craftfield 01 - secrets untold

• 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
  

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

This ebook license is for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you would like to share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting copyright laws and the hard work of the author.

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 drop 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.