Lilies Read online

  Lilies

  In the Light Series

  Addyson Thompson

  Copyright©2015 Addyson Thompson

  ISBN-13: 978-1507670859

  ISBN-10: 1507670850

  Lilies (In the Light Series)

  Editor: Jamie Sadler

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduction, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) utilization of this work without written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been uses without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  © Goglik83 | Dreamstime.com - Man Portrait Photo

  © Photokirst | Dreamstime.com - Low Key Calla Lily Photo

  DEDICATION

  To the search for your light. May life surprise you in the most

  unexpected places. Sometimes, all you need is a little brew.

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1: Gavin

  Chapter 2: Hayden

  Chapter 3: Gavin

  Chapter 4: Hayden

  Chapter 5: Gavin

  Chapter 6: Hayden

  Chapter 7: Gavin

  Chapter 8: Hayden

  Chapter 9: Gavin

  Chapter 10: Hayden

  Chapter 11: Gavin

  Chapter 12: Hayden

  Chapter 13: Gavin

  Chapter 14: Hayden

  Chapter 15: Hayden

  Chapter 16:Gavin

  Chapter 17:Hayden

  Chapter 18:Gavin

  Chapter 19:Hayden

  Chapter 20: Gavin

  Chapter 21:Hayden

  Chapter 22:Gavin

  Chapter 23:Hayden

  Chapter 24:Gavin

  Chapter 25:Hayden

  Chapter 26:Gavin

  Chapter 27:Hayden

  Chapter 28:Gavin

  Chapter 29:Hayden

  Chapter 30:Gavin

  Chapter 31:Hayden

  Chapter 32:Gavin

  Chapter 33:Brooklyn

  Epilogue

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Where do I even start? First and foremost, my biggest thanks need to be said to my husband, Travis and son. I love you, guys. You two have been my biggest supporters through this entire process. No matter how many times I became frustrated or discouraged you both were there picking me back up, telling me I could do it. Even when my faith waivered in myself, yours never did. I will love you two forever…deeper than the ocean…bigger than the sky. Special thanks to my kiddo: Dude, you did it! You keep this secret. I’m so proud of you!

  My medical dictionary…Mallory! You’re freaking awesome. Thank you for answering all my crazy questions. Even the most ridiculous ones. If people could see the text we’ve exchanged they would question our sanity.

  My bestie Belinda. I love ya, girl. Thanks for all the encouragement. Skype might be our best connections right now, but the distance defiantly didn’t stop the fun I’ve had discussing different parts of the book or just having you there to listening me to rant out my frustrations. Special thanks for taking one for the team and helping pick the hot guy on the cover. I know this was a difficult task.

  Tessa Teevan. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You’ve guided me through this process, encouraged me, and listened as I went through different ideas. Our poor husbands spend most of their ‘fire time’ listening to us discussing our books or ones we’ve read and so much more. You have been such a great help. I seriously appreciate everything!

  Mom and Bug. Thanks for the kick in the butt when I needed it.

  Teri Beth, Michelle, Laura and Kim you ladies are awesome betas! Teri Beth and Michelle, your detailed notes have been such a wonderful help making this story what it is today. Laura and Kim, I love you ladies! You’ve been there to answer a quick question or discuss a plot that isn’t quite working the way I want. Thank you for all your thoughts, suggestions and encouragement.

  My RL Clubhouse Ladies, What can I say? You ladies humble me. Your blind faith brought me to tears more times than I can say. You jumped right in helping to spread the word about Lilies. You’ve been there with a kind word or funny thought to kick my butt into gear. When I joined the group I thought I would get a different perspective on a series we all love, have a few laughs and check in here and there. Never did I dream that it would be my ‘go to’ place on Facebook or that I would have made such great friends. We may not share the same views all the time, but that’s what makes the group so awesome. I am proud to call each of you friends.

