so nervous.

His love for being in the water is so profound that he wonders why God didn’t just make him a fish. Sounds stupid, but it’s strange just how comfortable in the water he feels. Even his parents agree. “You can call me a Thalassophyte,” he tells people. But what had bumped into him with such force? What he saw was something about the size of a large dolphin. Feelings; schmeelings. He usually brushed them off and focused on the facts at hand.

Now came the moment of truth: facts or feelings. It felt as though a cement block, or maybe two cement blocks, lay on top of his chest. He noticed he was taking longer breaths; not good. In all of his experiences with not ever knowing what to expect, feelings never played a role in his thoughts, because they were insignificant and not worthy of our time or consideration; but with facts and evidence, they can never go wrong.

Until now.

He wondered if anyone else ever gave thought to what lay beneath. But whether terrifying, intriguing, or both, these emotions weren’t making sense. This was uncomfortable for him and he became anxious, darting his eyes around, still taking too long of breaths.

Feeling frightened, the hairs on his arms and back of his neck stood up straight. And that had never before happened—ever.

 

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