Time for Once: What characters will you see in Dream for a Second?

With the first draft of the second book nearly complete (shhh.. I won’t keep saying this for the next three months, I promise!) and with August well underway, I thought it would be fun to share another character from Time for Once who shows up again in Dream for a Second.

His name is Mark, and he is one of Palmer’s best friends (he also marries Lena’s sister, but well after the completion of Time for Once).

Mark is introduced during an epic summer pool party Jolie attends shortly after leaving Jace in her college town. There are two August 2005 chapters in Time for Once, and honestly, they are two of the easiest chapters I wrote, so much so that I remember where I was while I wrote them (the front stoop of my house in July 2020 while the sunset).

Author Disclaimer: Dream for a Second can be read as a stand-alone even though characters from Time for Once are in there!

Chapter Six - August 2005

"Hey, there you are," said a voice the moment her toes skimmed the hot tub's surface. "I was hoping we'd have a chance to catch up. I haven't seen you all afternoon."

Jolie forced a smile in Mark's direction. His unmistakable nose was silhouetted by the house lights. She slipped into the bubbling water opposite him. "Hey, are you enjoying the night?" Jolie knew he was harmless, but Carrie was right, he was eager.

"Heck yeah, I am! It couldn't be more perfect for an impromptu pool party, you know? And you're here, so it was destined to be amazing." Mark beamed, the effort of his desperation like an emergency brake on any hopes of her feeling attracted to him. Not that he realized it.

"I wish all nights could be like this," Jolie said. She sighed and closed her eyes. The water wavered and raised. Someone else had joined.

"Hey man." 

Palmer.

She popped her eyes open and watched him hand Mark a plastic cup. He then offered one to her.

"I'm good, thanks," she managed to say as the spike in her heartbeat pulsed in her ears. She switched to water after the sun had set. It was a decision she was sure her less-hungover self would appreciate tomorrow.

Palmer settled next to Jolie, much to her surprise, and—

Was that his hand grazing her knee? Oh crap, it was.

Maybe it was an accidental brush. Jolie gulped—his hand remained—and she attempted to listen to Palmer talk about the high school kids who had crashed the party earlier in the evening. 

With his closeness and the bubble of a pure summer night, she was newly intoxicated. Their eyes connected for a brief moment, and an unspoken acknowledgment passed. Okay.