  My girls, Danielle and Ashley! What can I say? You ladies rock! Danielle, I think if you could, you would tell everyone about this book! Thank you for having the faith in me to take a chance on Lilies. I’m so lucky to have you ladies as friends. Now, I do believe it’s time for a break and some fun.

  CHAPTER 1

  Gavin

  I stand here under the bleachers trying to sort out my thoughts as I watch her, the only girl I will ever love, through the cracks. She’s beautiful. She’s a good eight inches shorter than me. I like it because she fits perfectly under my arm. She may not be my girlfriend but I have my arm around her more than her boyfriends do and she doesn’t let them do a thing about it. I held her so tight last night. I can still feel her. Her body fits perfectly in my arms. Whether she realizes it or not she is my whole world. She is the reason I do the right thing. She is the reason I want to make something of myself. She is my best friend. I want to give her everything she deserves when we are older. I’d quit drinking, getting into trouble, smoking pot and skipping school if that would make her mine.

  I’m struggling, though. I snuck out of her house early this morning. We may only be juniors in high school but I stay the night at her house regularly. My dad is often on leave with the military so mom doesn’t mind me hanging out at her house. Our parents are great friends. Anyway as I hide under these bleachers watching her cheer I’m so torn. I see her looking around for me. I hate the hurt look in her eye as she searches the bleachers for me. She’s probably wondering where I am and why I left. I’ve never missed one of her games. I could not care less about soccer, football and baseball are more my thing. I only come to watch her and she knows it. She doesn’t really like soccer either but she requested to cheer for soccer because her boyfriend, at the time, Lucas, plays on the soccer team.

  Last night she said the words I’ve wanted to hear her say for so long but after everything else I was told yesterday I don’t know if I can trust her. She’s never lied to me but it’s too coincidental. Could it be true? Am I nothing but a joke to her? I’ve got to figure this out. I’m going crazy. I drank way too much when I got home. Thinking about what I was told she was planning to do to me. How she could hurt me? Me! I’m supposed to be her best friend. Then the things she said, the feeling she brought out. It felt like the so-called plan started last night. This is too much. I need to get out of here. I need a drink. I need to beat the shit out of something. I need-

  I’m pulled from a memory of my teenage self, one of many, I wish I could erase, by the chimes of my laptop letting me know it is fully on and ready to work. Come on Google be good to me. I rub my hands together to warm them up as if that will bring me luck this time. Here I sit in my new loft. I should be unpacking. I should be setting up my place. I should
be helping Jeff Baker, my best friend, put together my bookshelf but there’s something about this place. I can feel her. I know I’m close, finally close to finding her. I’ve searched for her for 10 years. I had to make something out of myself before I could go to her. I had to become a man she could be proud of. My heart broke 15 years ago as a result of the choices I made. I was self-destructive and hurt those around me. Just another stupid teenage boy raging against anything and everything to prove myself. In the end, I hurt her the most. Her, the one person I never wanted to hurt. I haven’t been able to get that girl out of my head. I have to find her; no one just disappears.

  My name is Gavin Hudson. I’m 32, 6’1”, light brown hair, blue eyes and well shit, now I sound like a damn dating ad. I’m searching for a girl to spend my life with. Not in the way I’m looking for just anyone but a specific girl. The girl I gave my heart to when I was just a kid and never got it back. Great now I sound like a sap on top of a dating ad. Ok, time to focus.

  I type her name in the search engine and wait…and wait…and wait. I feel my anxiety building. I feel the hope building. I start drumming my fingers on my table and wait for the endless spinning circle to stop and tell me my fate. My eyes dart around the screen.‘C’mon Google be my bitch’ is my mantra running on a continuous loop in my head. I see links start to populate in pale writing as the damn endless circle keeps spinning.

  “C’mon….C’mon…C’mon”I mumble. Then it stops and the results of my search pop up on the screen.“FUCK!”I half-shout as I slam my laptop shut.

