All Chapters of Backup Plan: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

BACKUP PLANBook Seven in the Dawson Family SeriesCopyright 2020Emily GoodwinChapter OneChloeFreshman year…Swallowing the lump in my throat, I blink back tears and slowly turn away from the register after swiping my lunch card. I grip the edges of the tray so hard my fingers hurt. The cafeteria is a sea of mostly happy teenagers, excitedly talking—and bragging—about their summer vacations, comparing tan lines, and complaining about being back at Silver Ridge High.Taking a slow step forward, I concentrate both on not slipping and falling in these heels, while at the same time, looking around the crowded lunchroom for a place to sit. Knowing pretty much everyone is both the blessing and the curse of this small town, and right now I’m wishing I could curse every single of one of them in this room.Okay, not every single one. Just Derek Rogers and everyone within a ten-foot radius of him. I clench my jaw, preparing to walk past his table. Busy talking and laughing with his football

Chapter ThreeChloe“I’m not going to lie,” Karina starts, sitting back in her leather chair. Her jet-black hair falls in perfect waves around her pretty face. “That was rough.”“I didn’t think it was that bad,” I counter, internally wincing. We just got done watching my interview from this morning. I might have cringed more than once while watching. I looked aloof, and you could tell my heart just wasn’t in it. Because it wasn’t.“I’ve seen worse,” my publicist agrees, brushing dog fur from her ivory-colored suit jacket. “Never from you, though. What’s going on?” Her brown eyes pierce mine, waiting for a response—an honest response. She’ll keep her gaze trained on me until I crack, and I love and hate her for it. She’s petite and girly but is ruthless when it comes to her clients. We started working together when Shadowfall got optioned for film and has gotten me an impressive number of sponsorships and exposure since then.“I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “I feel…off.”“Does this

Chapter FiveChloeEyes closed, I lie back on the dock. The hot sun beats down on me, and I’ve been sweating since the minute I came out here. There are quite a few people out on the lake today, and the distant sound of boats and jet skis interrupts the quiet of the forest surrounding the lake. Silver Lake is large and kind of horseshoe-shaped. It’s divided into two parts, with the part Dad’s house is on being the “quiet side” of the lake reserved for fishing or any other sort of activity that doesn’t produce a wake. Its counterpart is where the fun happens, and the annual boat races are still held every July, just like they were years ago.I didn’t grow up along the lake like this. We lived in a small house right in the middle of Silver Ridge. Mom always wanted to live on lakefront property, but even in this small town, it was too expensive. It was her dream to buy one of the historic homes and fix it up, but she died before that could ever happen.When this house popped up for sale,

Chapter SevenChloe“That wasn’t very nice.” I throw my pen down on my open notebook and flop back onto the lounge chair. I’m hot, sweaty, and want a drink, but I was determined to stay out here on the dock until I came up with a detailed outline for the next two chapters of my book. I got one chapter written in the early morning hours, after waking up at four AM with my characters talking in my head so loudly I couldn’t not get up and write. I went back to sleep around six-thirty, woke up around ten, and have been out here, making myself suffer as punishment.Because my characters are going in a totally different direction than I originally anticipated, throwing even me for a loop, which is why I’m speaking harshly to them right now. Trading my notebook for a paperback copy of the very first book in the series, I randomly crack it open and start reading, going over the details and plot I love so very much.Three chapters later, I lie back, put the book over my face for shade, and get

Chapter NineChloeLike a sister.I close the door to Sam’s BMW with a little more force than necessary, fingers slipping from the handle due to the rain. Focusing my attention on the front door of the house, I walk up the driveway, each step squishing beneath my feet.I’m so stupid. Naive. I guess I’ll never change.Sam is still in the driveway when I get onto the porch, and I make it a point not to turn around and look at him. Really, I shouldn’t be mad. Not at him. He did nothing wrong this time, and offering to take me home so I don’t have to walk in the rain was nice of him, and I’m quite thankful because thunder is rumbling overhead again. The storm is getting its second wind—literally. It would have taken me a while to walk back from the picnic shelter. I’m already cold, and there’s no promise a tree wouldn’t have fallen on me. If the impact alone didn’t kill me, I could very easily become hypothermic and die a slow, painful death.Okay, probably not, since it’s still seventy-f