Secrets Untold
Book One
The CraftField Series
by
Brooklyn Shivers
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Secrets Untold
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Copyright © 2016 Brooklyn Shivers
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage or retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical without the express written permission of the author. The scanning, uploading, or distribution of this book via the Internet or via other means without permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic additions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter One
Lily Thomas danced across the room singing, “Happy Birthday to me.” She’d worked for six months to convince her mom to buy Joe’s half-rusted Ford pickup truck that sat in the back of his part shop. Just needed a few parts and a new side panel, all at reduced cost from a local junkyard, and voilà, she’d have a car.
Freedom.
“Are you stomping bugs up there or something?” Her mom called up the stairs.
“Nope,” she yelled in answer. Quickly, she dressed in jeans and her favorite purple top that highlighted her dark hair. She squeezed down the stairwell, careful not to bump the walls. Their tiny duplex shared a wall with their grouchy neighbor, who complained about every brush of the wall. Seriously, did the lady have her ear pressed to it constantly?
Lily stuffed a piece of bread in the toaster and dug out the raspberry jelly. Her mom was dressed in her usual yellow waitress outfit, with her dark hair stuffed in a hairnet.
Her gut sank into her bare feet along with her mood. “Uh… I thought you’d take the day off today.” Ya know, birthday and all?
“Sorry, honey. But it’s Valentine’s and the café is booked.”
“Couldn’t you just take off until this afternoon?” Lily cringed at the tremble in her voice. “I thought we’d go to the DMV and get my driver’s license.” And buy Joe’s truck.
“Honey, you’re only fifteen. They won’t give a license to you until next year.” Her mom poured a glass of milk and handed it to her. “One of your aunts can drive you if you want to go to the mall or something. Or Amanda can take you.”
She didn’t want to depend on her friend or anyone. A license and car meant she could get a job. Find something, and not end up a waitress like her mom. Having her own steady job would take the pressure off her mom too, and maybe they’d be able to take a vacation or two. Just relax on the beach, not that she’d ever seen the ocean. “I’d ask for a hardship license. They allow those—”
“For teens that have a job.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Your job is to finish school and go to college.”
“I can do all that and have a job.” And pay for my own stuff instead of having to save forever from babysitting and cleaning houses and mowing lawns. Lily wanted a steady job, one that came with a paycheck and not wrinkled cash. At least her mom always let her skip school on her birthday.
“Listen, we’ll talk about this tomorrow, okay?”
“Fine.” She yanked out the toast and smeared the jam across it. The DMV was closed tomorrow and until Monday. By then, her mom would have some other reason not to take her. Maybe she could get Amanda to ditch school with her and try to get the hardship license on her own. No, she’d need an adult to sign for her. Or Aunt Martha. She had a way of making people do what she wanted even though Lily couldn’t figure out how. They just sort of obeyed her whenever she was in the room with them.
“Have a good day and don’t worry about dinner, I’ll send something over from the restaurant later.” Her mom bustled out the door and turned the key in the lock. Then her heels clicked as she ran to catch the 10am bus down the block.
“Happy Birthday to me.” Knowing her mom, she would remember while at work and call apologizing profusely that she forgot. Lily couldn’t blame her because her mom worked double shifts at the restaurant, then odd times cleaning houses when she wasn’t working. Lily finished her breakfast and sent a text to Amanda.
Up for an adventure?
Sure, geometry with Coach Brand is boring as ever. What’s up?
Meet me at Joe’s Part Shop in an hour.
Lily stuffed the phone in her back pocket, then jogged up the stairs to grab socks and her jar full of coins and bucks. Four hundred and seventy-three dollars and eighty-two cents. Hopefully, it’d be enough to pay for the truck. Her mom just had to let her get her license when she showed she’d paid for her own car, right? Or one of her aunts might fib and say they were her guardian and sign the necessary paperwork for Lily to get her hardship license. After all, both Martha and Jessica were always going to the Bahamas every winter. Her mom always made excuses why they couldn’t tag along. She was beginning to think her mom didn’t want to go. Like she had some deep dark secret. When she was little, Lily used to believe her mom refused to go because Lily was taken from her rich father who lived there.
Lily shook her head. No, her mom just worked too hard and never took time off for herself unless she was knocked out from the flu or something.
***
“How are we supposed to get this heap to your place?” Amanda shuffled her feet side to side. “It doesn’t even run.”
Lily waved a hand. “Joe said he’d tow it over on Sunday.”
“Your mom is gonna freak.” Amanda bit her lip. “God, I wish I had your nerve. I’d never have agreed to the station wagon from the seventies that my parents bought me.”