  “That good, huh?”Jeff starts laughing.“Gav, how many times are you going to search for her before you realize it’s a lost cause? Why don’t you give up and take out that nurse from 4200. She was flirting with you pretty hard last week?”

  I shoot him a menacing look.“I’ve told you before. I’m not interested.”I growl.

  Jeff stands up from the chaos of bookshelf pieces he has spread around him and walks to the fridge. Opening up the door he pulls out two beers. Beer is pretty much the only thing in my refrigerator as I just moved in yesterday. I’ll hit the market later this weekend. He hands me one before sitting across from me at the table and pops the top off his.“Look man, I’m all for you finding her but she may not want to be found. You see her everywhere. You hear her everywhere but she’s not actually there. I’m worried about you. You need to think about whether this is worth it or not. Do you really want to grow old alone? We aren’t in our 20’s anymore. Don’t you want someone to hang out with at night because I seriously can’t come see your ugly mug all the time? I have my own hot thing at home.“

  I pop the top on my own beer and sit back in my chair.“Look Jeff, I get where you’re coming from but she’s all I want. I tried dating other women but it’s just not there. I want her.”

  “What if you find her and she’s married?”

  “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. She’s the only one I’ve ever wanted.”I scrub my hands over my face.“Ahh. I don’t know Jeff, I just feel like she’s close. I can’t explain it.”I can feel her. I’m finally close. I sit back in my chair about to take a pull from my beer when my phone chimes alerting me I have a text. Within seconds Jeff’s does the same thing. That’s never a good sign.

  Jeff and I are doctors in the ER at University Hospital. I am the head trauma doctor with Jeff right under me. We work well together and it doesn’t hurt we’ve been best friends since 2nd grade when his family moved to Ambersville.

  We both jump up from our seats at the same time abandoning our untouched beers. Throw on our hoodies and we are out the door in seconds. The conversation of minutes ago forgotten. We’ve been paged to the hospital. We jump into Jeff’s car since mine is still loaded down. As he drives I call the ER for details and let them know we are on the way.“Apparently the cops just busted up a frat party that was way out of hand. There were a hundred or so students at this party. Many have alcohol poisoning. There are two head traumas and ton of other injuries from fights that broke out.”I tell Jeff as he drives us to the hospital.“Many of the minor cases are being rerouted to area hospitals but we’ve got the worst of it.”It’s got to be pretty bad if we are being paged in on our day off. Luckily my new loft is only a few minutes away. He parks the car quickly in the doctor’s parking lot as we run inside. Just before we head out to the floor to get to work Jeff sends his wife a text letting her know of the change in plans. We know we are in for a long day and night.

  CHAPTER 2

  Hayden

  “C’mon B, please go to this conference with me. I really don’t want to go alone. Besides, who am I going to crack jokes with during the boring parts?”I try to cajole her.

  “H, if you think it’s going to be so boring and don’t want to go then why are you?”Brooklyn huffs with annoyance into the phone. B or better known as Brooklyn Littlefield is my best friend. She presents an ironclad front of toughness, but is actually a very sweet and loving person.

  “Dr. Asher is requiring the entire faculty in the History Dept. not in a scheduled class to attend. It’s part of some initiative he’s been working on. It actually sounds interesting. There will be a panel of doctors- a few are our age-”Hoping the idea of scoping out some hot young doctors will be enough to convince her to go with me, “-from University Hospital discussing the increase in student related accidents they’ve seen lately.”The university is working on ways to educate students and faculty, since this has become an increasing problem over the last year or so. The students hurt and busted last month for underage drinking at an out of control frat party only adds fuel to their mission.

  “So, who are the doctors? Anyone we know?”

