Copper Creek: The Complete Boxed Set
Page 1
Copper Creek
The Complete Boxed Set
Wendy Smith
Edited by
Lauren Clarke
Individual book cover design by
Sprinkles On Top Studios
Boxed set cover design by
Wendy Smith
Proofreading by
AM to PM Book Services
Contents
Glossary
Coming Home
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Doctor’s Orders
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Baker’s Dozen
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Hunter’s Mark
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Teacher’s Pet
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Epilogue
Bonus Chapter
Also by Wendy Smith
About the Author
Glossary
There are a few Kiwi words in this book, so I thought it worthwhile including a glossary
Chilly Bin - Insulated box to keep food or drink cool
Number eight wire mentality - The ability to improvise to solve a problem.
Kia ora - Māori for ‘hello’
Ka pai - Māori for ‘good’
Boot - Trunk of car
Bonnet - Hood of car
Morepork - Also known as Ruru. Small brown owl.
Wheel Brace - Tyre Lever
Torch - Flashlight
Togs - Swimwear
Cordial - fruit flavoured drink
Mobile - Cell Phone
Swanndri - Wool bush shirt
Ute - Utility vehicle
Moko - Short for Mokopuna. Meaning grandchild.
Weta - A sometimes large insect, native to New Zealand
Ute - Utility truck
Nappy - Diaper
Jandals - Flip-flops (thongs in Australia)
Box of fluffies - Phrase that means ‘everything’s good’
Pepi-pod - A small, portable sleep space that allows parents to co-sleep safely with their baby
Hair of the dog - Having an alcoholic drink in the morning to help get over the hangover from the night before.
Gear stick - Shifter
Please note: if there are any other words you stumble on, don’t hesitate to track me down online and ask.
Coming Home
1
Lily
Today is going to be the happiest day of my life. My wedding day.
I wake and smile to myself, but something’s not quite right. The air is chilly and this doesn’t smell like my bedroom. My eyes are heavy, and I struggle to open them. I blink, Mum’s built in work desks coming into focus. Mum’s sewing room?
I turn my head. I’m on a mattress on the floor, and her sewing gear is gone. There are still the cupboards she stored her fabric in, emptied with the doors wide open, and the table and machine have been moved.
A sharp pain tears through my left leg, and my back aches from the awkward angle I’ve been lying. I try and push myself up on my elbows to take a look, but my head swims and the whole thing is way too much effort. What the hell is going on?
It takes a lot of effort, but I manage to get myself up a little. Enough to push back the blanket and spot the large bruise coming up on my calf. What happened last night, and why don’t I know how I ended u
p down here? I have no idea what the time is, but I’m marrying Adam today.
Panic rises in me as I struggle to stay upright, and I let myself sink down into the mattress again.
The answers come in the form of my mother. The handle rattles as she opens the door, and her heels click as she walks down the wooden stairs.
“You’re awake, sleepyhead,” she says.
“What the hell is going on?”
She gets onto her knees beside the mattress and leans over, kissing me on the forehead. “I’m taking care of you. I brought you breakfast.”
“Why am I down here?”
Mum sighs. “I told you. I’m taking care of you.”
“I’m not sick. I’ve got to get ready. What’s the time? I have to be at the courthouse by ten.”
As she shakes her head, her eyes so sad, I know I’m in big trouble. “Shhh.”
“Mum?”
“I have to protect you Lily. That boy’s just going to break your heart.”
A sob breaks from me, hot tears spilling down my cheeks. “What have you done?”
She smiles, and I know she truly believes the words that come out of her mouth next. “I’m keeping you safe. I won’t have you go through what I did. He’ll get you pregnant and then he’ll leave, and you’ll struggle the rest of your life. Or, you stay here with me.”
“Adam’s not like that.” I’m so weak, I can barely protest. What did she give me? She’s been on so many different drugs over the years, it could be anything.
Bile rises in my throat. I push to stand up, but I’m so weak my hand barely moves me. Inside, I rage to escape but my body fails and my fury only grows. Everything’s foggy and so many thoughts pass through my mind as I’m unable to act on them.
Mum … no …
Adam.
* * *
I start counting the days, but it’s hard when you have no way of keeping record.
When the power gets cut, I know it’s been at least six weeks. In the past, Mum’s missed a couple of bills before it’s got to that stage.
The lighting’s usually pretty good in the basement. Mum had this place refitted several years ago when she turned it into her sewing room. And I’m thankful there’s a toilet with handbasin in the corner.