“Just be glad you didn’t have to pay for it.” Amanda was a military brat and, because of hopping around the world for the first twelve years of her life, her parents had let her take a year off school. She was sixteen, licensed and driving. Lily wished she could travel outside of Michigan more than once or twice in her lifetime. So, car today. License this afternoon if she could talk Aunt Martha into it. Next year, she’d ask for a ticket to the Bahamas with her aunts. Excitement zinged through her and she grinned like a lunatic.
Amanda’s phone buzzed. “Damn. I forgot to get my step-brother from school. Mom’s in a meeting until six.” Her friend sent a text back. “Sorry, I’d hoped to go with you to the DMV. Want me to take you back to your place?”
“Just d
rop me off at the bus stop.” She gave her friend a hug. “I’ll catch up with ya later.”
“Send me a photo of your license.”
Lily laughed. “It’ll just be a paper until they mail the real one.”
“So?” Amanda unlocked the car door and slid behind the driver’s seat. “It’s what you’ve wanted all year.”
She climbed into the car beside her friend and waved bye to Joe. Two miles later, she stood at the bus stop as her friend zipped past a yellow light.
Time for Aunt Martha. Lily sent a quick text to her aunt asking her to meet her at the DMV.
Seconds, her aunt responded. Can’t Lily, hun. An emergency’s come up. Where are you? I’ll pick you up.
Lily’s heart slammed against her chest. Was it Mom? Damn, she knew her mom worked too much. Her hands shook as she sent the street crossings she was near and leaned against the bus stop’s pole. Twenty minutes later, Aunt Martha’s Jeep pulled up.
When she saw her grim expression, Lily’s gut went cold. “Is it Mom? Is she okay?”
“Buckle up, I’ll get you there as soon as I can.” They whipped into traffic and zoomed down the street.
She should’ve stayed home and never gone out on her own for the truck. Maybe she could’ve offered to help her mom at the café today. Or worked in the back helping plate orders. Damn it. She clenched her hands until her knuckles dug into her palms. Her mouth dried as she blinked back tears.
In town, her aunt swerved down Fifth Street instead of following the road to her mom’s work.
“Where are we going?” Shit, the hospital was this way. “What’s happened to my mom?” Her voice screeched out.
“It’ll be fine.” She patted Lily’s knee. “Don’t worry so much.”
Easy for her to say. Still, Lily took a deep breath. Corporate buildings gave way to small town shops. Her aunt pulled into a gray building with a broken window and boards littered with graffiti over the other windows. The door hung open, half off its hinges.
Had her mom been kidnapped and brought here? She shook her head; they had no money, so why would her mom be here? “What’s going on?”
“Come and see.” Aunt Martha’s face beamed. “Your mom wants to tell you.”
Tell me what? She climbed out the jeep, her legs still shaky, and followed her aunt inside the dusty dark shop.
Yellowed newspapers littered the floor along with cartons of food and dead bugs. Lily shivered. Behind a doorway, she heard her mom and Aunt Jessica’s voices.
“Mom?”
Aunt Jessica emerged from the back. Her brown hair dusty, and a spider web hung from one side of her hair. “She’s here.”
Before Lily could react, Jessica squeezed her into a bear hug. Lily grunted as it felt like her ribs were straining not to crack. How did her aunt have such strength when she barely reached Lily’s shoulder?
Her mom poked her head out from a closet behind a broken countertop. “Happy Birthday Lily!”
“Thanks.” She scratched her head. “What’s going on?” Why were they here? Was this a scavenger hunt and they brought her here to throw her off?
“This is your birthday present.” Her mom wiped her hands and after giving her a hug and kissed her on her cheek.
Lily shook her head, glancing around at the rundown store. “Not following.” Surely her mom hadn’t mixed up the words truck and shack when she told her mom months ago what she wanted.
“This is our place. Yours and mine.” Her mom grinned. “I quit the restaurant yesterday. It took a while to settle the lease, I’d hoped to have this place cleaned up for today, but,” she shrugged, “this way you can help chose the colors and help paint.”
The idea of them owning their own place made Lily forget about her car. Forget about her license. They would have a place of their own and be able to spend more time together. She’d been bugging her mom to take a chance and find something that would not only fulfill her, but give them more time as a family. This was perfect.
“Wow, Mom! All ours? What will we make it?”
“An ice cream shop!” Aunt Martha said behind her. “Surprise. We all chipped in.”
“But, we’ll be okay, right? You won’t need to work at the café too to help pay the bills.” She loved the idea of starting a new business with her mom and seeing her more often, but not if it caused more stress and her mom working three or four jobs to cover expenses.
“I thought we could do this together. Have our own place.” Her mom’s cheeks reddened and her gray eyes brightened. “There’s a small kitchen and two rooms and a bathroom upstairs. We can live here and serve ice cream. There’s not another shop for five miles. We’d be busy all the time.”
