Secrets (The Serenity Series Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  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 Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Secrets

  Serenity Series

  Dawn Kirby

  Twisted Core Press, LLC.

  ISBN-13: 978-0615800530 (Twisted Core Press)

  ISBN-10: 061580053X

  Secrets: Serenity Series

  ©2013 Dawn Kirby. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transferred without the express written consent of the author.

  Published by

  Twisted Core Press, LLC.

  Smithfield, NC

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity with real persons or events is purely coincidental. Persons, events, and locations are either the product of the author's imagination, or used fictitiously.

  DEDICATION

  This book is dedicated to my husband and my kids. Jamie urged me to reach for my dreams. He pushed me to challenge myself; believe in myself. For that, I can’t thank you enough. I love you more than you will ever know…Tristan, Aishlynn and Shelby…Dream big.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  There are so many people who have touched my life during this process it's hard to name them all. From my family, all who have believed in me from day one. Mom, Mema, Laura and Scott...without y'all this book would be a mere dream. To my friends, both near and far who have helped me grow as a writer. Schannon, thank you for letting me use you as my personal storyboard; bouncing ideas, savoring the parts you loved. Suffering through the ones you hated. Jessica Swift Eldridge, the world's best editor. I can still hear your voice in the back of my mind as I write..."Show, don't tell."

  A. T., Shelly, Phlegyas, Michelle, Scott, Dan...need I say more? You can't imagine how many different ways you've helped me grow. A.T, Michelle - watching y'all fall in love with Leah's world was amazing. It made me realize this book was just more than a mess of words on paper. It's a passion. Shelly - Thank you...for everything. I'm not sure there will ever be enough words to express my gratitude. Phlegyas - I can't even begin to count the hours of sleep you've lost thanks to me. You've been a God send in so many ways. Thank you for always being there. I truly cherish you and everything you've done.

  Having the support of people like y'all is far more than I could ever ask for...thank you. From the bottom of my heart...thank you all

  Chapter One

  “Mom, why do you try so hard?” I asked. I stuck a Common Scents label on the lotion bottle in my hand and pushed it aside. Ten more bottles set naked on the table in front of me, waiting for theirs. I shifted on the stool to watch my mom as she sat at her desk on the opposite side of the storeroom, perfecting her make-up for the hundredth time today. “You’re already gorgeous, and I’m pretty sure Mr. James remembers what you look like, even if y’all do only get together once a year.”

  “First of all, we’re at work,” she chided, keeping her bright sapphire eyes on the vanity mirror sitting on the desk in front of her. “You know better than to call me that, here.” Within the walls of her store she’s Mia. “Second; impressions are everything. If David were the plumber, I’d still try to make a good impression. It’s good business.”

  “Okay, what does he look like then?” I asked, sticking another label on yet another bottle. In twenty-two years I’d never met the man. “Is he cute?”

  “Like I said Leah, it’s business,” she said shortly. “You’ll see that for yourself when you get out in the corporate world. If you look the part, you’re taken seriously. If you don’t, you’ll never get anywhere.”

  “And you wonder why I’m not in any hurry to leave the store.”

  “Do you really want to get into this right now?” she asked, dropping her hands impatiently in her lap.

  “No, I’ve said all I wanna say.” And I had. Several times.

  “That’s what I thought,” she sighed. After a moment’s silence she glanced down at the floor beside her and frowned. “Would you mind bringing me my briefcase? I think I put it under the counter up front,” she asked, pulling up her long tawny hair. “I want to

  make sure David has everything he needs to get the taxes done.”

  Glad for the distraction, I left the storeroom and headed for the front of the store. Labeling has never been my favorite thing to do. Over the years I’d discovered it wasn’t Mom’s either. More than once she’d conveniently forgotten to put the labels on everything from handmade lotions and decorative soaps to hand-poured candles and scent sachets. Drew, my best friend and periodic co-worker and I usually spend hours labeling one product or another.

  Before I sought out her briefcase, I made a beeline for the front of the store to pull down the shades. Afternoon had come on fast and the sun was beaming brightly through the picture windows. Not a good thing when you have light sensitive eyes. Just walking into the room made my eyes water.

  Thanks to a condition the doctors call Iritis, protecting my eyes from the sun has been a daily thing for most of my life. If I don’t keep a pair of dark sunglasses handy to wear when it’s too bright, my eyes feel like they’ve gone ten rounds with hot poker and lost. Overexposure has only happened once, but that was plenty.

  After a less-than-pleasant experience, along with a desperate trip to the ER because my eyes were so irritated they wouldn’t open, Mom had light reflective shades installed all over our house and here at Common Scents. As far as I’m concerned they, along with sunglasses are the best inventions in the world. Having the darkest tint allowed by law installed on our vehicles comes in as a close third.

  As soon as the shades were drawn, I picked up her briefcase and took it into the storeroom. When I got there her chair was empty and the bathroom door was shut. Time to slip into something a little less comfortable.

  “It’s on the floor beside your desk,” I hollered to her through the bathroom door. “Do you need any help with your paperwork?”