Now there’s nothing, and I lie in the dark and listen to my heart beating for company.
A handful of times a day I get to the bathroom and back, but I always end up back in the same place. There’s nothing else to sit on.
Adam knows I’m gone—he must. Does he not wonder where I am? Did he come looking for me? Or has he deserted me just like Mum said he would?
The odds had always been against us. His mother took an instant dislike to me, no doubt buying into the rumours about Mum. For Mum’s part, she hasn’t done too badly these past years until now. Apart from the mending work she does, she’s kept to herself. It helped a lot when she started getting a few jobs from that weird commune place up on McKenzie’s Mountain.
It isn’t really a mountain, more like a hilly area up in the bush. Commune or cult, I don’t know, but it’s somewhere where they all dress the same and act weird. Whatever. It’s funny the random things that pop into your mind when you have nowhere to go and no way to get anywhere.
It’s Adam that weighs on my mind the most. A few weeks ago he loved me more than anything else on the planet. At least that was what he said. Where is he now?
Instead of being Mrs Adam Campbell, I’m sitting or lying around, and no one’s found me. I thought this would be the first place anyone would come looking, that Mum’s reputation would be enough for someone to check. She has a history of being a little eccentric, and thanks to the open-mouth policy that some people in Copper Creek practice, people know she’s on a variety of medications … and yet, nothing. No knocks on the door. Only the occasional sound of her heels on the stairs as she brings me food.
Adam ...
When I get out of here, I’ll ask him for answers, ask why he’s abandoned me. My mind twists everything, including the love I bore him. My heart still belongs to him, but did his ever belong to me?
Doubt is demoralising.
Being demoralised is scary.
It’s the kind of thing that can kill you in this situation. That overwhelming feeling that there is no hope.
I close my eyes and think about the dark house above.
Mum wouldn’t disconnect the power deliberately. Without fail she watches her soap operas, and how’s she going to catch her daily dose of drama with no power?
I pray she gets it back before she decides to light the house with candles. No one knows I’m here if anything goes wrong. So simple and yet so deadly.
This is a nightmare I can’t wake up from.
It’s the dark that haunts my dreams.
2
Adam
Twelve years later
I slug back another mouthful of whiskey.
Maybe the silky amber liquid will help me forget the expression on Jenna’s face as I tore her heart to shreds. All because I couldn’t let go of the past. Deep down, I knew I could never love her the way I’d loved Lily.
Her name was a curse on my lips, the one who got away. Twelve years ago, I’d left the town where she’d broken my heart. I’d gone back to the US, stayed with family friends before joining the military and travelling the world. I’d seen things I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to forget.
For such a short while, I’d seen Jenna as the way forward. My safe harbour. She’d been the one who stood by me when I left the army, broken and tired, wanting to drink myself into oblivion. Jenna had brought me back from the brink.
I’m such an arsehole.
It wasn’t until I stood in the jeweller’s store choosing an engagement ring that I realised I didn’t want this. I can’t give her all of my heart, give her all she deserves. She needs a man who will love her completely and unconditionally. I can give her neither.
Instead of proposing, I came home and told her it was over.
Two days later, I’m still drinking my sorrows away.
The key to avoiding the inevitable hangover that will follow this binge is to keep drinking. Drink until the pain that consumes me fades away. Even when it isn’t at the forefront of my thoughts, there is still some small part of me that nags, feeding the darkness inside.
Buried deep is the distant memory of true happiness, but sometimes I have doubts about whether that’s a memory, or an illusion.
My eyes heavy, I lie down on the couch and drop the empty bottle to the floor.
That’s the last thing I remember as sleep claims me. The phone rings in the distance, but it’s too far away to care about. My head will be pounding in the morning, but I don’t care about that either. All that matters is killing the pain.
I don’t know if it will ever go away.
* * *
I wake, my head thumping in a rhythm that’s hard to cope with and unwanted. I groan as I open my eyes, only to slam them shut again as the morning sun streams through the window.
It’s the last thing anyone with a hangover needs.
I sit up with my eyes still closed and stand, opening them a tiny amount as I make my way to the blinds. I’ve stumbled around this apartment in the dark before; I know every inch of it. This has been my retreat these past few years, the place that comes closest to being called home. I never thought of myself as someone who would be a homeowner, but when it came up cheap, I leapt at the chance with help from Mum and Dad. It’s only gone up in value the last few years, one of the few constants in my life. Although, that’s been by my choice.