“But what about school? If you work that much, I’ll see you even less time than I do now.”
“We’ll help out in the spring and summer months.” Jessica sneezed.
Her mom’s excitement spilled over to Lily. She was both happy and anxious about this change.
The unbroken part of the counter looked to be granite. She and her mom would save money living here instead of their duplex. And she’d been bugging her mom about getting a regular job. Everything was falling into place, Lily could picture the shop now with bright colors and ice cream drums on display. It would take a lot of work to get this place fixed up and ready, but with them all working together, she knew they could do it.
“What do you think?” Her mom dry-washed her hands, her eyes full of hope.
“It’s great.” Something that she and her mom owned. Maybe they could get it up and running and then sell it later. It had to be better than shoveling snow and cleaning toilets.
“We could have the cash register here, and the ordering line here.” Her mom gestured toward the broken window. “What colors would you like? I was thinking a nice green and highlights of royal blue.”
Lily could almost picture it. Her eagerness mounted at the sight of her mom’s cheerful face. “And I’d be able to sample different flavor ice creams, right?”
Chapter Two
Three months later
“What if they don’t like it? What if no one comes?” Her mom wrung her hands while frown lines burrowed across her forehead.
“We’ll be packed and have to get a ticket machine for the orders,” Lily said, hefting another drum of ice cream with numb fingers, and moving it to the front of the store. Aunt Martha and Jessica were outside handing flyers to everyone who would take them, and Martha was probably nearly done with her stack as Lily imagined her stuffing the paper into people’s hands, purses, whatever was open. She shook away the image.
Her mom stood chewing her lip, her brow furrowing.
“Mom.” Lily jimmied the tub of ice cream in the display case beside the others. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
“What if the customers hate it?”
“It’s ice cream. How can they not like it? Besides if they don’t, I’ll eat it all. It tastes great!” Lily blew on her hands to warm them up. For just a few minutes, she’d love to walk outside in the warm spring air but knew her mom would freak out if she left her on her own right now. The pickup truck she’d bought was parked in Aunt Martha and Jessica’s garage. There’d been no time to even consider working on it and her bank account was negative zero dollars. No time for anything but helping her mom and aunts to get the ice cream shop up and running by mid-April. Her hardship license had been put aside for now. Once the shop was on a routine, she’d ask her mom to take her to the DMV one morning.
“Are you excited?” her mom asked, biting her fingernail. “Oh God, what if this is a terrible idea? The café already filled my waitress position. We’ll be tossed into the street—”
“Mom, stop it. You always worry about things and they turn out fine. If this place bombs, then,” she shrugged, “we’ll move on. I’m not worried about it. You should just be happy and enjoy the ride.” Lily had said the same thing when she and her mom had gone on the rollercoaster. Her mom had never ridden one before, beca
use of her terror of heights, but it had been Lily who’d got off the ride with shaky legs and a queasy stomach. Her mom had experienced such a rush that she’d ridden three more times in a row.
“What if the ice cream melts?”
“Mom,” Lily said in a warning tone, her hands on her hips.
“Sorry.” She took a deep breath. “You’re right.” Marching to the front of the store, she flipped the Open sign over. “Showtime.”
Lily gave her mom a thumb’s up and scrambled behind the ice cream counter. Immediately, a dad with two small toddlers strode in.
“Welcome to Ice Dreams,” her mom said as the bell above the door jingled. “We have free samples and mini-cones for the kids.” She brushed her wavy brown hair out of her green eyes, her hand shaking.
“Thank you.” The man picked up one of the boys. “Which one do you want to try?”
“The blue one.”
Lily scooped up a sample spoon of the bubblegum flavored and handed to the boy. “That one’s my favorite flavor so far.”
“My turn.” The other boy tugged on his dad’s pant leg. He too was lifted up. “I want the green one and the chocolate one.”
Lily handed over the two samples.
“Which one do you like?” her mom asked.
“Both of them.” The boy licked the two tiny spoons at once.
“Only one.” His dad set him down and pulled out his wallet.
“Chocolate.”
“Okay, two mini-cones, one blue bubblegum and one chocolate.” The dad handed Lily’s mom a twenty dollar bill.
“Nothing for you?” she asked taking the money to the cash register while Lily prepared the cones.
“Nah, I’m more of a cake guy than just ice cream.” He nodded to Lily, taking the two cones from her and handing them to the boys who were jumping up and down. Then he accepted his change and dropped a dollar in the tip jar.
When he exited the shop, Lily’s mom squealed. “Our first paying customer and tip!” She dug the bill out of the jar and replaced it with a wrinkled one from her purse.
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