  “The last of it is printing out now. Thanks anyway, sweetie.”

  With nothing else to do I scooted back onto the uncomfortable stool to finish up my tedious task. I’ve always loved the fact that everything in our store is homemade, but there are days I wish they weren’t. It would’ve been nice to have had a little brother or sister I could pawn the task off to the way she did me, but that was never in the cards. Not after the night my dad disappeared.

  “Okay, now be honest,” she said, stepping out of the bathroom. “How do I look?”

  Ordinarily, her style would be considered conservatively sexy. For one night only though, she’d decided to push the envelope. Her gorgeous blue dress matched her eyes perfectly. Somehow the rich shade made her China doll complexion seem more fragile. A cluster of spaghetti straps led to a generously low neckline. Soft, silky material flowed gently down toward the middle of her thighs, beautifully complimenting the shape of her legs. A pair of black heels bumped up her petite five-foot-two frame by at least three inches.

  “You look fabulous,” I sighed. “It’s a shame you’re only going to a business
dinner.”

  “That’s all I need, Leah,” she said firmly. She cupped my chin in her hand and kissed my forehead.

  “No, it’s not,” I said pushing her hand away. She smiled and went to sit back down at her desk. “I’m twenty-two years old. I hate seeing you alone all the time. Mom, you deserve to have a life away from the store and me. I promise I won’t fall apart if you find somebody.”

  “It doesn’t matter how old you are, baby. I know you would love for me to find a man who could love me, but my heart belongs to your dad. No other man will ever be able to change that.”

  “You can’t even try? I’m sure he never expected you to be alone forever.” I may not have known him, but if he had loved her the way she does him, it’s a safe bet I was right. “What would he say if he knew you’ve been hiding behind him all these years?”

  Silence prevailed for a minute. Did I finally get through? She looked back up at me. Tears flooded her deep blue eyes. A patient smile formed over her flawless face. Dammit!

  “I don’t know what he’d say,” she said quietly. “But, baby, I think he’d understand. The last night I saw him I found out how cruel and unpredictable this world can be. There are things, people in this world that can change your life in an instant, Leah. Most times you don’t even know who or what to look for until it’s too late. I lived through the pain once; I refuse to go through it again.”

  “You think he’s dead don’t you?” Finally, the one question I’d never had the nerve to ask was out there.

  “I know he is, honey,” she answered, turning in her chair to face me. “Death is the only thing that would keep him away,” she said, sitting down at her desk. “If only I had listened.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Nothing, sweetie. I just wish he could have been here for you,” she said quietly. She turned back toward her mirror, tears rolling down her cheeks. “He would have been such a good father.”

  “You know one of these days you’re gonna have to tell me about him,” I said softly.

  For years I’ve wondered about him. What did he look like? Did he have bright green eyes and dark brown hair like me? Did he have the same rich olive skin tone I do? Was he strong? Kind? What did his laugh sound like? Did he even have a sense of humor? Would he be proud of me now?

  “I know it hurts, but I don’t even know what my own father looks like.”

  “And one day I will,” she said, wiping away the tears. “But right now it’s still too hard.”

  “Maybe if you actually talked about him it wouldn’t be so hard.”

  “With talk comes questions, Leah,” she said looking up at me through the reflection in the mirror. “With those questions come answers I can’t give. Not on my own.”

  “I’m willing to listen if you’re willing to try.”

  “I know you are,” she said softly. “But I can’t.”

  “Then who?” I asked desperately. “It’s not like we have family I can go to.” As an only child, my mom’s parents had been killed in a horrible automobile accident weeks before she found out she was pregnant. Then my dad disappeared. Shortly after I was born, his parents passed away as they slept when their house caught fire. He’d had a sister, but nobody had heard from her after she’d run away from home. “Like it or not, you’re it.”

  “Leah, not now. Not tonight.”

  “When then? When I’m forty? When you’re ninety and need to clear your conscious?”

  “I don’t know,” she sighed. “But when the day comes you’ll be the first to know.”

  After that Mom shut down. No matter what I said I knew she wouldn’t offer anything more. She never had before. Why would this time be any different? Since Mom’s lips were essentially sealed, I decided to keep my own mouth shut and restock the shelves out front with the lotion bottles I’d finally finished labeling. Distance, even if it was only a few feet was probably what we both needed anyway.

  As I stepped out of the storeroom, I heard a car pull into the parking lot, its radio blasting Pink’s latest single. Definitely Drew. Taking note of her musical choice, I tuned my sensitive ears into her heartbeat. My sight may be excellent, but my hearing is so acute I can hear the person on the other end of cell phone from across the room as if they were sitting right beside me.

  Thanks to Drew’s self-absorbed boyfriend, it’s best to know whether or not to take cover before she walks through the door. He and his father have kept her so wound up the past few weeks it’s getting difficult to remember what her normal heartbeat sounds like.

  “Drew’s here,” I said leaning into my mom’s line of sight, “and her heart’s racing.”

  “Le—” Mom started.

