by Devney Perry
TRAGIC
Copyright © 2018 by Devney Perry
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-9983583-9-0
No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Editing & Proofreading:
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Cover:
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Formatting:
Champagne Book Design
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Epilogue
Preview from Tinsel
Acknowledgments
Also Available from Devney Perry
About the Author
To Carol Motschenbacher.
Your strength, humor and heart are an inspiration.
You were so loved.
You are so missed.
One or two.
“Kaine?” Mom’s voice echoed off the cement walls as she stepped outside. The glass door swished as it closed behind her.
I didn’t look at her as she stepped up to my side. My eyes were aimed blankly ahead as I wrestled with my decision.
One or two.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked. “We’ve been looking all over the hospital for you.”
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been standing out here. I’d told Mom that I was going to the bathroom and that I’d be back soon to talk with the doctors. But when I’d passed this exit door, hidden on the bottom floor in the back wing of the hospital, it had beckoned me through.
I’d needed a few moments away from the red-rimmed eyes and sniffling noses. I’d needed just a few seconds to pass without a single person asking me if I was okay.
I needed some quiet to decide.
One or two.
The parking lot ahead of me was shrouded in darkness. The night itself was pitch-black. There were no stars shining. There was no moon glowing. A thick fog had settled in, dulling the light of the streetlamps so their beams barely illuminated the few cars parked on the asphalt. The air should have been cold on my bare arms, but I couldn’t feel it.
I was numb.
I’d felt this way for hours, ever since they took her from my arms.
One or two.
It was an impossible choice, one I shouldn’t have to make. But because of him, it was inevitable.
“Kaine, I’m so sorry. What can I do?”
“I can’t decide.” My voice was rough as I spoke, the burn of rage and sorrow and pain making it nearly impossible to speak.
“Decide what?” she whispered. I didn’t need to look to know that Mom’s eyes were full of tears. Her dark hair had gotten a dozen new grays tonight. Her normally cheery and bright hazel eyes held their own fog of grief.
“One or two.”
“One or two what?”
I swallowed the fire in my throat. “Graves.”
One or two.
“Oh, Kaine.” Mom began to weep and her hand reached for my arm, but I shied away. “Please come inside, sweetheart. Please. We need to talk about this. He needs to talk to you. Give him a chance to explain.”
“I have nothing to say to him.” He’d done this. He was the reason I had to decide.
“Kaine, it was an accident. A tragic accident.” She hiccupped. “He—”
I walked away before she could finish. I walked right into the dark, wishing this blackness would swallow me whole.
Mom’s voice rang across the parking lot as she called out, but I simply walked, my boots carrying me into the black.
One or two.
An impossible choice.
As if the heavens sensed my despair, the clouds opened. Rain poured down, soaking my dark hair. It dripped over my eyes and coated my cheeks. The water soaked my jeans, making them cling to my legs.
But I couldn’t feel the water droplets as they streamed down the bridge of my nose. I couldn’t feel the locks of hair that were stuck to my forehead. I couldn’t feel the wet denim on my thighs as it rubbed my skin raw.
I was numb. There was nothing.
Nothing except the weight of four pounds, two ounces wrapped in a pink blanket resting in my arms as I said good-bye.
One or two.
What would Shannon want?
One. She’d choose one.
So I’d bury them together.
Then surrender to the black.
“You’re here!” Thea rushed across the runway.
“I’m here!” I stepped off the last stair of my boss’s private jet just as she threw her arms around me. The Kendrick family, Thea in particular, was arguably more excited about this adventure of mine than I was.
Montana, meet your newest resident: Piper Campbell.
I loved it here already.
The sky above me was blue with only a few wisps of feathered clouds. The sunshine was warm on my shoulders and the April air fresh in my nose. Any doubts I’d had about moving floated away in the mountain breeze.
Thea gave me one last squeeze for good measure, then stood back so her husband could take her place.
“Hey, boss.” I gave Logan a mock salute as I infused the word boss with as much sarcasm as possible.
Logan chuckled, shaking his head as he came in for an embrace. His hug wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as his wife’s, but it was a close second. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too,” I told him as he let me go. Then I gave him a diabolical smile. “It will be much easier to give you orders in person than over the phone.”
“Maybe this was a bad idea.” He frowned and looked over my shoulder at his family’s pilot standing on top of the plane’s staircase. “Mitch, Ms. Campbell isn’t staying after all. You’d better turn this thing around and take her back to the city.”
“Ignore him!” I called over my shoulder to Mitch, who laughed and went back inside the plane.