  “Do you know any doctors at the hospital? I sure don’t. Otherwise, we might not still be single.”Holding the phone with my shoulder I began massaging my temples.“Ugh, Dr. Asher told me there were a couple younger ones he wants to introduce me to. Something about me working on a future project with them. I don’t know.”I snapped as I started to get frustrated with the thought of taking a day away from my office when I could be getting ahead on work. Rarely do I get a quiet day alone in my office anymore. Now my day will be spent listening to doctors say the obvious–binge drinking and drugs are bad. Yep, kinda get that.“Look, I’m required to attend all day. What am I going to do without my partner in crime? Pleeeeease?”

  “Sorry H, I have conferences set up with students all day. I’ll meet you at the lofts when I’m out and we’ll grab dinner.”

  “Fine, you suck, Brooklyn.”I said laughing as I hang up my office phone. Notice she didn’t comment on the single status? Yeah that’s because neither of us do the dating thing much.

  Brooklyn and I met when we were assigned as roommates our first semester in college and have been inseparable ever since. We are also faculty members at Rockstein University where we both earned our Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. I have been a faculty member in the History department at Rockstein University for nine years, when I started as a teacher’s assistant while completing my Master’s Degree.

  My peaches n’cream, freckled complexion and long, curly fire red hair, and smartass personality often earns me a reputation of being a bit brash. Ok, let’s face it; most of the time people think I’m a complete bitch. That is, until you get to know me. I’m actually very caring and will go the extra mile for my students but I don’t take much bullshit, either. Oh and I have a deep affection for my potty mouth. Though I do keep it in check in my professional setting, after all, there is a time and place for everything.

  I have a pretty happy life, almost perfect. I have an awesome dad and stepmom, whom I’ve always looked at as my mom. My biological mom and dad were young when they had me. She took off and left me with my dad and his family when I was a month old. Apparently, one month of endless diapers, crying, and feeding was all she needed to know she didn’t want me or to be a mom. My dad told me I was a dream baby. I hardly fussed and smiled all the time. Dad laughed and once told me I even
smiled after getting a round of shots. She just couldn’t handle being a mom at 19, I guess. Nonetheless, I was raised in a loving home. My dad, stepmom and grandparents always made sure I knew how much I was wanted. My stepmom says I was the reason she gave my dad the time of day, at first. She didn’t like my dad in the beginning. That smartass attitude I have, I inherited from him. Though I guess a guy working to support himself and his baby daughter was quite appealing to her. She always says once she got passed that smartass attitude he used as self-defense, she knew all he needed was a good woman to take care of him and help raise his little girl. I’ve been her daughter since the moment she laid eyes on me at 11 months old. I also have a sister, Rachel, who is four years younger than me. My sister and I look just like our dad, so, you would never know my mom is actually my stepmom unless I told you.

  My family calls me“Deni.”When I was three I decided I was supposed to be a boysince“Hayden”was a boys’name. My headstrong mind thought boys liked to work with their dads and get dirty not girls. So I insisted everyone call me Deni. Apparently, the name Hayden wasn’t‘boy’enough. I don’t know. I was three. Logic to a three year old is quite different than it is to a 32 year old. My mom tried to talk me out of it, explaining that boys and girls both could get dirty and work with their dad’s, it didn’t matter I was too head strong even then. It wasn’t until I was an early teenager and started noticing boys that I decided I didn’t want to be a boy and started going by Hayden again. It was really too late. My family had called me Deni for so long they didn’t really switch, other than my mom. She was so happy to have me acting more girly she switched immediately. Though the funny thing about my parents, unless it was dangerous to me they pretty much let me decide things for myself. They figured it was better to learn from my own mistakes rather than take something solely on face value. They simply trusted my sister and me and led by example. I guess that’s how I’ve lived my life. I try to figure out the best way to handle something and if it’s wrong well then I live with the consequences. It’s probably the reason why I’m single and will probably stay that way. I was burned once and have no desire to repeat that mistake. Ok, so that’s only half true. I do not have a desire to repeat that particularmistake but there are still many nights I dream of him. There are many nights I still miss him but that’s not somewhere I wish to revisit.