  “Nobody’s in the store,” I interrupted, defending myself against my mom’s inpatient glare. “I just thought you’d wanna know.”

  “That’s not the point and you know it,” she scolded. Her frown melted into a stern smile. “Drew knows you can hear a pin drop two buildings over, but please don’t broadcast it. There are people that can and will take advantage of you. Besides, I’m sure everything’s fine. She and Mark are more than likely at it again.”

  “Ya think?” I groaned. Drew slammed her car door. “She’s pretty hot.”

  Mom took a deep breath and promptly stuck her nose in her computer. I walked to the register and put the box on the counter. Restocking could wait. Drew couldn’t.

  Drew stormed through the front door, an explosion of citrus marking her unmistakable presence inside the store. Despite the expensive perfume she’s sprinkled on every morning since she was a teenager, the tangy scent has always been there. Smelling Drew is like having a rejuvenating glass of orange juice first thing in the morning. Being around her when she’s angry is like being pummeled by the whole grove.

  Not that she or anybody else know about the scents. I’ve always known being able to detect a smell beyond the lotions, perfumes, and other personal hygiene products isn’t normal, but what I’ve never been able to nail down was why I could smell people this way. Everybody I’ve ever met has had a scent. Sometimes it washes over me, wrapping me in a warm blanket of love and safety. Like Mom’s delicate rosy scent. For other people, it can take longer to detect, as if I have to break through some invisible wall.

  Accompanying Drew’s tangy scent was a bright orange haze, which radiated around her, engulfing her entire body in a transparent mist. Frustration maybe?

  I’ve only had this curious ability for a few years. Without a guidebook to tell me what the colors mean, I’m unfortunately stuck in the guessing stages. The fact that they only show up when emotions are running high has led me to believe they are more than likely attributed to moods. Until I know for sure, it’s just one more secret I have to keep.

  “You would not believe what that sorry excuse for a man just did,” Drew said, as the door slammed shut behind her. She strode across the room, unraveling her blonde hair from her purse straps and threw her bag under the counter. She leaned over the register, sighing heavily. “I really know how to pick ‘em.”

  “No argument there.” Drew has never had the best judgment when it comes to men and Mark is certainly no exception. “What happened now?” I asked. Venturing a guess, Drew spent the night with Mark again and had another run-in with his father, Mr. Logan. I could still smell the lingering odor of cherry tobacco on her clothes; Mr. Logan’s preferred flavor. “Considering you smell like cherries, I’ll assume we’re talking about daddy dearest.”

  “That…man thinks a pipe is more dignified than a cigar or a cigarette. If you ask me only a pompous ass would smoke one of ‘em. They’re just as nasty as everything else,” she said flashing a contemptuous smile. “Maybe he’ll end up with inoperable cancer and keel over soon.”

  “Well, come on, what’d he do?” I asked. The orange glow turned bright red. Whatever he’d done must have been a doozy.

  “That baboon offered me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to stop seeing Mark!” Drew screamed. Her k
nuckles were clenched so tight the bones threatened to pop out of her skin. “Can you believe that?”

  “What’d you tell him?” I asked, picking my bottom jaw up off the floor. Wow! For him that was probably pocket change.

  “I told him to go suck an egg,” she answered, puffing up her chest proudly. She pushed herself off the register and leaned against the side of the counter, folding her arms across her chest. “Of course he’s furious, but at this point in my life I really don’t care.”

  “Does Mark know?”

  “Course he does. He was sitting right there. You know something, Leah? He looked like he actually enjoyed it.” Anger had such a strong hold she was shaking. Tears started to form in the corner of her light blue eyes. “After his precious father left the room he said the whole thing had been a test.”

  “Some test,” I said brushing a strand of my dark brown hair out of my face.

  “You’re telling me,” she mumbled. “He knows how strapped I am because of school. That much money could pay for a year and then some. Of course, I’d never take it. Point is, you just don’t go around buying people off.”

  “I would have taken the money, sweetie,” Mom told her, coming out of nowhere. She reached past Drew and grabbed one of her scent catalogs off the counter. “I know it won’t love you, but at least you’d finally have a little peace.”

  “Would you make some noise next time?” I gasped, holding my chest. She actually startled me! That’s never happened.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I scare you, baby?” she asked, feigning innocence. She winked at Drew. “I honestly don’t remember the last time that’s happened.”

  “Um…how about never?” Drew snickered. The frustration and anger she felt seemed to melt away in an instant. “Now you know how we feel when you pop up out of thin air. Way to go, Mia.”

  “Well, at least you’re smiling,” I said, rolling my eyes at the Cheshire grin on Mom’s face. “Are you sure Mark is worth all this or is there something about him I just don’t see?”

  “He was great at first. It was kinda nice to have a guy who isn’t always surrounded by a bunch of drunken animals.” Drew sighed and shook her head. “Now that he’s done impressing me, he takes every opportunity to let me know his dad hates me. It’s like being with a sadist. Misery and pain get him off.” She turned to look at mom, a guilty look on her face.