I was Logan’s assistant but gave him a hard time about who was really in charge. His ego could use a little razzing now and then. It was all in good fun because we both knew that I’d be lost without him. He was the best boss I could have ever asked for.
Logan took the backpack from my shoulder and slung it over his. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“So am I.” I stepped around him, going right for the cutest little girl on the planet. “Charlie!”
She smiled and left Thea’s side, rushing forward for a hug. “Hey, Piper.”
“I’ve missed y
ou, kiddo. I want to hear all about school and your soccer team.”
“Okay.” She smiled and took my hand, showing no signs of letting it go anytime soon.
Spending time with Charlie Kendrick was pure joy—except for the tiny pinch of longing that poked me in the side.
With her quiet voice and sweet nature, Charlie didn’t act like a princess or a diva. She was a tomboy, much like I had been at her age. Instead of a tiara, she wore an old, faded baseball cap over her long, brown hair the same color as her dad’s. There wasn’t a stitch of pink or purple anywhere in sight.
If I could have had a little girl, I would have wanted one as precious and unique as Charlie.
I ignored the pinch and held out my free hand to fist-bump her little brother, Collin. “Hey, bud.”
He gave me a shy smile but held fast to his dad’s leg. Collin was destined to be beautiful, like his siblings. While Charlie took after Logan, Collin was the spitting image of his mother, with nearly black hair and rich, dark eyes.
I winked at him, then went over to the baby carrier where eight-month-old Camila was fast asleep. “I can’t believe how much she’s grown in four months,” I told Thea as I looked adoringly at Camila’s chubby cheeks.
“They always say time flies after you have children. It’s the truth.”
Another pinch, but I ignored it too.
I’d have to get over those now that I was living here. Whenever Logan and Thea had come to New York, I’d always volunteered to babysit the kids so their parents could have a night out, and I planned to do a lot more of that now that I was living in Montana.
I was determined to become Aunt Piper, blood relation be damned.
“How much stuff did you bring along?” Logan asked.
“Not much.” I turned back to the plane as one of the attendants hauled a large suitcase down the stairs. “That case plus two more. The rest is in storage until I find a place here. Then I’ll have it shipped out.”
“All right.” Logan smiled at Thea. “You guys get loaded up and I’ll take care of the bags.”
Twenty minutes later, my suitcases were in the back of Logan’s beast of a silver SUV and we were headed down the highway toward my new hometown.
Lark Cove.
“It’s so beautiful.” My nose was practically pressed against the window as I soaked everything in. “It takes my breath away every time.”
Tall evergreens lined the highway, towering above us into the bright sky. Past their thick trunks, the water of Flathead Lake rippled and glittered under the sun’s rays.
Paradise.
“And now you get to live here.” Logan smiled at me in his rearview mirror.
I smiled back, then returned to the scenery. “And now I get to live here.”
My parents thought I was crazy for giving up my apartment in Manhattan to move to a small town in Montana I’d only visited once—maybe they were right. But I needed this change of pace.
I’d spent months grieving the death of my marriage. I’d come to terms with what I would and wouldn’t have in my life. And when the dust had settled, I’d realized New York wasn’t home anymore.
The only thing that had kept me in the city after Adam and I divorced had been my job. Working for Logan at the Kendrick Foundation, his family’s charitable organization, was the best part of each day. But after a while, even work couldn’t fill the lonely void.
This past Christmas, I’d confided in Thea that I was looking for a change and that it might involve me quitting. She’d passed it along to Logan, who had adamantly refused to accept my resignation. Instead, he’d offered to move me anywhere in the world to work remotely.
When he’d tossed out the idea of Montana, it had stuck. I could see myself living here.
I wanted empty highways instead of crowded city streets. I craved more space than the six-inch personal bubble people allowed me on the subway. I was sick and tired of seeing my ex-husband’s face on every corner, plastered to buses and billboards.
So I’d waited out the winter, enduring the longest four months of my life while I hid behind the walls of my apartment. Then I packed up my stuff, bid farewell to my family and friends and said good-bye to the city of my past.
Adam got to keep New York in our divorce.
I was taking Lark Cove, a town he hadn’t ruined.
The thirty-minute drive from the airport to Lark Cove went by fast. While the kids laughed, Thea and I talked about her latest art project and how things were going at the bar she ran with her best friend. Logan tried to sneak in a few work topics, but his wife shut him down immediately, reminding him it could wait until the weekend was over.
And then, before I knew it, we were here. Home.
“Don’t blink or you’ll miss it,” Logan teased as we passed a small green sign that read Entering Lark Cove.
