Sunday Snippet: Automatic Failure

Another busy week in the books and I'm gearing up for a chaotic ride for the upcoming one. I have a colonoscopy scheduled for Tuesday and, frankly, I'm not excited. But at least it'll be done and over early in the week.

Ohio is still doing the back and forth weather stuff. At least it's not a wild fluctuation. More like fifties one day, high thirties the next. I'm not complaining because it's time for the cool down and I like chillier weather.

I have a slow start to my work week because of the colonoscopy, but I have a full of projects. A copy edit and a design proofread are underway and I should have another copy edit sliding in by midweek. I also have an author Zoom session either Tuesday or Wednesday. I very much enjoy the variety of projects I'm working on. I'm also looking forward to a possible collaboration on a fun idea with a few colleagues sometime soon.

Had an okay viewing week. I had time to hit the back burner shows but found I needed a break. My focus slipped by the weekend and I ended up keeping them on simmer for now.

Started the week with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Season three is kind of a wild ride and I waffle between enjoying having Phryne's dad causing problems and wishing we had more episodes without him.

Caught another episode of Foyle's War and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's one I remember from my first run through of the series. The acting is top notch throughout from beginning to end.

Enjoyed another episode of Beyond Paradise. I love Martha and Humphrey with their foster daughter. Kind of bummed Esther decided to break things off with Archie. Hopefully, that's a red herring.

Watched another episode of Poirot and enjoyed it. I don't have any memories of watching this one before and I always love how terrible Hastings is at Miss Lemon's filing system.

Elementary ended up being excellent. I like Joan trying to navigate having a half-sister. The case also proved interesting. And definitely a little scary.

Caught the season three opener of Batman Beyond. Always fun to see the Royal Flush gang. I'd forgotten how this one ended and I enjoyed it.

Also watched an episode of Lower Decks. I'm very much enjoying how many easter eggs are in this show. Lots of fun!

And that's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Automatic Failure, a novella that throws a family-dynamic challenge into a couple's journey.

Here's the miniblurb:

Piper Kemp, a flight instructor, moves aside to avoid letting her personal feelings influence a decision about whether to pass one of her students. But when he crashes and almost loses his life, Knox Petruci steps up to defend Piper and opens a can of worms because her student happens to be his brother.

And a sneaky peek…

Well, fuck.

Knox frowned again. "What the hell? Did you tell him to fuck off?" His dad had some serious stones on him.

She snorted. "Why bother? You already beat me to it." She started walking again. "Apparently, that's why he came. Because you cut all of them out of your life." She shot him a sideways glance. "He seemed to think he needed to fix things with us." She waved her hand. "I wished him luck after explaining how we left things." She met his gaze head-on. "The whole if I didn't fight the transfer and shipped out, we were through." Her tone took on an icy quality.

Knox winced then groaned. "Ultimatums aren't my strong suit. That was stupid of me." He dropped his bag and reached out to stop her. "If nothing else, I owe you an apology." And a whole lot more.

She held his gaze. "Okay, you apologized. Now what?" Glancing around, she made sure they didn't have an audience. "Look, we kind of live in each other's pockets here. Are you gonna be able to handle that?" Her brows arched.

He didn't blame her for doubting he could. "Piper, regardless of my old man's interference, or how I got here, I'm glad for this post. I knew within the first week I'd made a mistake by letting you leave without resolving anything. For telling you we were through if you did." He paused, letting two crew members pass before continuing. "Is there somewhere we can go? To talk?" He really didn't want any distractions.

She lifted her chin. "Sure, I'll show you to quarters." She took off again. "Every officer has their own space." Her lips quirked when she glanced over her shoulder. "The one and only perk of being this far out."

He grabbed his bag and followed her until she stopped by one of the doors.

She pointed to the blank ID label. "This will be you. As soon as you check in with the quartermaster." She pushed the activation switch and the door slid open.

He placed his bag at the foot of the bed. "How far away are you?" The quarters were roomy, which surprised him.

Her lips twitched. "Just across the hall. They try to group us by designation. Pilots with pilots, engineers with engineers and so on."

Knox nodded. "Okay, good." He had to test the waters. "So … will you have dinner with me? Give me a chance to make up for being a dick?" He almost wouldn't blame her if she said no.

She flashed a smile. "I'd like that." She nodded toward the corridor. "Get checked in with the quartermaster or they won't serve you in the galley." Crossing the deck, she opened her door. "I'll meet you at 1800." She entered her quarters.

Knox couldn't keep a wide smile off his face. He'd better get moving if he wanted to get started off on the right foot with Piper.

And he definitely wanted to do exactly that.

Knox has a wee bit of groveling to do and he's perfectly okay with that.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye