Elizabeth and Erik visited Grandmother Edna in January, 1961. They gave her the answer to the mystery woman’s photo in her ex-husbands’s pocket watch.
The second they pulled away from Edna’s farmhouse, all Elizabeth’s pent up anger poured out. “I can’t believe she spoke to you like that! To look you straight in the eyes and say those horrible things…I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Erik. This was supposed to be a happy day, but now…”
“I know. Was she right about the rest of your family? Are you going to keep this to yourself, or tell everyone the truth about Gustav and Esther?”
“Honestly, I have no idea. None of them were very close to Gustav anyway, not even his children, since he was away on tour so much. I think I’ll keep it quiet.”
“Bury the truth so it doesn’t upset people.” Erik murmured.
Elizabeth frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Everything. Sorry, it’s been a long day.”
“Are you mad at me because of what Grandma said? Because I didn’t stand up enough, or defend you enough?”
“No. Well…yes. Sort of.”
“Could you be more vague? Tell me what’s wrong, Erik?”
He was silent for the longest time. Then, suddenly, he blurted out, “I feel like I’m losing you. Music has become a huge part of your life. And I’m not part of it.”
Did he suspect something was going on between her and Wilson? No. Elizabeth decided, this was something different. And she abruptly felt horrible, because she never wanted to make Erik feel left out of her life. If he wanted to be involved in her music life, she thought of a roundabout way to make that happen.
Elizabeth told Erik her plan. He shot her a side-ways glance. That wasn’t quite what he had in mind when he said that he’d support her in her music career. But, he reluctantly agreed to do it.

A musical nursing school detective with a family secret. Like stirring in a little more cornstarch. The plot thickens.
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Thanks, Tim! Love your creative comments. And the plot thickens even more after the book launch beginning of May. Then the excerpts will target music, an entanglement, a breakup, a back together, tension & conflicts get heavy. ๐๐ถ Christine
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Sounds a lot like life as we know it. And it’s always engaging.
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It definitely is a lot like life as we know it. But, wait. Further on
In the book, not all people have gotten trapped in 1961 East Berlin when the Wall went up! Engaging with intrigue! ๐๐ถ
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That is true. I was 3 years old at that time.
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So youโll learn a little history coming up. It was a scary time! ๐ณ๐คจ
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I grew up with the cold war. Life was MAD. Did you see this post from last year? https://wp.me/p1yQyy-6bQ
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Wow, great post & song, Tim. You knew first hand, in Spain, the threat of war. Even though the Spaniards remarked, โMeh.โ Couldnโt click on the video. But, the drawing and lyrics (you wrote) were thought-provoking. You certainly have many talents! ๐๐ถ
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I didn’t have a video, so you didn’t miss anything. That was a very strange and frightful event. These things make your book so fascinating and I’m looking forward to the release.
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Thanks, Tim, for your interest. My editor told me the East Berlin chapters took her completely by surprise. In a good way! ๐๐ถ
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Excellent.
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The fact that you surprised your editor makes the book even more intriguing!!
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Thanks, GP. The editorโs comment made my day! In fact, she wrote in an email, the chapters about the mission in East Berlin were so good, she couldnโt stop reading, and had to go back to edit a few things. Not sure how I came up with the twist, imagination just took over! And it worked. ๐๐ถ
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I know how – it’s called Talent!
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Wow! GP, thank you for the awesome descriptive T word. You made my day! ๐๐ถ๐บ
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You deserve it!
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๐บ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐
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Excellent choice of snippet to share, Christine. Kudos. Hugs on the wing.
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Thank you, Teagan. More to come this week. Hugs back. ๐๐ถ๐
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Hi Christine, this is a very intriguing extract.
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Thank you, Robbie. The action begins now. More teasers coming up before launch time. ๐๐ถChristine
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