Where there is no Whisper Paperback

I didn’t know what I was going to do with the little…humans, but felt a tiny tug on my heart all the same. 

"The book was tormenting me while doing homework and I stayed up much too late reading!!" -Teresa Risovi 

Flashback to 1981: A nostalgic journey of love, loss, and self-discovery 📺

Meet Eve Hofmann, a young girl coming of age under difficult circumstances. With a distant mother and dying father, she finds solace in her friendships with Silas Alder and Valerie Pleasant - or so she thinks.

A chance encounter on a snowy porch sets off a chain reaction of events that changes everything for Eve and Silas, two souls bound by fate but destined to be apart. 

As Eve navigates adolescence, first love blossoms between her and Silas. Years later, their paths cross again when he's hired to renovate an inherited schoolhouse into her home. Embers of passion reignite, but danger lurks nearby.

Valerie returns after years apart, stirring up memories and putting Eve on edge once more... 

Take a peek inside...

 Two months passed since arriving home from the hospital with Nicholas and Nolan.

I was sent home with a strict regimen of feeding them every three hours, and set my alarm. Nicholas got an X, and Nolan an O. They shared the same Pack ‘n Play.

Nicholas sucked his fist and Nolan screamed like the house was coming down.

There was a knock on the door before my mother burst in with a crockpot.

“You really need a phone now that you have children,” she said, walking past me to the kitchen. “Dawn was by and made Knoephla soup. I brought some. Not exactly a Thanksgiving feast, but it’s good.”

Relief, swift and powerful, nearly brought me to my knees. “I forgot what day it was,” I said, realizing she must care. Maybe she would offer to let us stay at her house for a bit. Until I grew stronger. “Do you want to hold one?” I asked above the roar.

“Me?” She looked horrified. “They are way too tiny.”

“Can I get you something to drink?” I opened the fridge and smelled the milk, ignoring the beer. “We have water and water.”

She didn’t smile. “No, thank you. Beatrice Clemens daughter, Cindy, had her first kid. Cindy wants a night off, Beatrice is there. They go to the movie, Beatrice is happy to help. They need groceries…”

“Let me guess, Grandma shows up.”

She gave me a hard look. “Darleen McKnight and I both agree, we are not the babysitter. We raised our kids, did our time.”

“Okay,” I said in a small voice, dropping all reason and pride. “Do you think it would work out for me and the boys to come home?”

“Why? Did something happen between you and Shawn?” Then slowly, the light came on in her eyes. “Didn’t I say you didn’t have to marry him? I told you.” Her tone was triumphant.

“Shawn is a really great guy,” I said quickly, rubbing my temples. “I’m probably just tired. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

After she left, I plopped down on the couch. Alone with the little hellions, I rocked Nolan until he stopped crying, and Nicholas began to wail. I laid Nolan in the Pack’ n Play, and dug around in the diaper bag for infant formula.

I prepared the bottles per instruction, and shoved them in open mouths. Instantly they were silent.

Thank God.

The bubbling stopped and I looked down. They were sucking air. I pulled the bottles out of their mouths. It took all of ten seconds for them to start crying again.

“Ugh. I’ll make you some more.”

I mixed up another half-bottle each, and shoved them back into their mouths. They moved away, red-faced and screaming.

Now what?

Completely overwhelmed, I began to cry right along with them. After a long, hopeless moment, I dried my tears and took a deep breath. If they weren’t hungry, what were they? What in all that was good and holy was wrong with them?

I picked Nicholas up and held him against me, bouncing him like I’d seen other mothers do. Immediately he burped and threw up on my shirt. “Oh no. Little man…”

Brown eyes looked up at me.

I didn’t know what I was going to do with the little…humans, but felt a tiny tug on my heart all the same.

Get ready for a thrilling ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat!