by Dakota Rebel
Table of Contents
Title Page
Daniel
Copyright
Hey all you cool cats and kittens…
Welcome to Montgomery Valley
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
About the Author
Daniel
Montgomery Rescue
Book Two
A Montgomery Valley Book
By Dakota Rebel
Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC
Daniel
by
Dakota Rebel
I don’t deserve forgiveness…
Daniel –
Rock bottom is not a place I suggest anyone visit. It’s dark, lonely and terrifying. I’ve been sober for five years, divorced for six, and miserable through all of it. But I clawed my way back up and out of that pit of misery, and now I’m…surviving.
I don’t have much to be proud of, but I’m proud to be the chief paramedic for Montgomery Valley. I’m proud of the work my family does to keep our town safe. And I’m proud that I’ve gotten to love Abby, even if I don’t deserve to have her anymore.
Abby –
I left him six years ago to save his life…unfortunately, it pretty much ended mine. I’ve never stopped loving Daniel. Love was about the only thing we ever had. But we were kids when we got married, and back then, the bottle was more important to him than his wife.
Now he’s clean, sober, and has become the man I thought I was marrying in the first place. I want to start over with him, but he’s convinced he doesn’t deserve a second chance.
Copyright
© 2020, Dakota Rebel
Daniel – Montgomery Rescue Book Two
Published by: Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC
Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.
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Welcome to Montgomery Valley
We’re a small community tucked at the foot of a mountain range that draws all types of tourists for all sorts of occasions.
Our family founded the town back in 1918, when Burton Montgomery purchased the land so he and his wife, Esther, could escape the flu pandemic that was sweeping the world at that time. He built a small ranch and they lived off the land with their children for decades.
As travel became easier in the United States by way of planes, trains and automobiles, others would come through on their way to or from various places, so Burton opened a general store to sell food and provisions.
Eventually, his children married some of those travelers, and they either took off for new land, or settled into their homesteads on Burton’s land. Over the years, the town grew and grew, and now it’s a bustling city of over 8,000 family and friends, with a steady stream of tourism to support our banks, schools, general stores, restaurants and coffee shops.
Through journals and letters from the early 1900’s, our family has been able to piece together how Burton and Esther grew our town, and what their hopes and dreams were back then. We all do our best to continue their vision for Montgomery Valley, while making sure we keep up with the world outside our little oasis.
So again, we welcome you Montgomery Valley. Whether you’re planning on passing through, or staying a while, we can’t wait to invite you into our lives.
Chapter One
~ Daniel Montgomery ~
“Hi. I’m Daniel. And I’m an alcoholic.”
“Hi, Daniel.”
I stood at my AA meeting, looking out at the small crowd of faces that had become a second family to me in the five years since I’d quit drinking. We were here to celebrate my anniversary, and they were going to give me my five-year chip. It was a pretty big deal.
But I hadn’t told anyone in my actual family about it. The truth was, as proud as I should be to get this thing, I was ashamed for the need of it, and didn’t want to bring up past hurt for the people I loved.
The meeting went quickly. Not many people wanted to share this week and I think they were all a little excited to get to the presentation ceremony. I was a baby compared to most of the people in the group. Five years was a big milestone. They claimed it was all downhill from here.
I sure hoped so. Because the last five years had been brutal as hell.
I’d started drinking in high school, socially, to be cool at parties or whatever. But soon, I couldn’t make it through a whole day without drinking. Then, I couldn’t get through a morning without it. Before I realized it was even happening, I was a full-blown alcoholic. I lost my job at the mill. I lost most of my friendships, any trust I’d ever been given, and worst of all…I lost my wife.
At twenty-one years old, I’d lost everything.
When Abby left me, I spiraled out of control. My brother David had let me move in with him, and I’d stolen money from him to buy booze. He forgave me, and I did it again. And again. On the eve of my twenty-second birthday, my cousin Kyle, the town police chief, arrested me and my former best friend Bill Critch for drunk and disorderly when we got into a bar brawl.
I was released to my family on bail, and since it was my first offense, I was let go with a slap on the wrist. Bill was on his third strike and got sent to prison for a six-year stint he didn’t survive.
Through all of it my family stood by me. They got me into my program, helped me become a paramedic, helped me put my life back together. I owed them everything.
“Daniel,” the group leader said, smiling at me as I walked up to the front of the room. “We are all so proud of you. Five years is a huge accomplishment, and you should be so proud of yourself for all the work you’ve done.”