My smile got wider, my dimples no doubt deepening. “It’s better than I remember.”
He drove slowly through the quaint town, letting me take in all of the businesses clustered along the highway. I saw things differently than when I’d come out here a few years ago for Logan and Thea’s wedding. Then, I’d only been a tourist, excited to witness my boss get married.
Now I was a resident.
I was giddy at the prospect of grocery shopping at the small mercantile. Bob’s Diner looked like my new favorite cheeseburger joint. When I went into Thea’s bar, it would be as a regular patron.
And maybe one day, I’d meet a handsome man in town who’d be up for a casual, uncomplicated relationship.
The majority of the homes in Lark Cove were set behind the businesses along the highway. They were normal-sized homes situated in friendly blocks where everyone knew their neighbors.
On the other side of the highway, the lakeside, the homes were larger. They reminded me of the houses in the Hamptons, though not quite as big and more rustic lake house than beach chateau.
Logan turned off the highway toward the lakeside of town, following a quiet road that wrapped around the shoreline until he pulled up to a house that screamed Logan Kendrick.
It was all class, like the man himself: handsome, with its cedar shakes and gleaming windows and well-manicured lawn. The boathouse on the water was larger than most of the homes we’d passed in town. The loft above it was going to be my abode for the next couple of weeks or months, however long it took to buy my own place.
As Logan parked in the detached garage and shut off the SUV, Charlie hurried to unbuckle her seat belt. “Piper, do you want to see my fort?”
“You know it!” I told her, helping Collin free from his car seat. The two-year-old squirmed out and crawled to the front before I could stop him.
“Daddy! Daddy!” he yelled, then giggled as Logan swung him out of the car and tossed him into the air.
“Come on, little one,” Thea said, opening the back door to get out Camila’s carrier. “I bet you need a diaper change and a bottle.”
Camila cooed at her mother, her tiny mouth forming a hint of a smile. The jury was out on which parent she took after, but I’d get a front-row seat to watch as she grew up.
I climbed out behind them all, deciding to leave my suitcases for the time being. I wanted to play with the kids some before dinner.
“When is the meeting with your realtor?” Thea asked as we walked toward the house.
“Tomorrow,” I said as Charlie slipped her hand in mine. “He’s got three places lined up for me to see.”
“Want some company? Logan can watch the kids and I can tag along to give you the inside scoop on potential neighbors.”
“You wouldn’t mind? I’d love to have your input.”
I’d thought of inviting Thea along on my house-hunting trip, but I didn’t want to smother her. The last four months had been incredibly lonely, and since she was my only girlfriend in Lark Cove, the chances were real that she’d get sick of me soon.
“Of course I wouldn’t mind,” Thea said. “Though I should warn you, I’m probably going t
o become that friend who calls and texts too often. Have I mentioned that I’m really excited you’re living here?”
She couldn’t have known, but I’d really needed those words and the enthusiasm in her voice. Thea Kendrick was good people.
“Ready to see my fort?” Charlie asked.
I looked to Thea, just to make sure it was okay. She nodded and smiled. “I’ll get Camila changed and fed, then we’ll come find you. White wine or red?”
I amended my earlier thought. Thea Kendrick was great people. “White, please.”
“You got it.” She smiled and disappeared into the house with the baby.
“I’ll take care of your suitcases,” Logan told me as he set Collin down to go play in the yard. “You just relax.”
“Thank you, Logan. For everything.”
He patted my shoulder. “You’re welcome. Glad you’re home.”
Home. I was home.
As he followed Collin to a stack of toys on the deck, I turned down to Charlie. “Fort time?”
She nodded. “Want to race?”
I slipped out of my four-inch stilettos. “Loser is a rotten egg!”
The next day, Thea and I were hiking through the trees behind the home my realtor had just shown us. This particular property was located in the mountains and had some acreage in the forest. So while the two of us were exploring, my realtor was back at the car, giving us a moment to debrief without him hovering.
“What do you think?” Thea asked.
“I don’t know.” I sighed. “That house is . . . there are no words.”
She giggled. “I’ve never seen a house so dedicated to a decade.”
“Ugh. Have you ever seen such hideous carpet? It was like the designer looked at an orange creamsicle and said, ‘How can I turn this into a paisley shag?’ ”
“Exactly.” She laughed again. “I can’t get over those yellow cabinets in the kitchen. And that wallpaper? Lime green stripes should never be paired with beige.”
I looked over my shoulder to the house and grimaced. It was an old-style rancher with three bedrooms, each needing a complete overhaul to bring them into this decade. Did I have it in me to take on such a large project?