The group applauded me, and I was handed my chip. I stared down at it, smiling as I ran my thumb over the embossed V. Five years. I was pretty proud.
As I walked back to my seat, I noticed someone standing just inside the doorway of the room, trying like hell to be inconspicuous.
Abby.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, walking up to her and pulling her out into the hallway.
“I came for your ceremony,” she said.
“How did you even know it was today?” I asked. I’d been very careful not to mention it to anyone.
“I can count, Danny,” she teased. “I wanted to be here. I’m so proud of you.”
“You shouldn’t be,” I told her, shaking my head. “Not after everything I’ve done to you.”
“Well, I am.” She put her hand on my arm and squeezed it. “You’ve worked so hard. When are you going to acknowledge it?”
I held up my chip to show her. “I have my acknowledgement, Abby.”
“And you’ve had my forgiveness for years,” she said, her tone sad. “I wish you’d take it.”
“I don’t deserve it,” I said. “Look, I can’t do this with you today. I have to get back in there.”
“We should ha
ve dinner,” she suggested. “Celebrate. Just the two of us.”
“I can’t,” I said honestly. “I have get back to the office. We’re still working a case.”
“What about lunch tomorrow?” she pressed.
“Can’t,” I answered. “I have a date.”
The crestfallen look on her face about broke my heart. I’d just been teasing her, I hadn’t expected her to care, honestly.
After the divorce, after I got sober, Abby and I were able to rekindle our friendship. But we’d both been leery of getting back together. We’d talked about it once or twice, but both agreed it would be best for everyone if we just stayed friends.
There were times, for both of us I think, that we regretted not trying again. But I think we both knew that what we’d had as kids had been ruined by my actions, and some things just weren’t fixable.
“With Corrine,” I clarified, wanting to erase the look of hurt on her face.
She smiled, reaching out and smacking my arm, the look of relief on her face letting us both relax.
“Oh, okay.” She reached up and kissed my cheek. “I’m really proud of you, Danny.”
“Thank you.” I nodded and watched her walk away.
If I were being honest, I’d have loved to spend my birthday with Abby. But Corrine and I had a standing date, since we shared the same birth date, and I couldn’t cancel on the girl now.
Walking back into the meeting, I fingered the coin in my pocket again.
Five years.
Good for me.
Chapter Two
~ Abby Montgomery ~
I chastised myself for my jealousy all the way home. Even if he had been going on an actual date with someone, it was none of my concern anymore. But I knew I hadn’t been able to keep the look of relief off of my face when he’d explained it was with his younger cousin Corrine.
Damn it all to hell, Abby.
I’d left him, and I had no right to play the victim if he wanted to move on. Granted, leaving him had almost killed me, but it was the only way I’d known how to save him.
When he’d hit the peak of his drinking, we were all worried he’d end up killing himself. He’d never been violent, never gotten behind a wheel drunk, but if he continued on the path he was on…it was only a matter of time. And I couldn’t watch it happen.
So, I’d divorced him.
We’d married so young anyway. Fresh out of high school, no purpose or direction in life. Just two kids believing that love was enough to conquer anything.
It wasn’t.
I was angry at him for so long. Sometimes, on a bad night, I still was. I’d lay alone in my bed and curse him for always choosing alcohol over me. Even though my rational brain knew it was a disease, it was something he literally had no control over, I still blamed him for everything.
Then there were days like today. Watching him get his sobriety chip today was the proudest I’d ever been of him. I knew how hard he’d worked. He was a different man now. A better man. He was the man I’d thought I’d married all those years ago.
“That is quite enough of that,” I told myself as I pulled into the driveway.
He wasn’t mine anymore and dreaming about what could have been wasn’t going to help anyone.
I let myself into the house, bending to pick up the stack of mail behind the door and taking it into the kitchen.
Flicking through it I couldn’t hold back a sigh. Bills and two cards for Daniel.
There were a lot of Montgomery’s in town, and on occasion, mail would get misdirected. It happened. But it seemed that an awful lot of Daniel’s mail still got delivered to my house. It happened so often, in fact, that we had a system for it now.
I walked over to the sideboard and wrenched his drawer open, dropping the cards in and forcing it shut. The stupid drawer was constantly sticking, and Daniel kept promising to fix it, but he never seemed to want to spend enough time in the house with me to actually get it done.
It was fine. Right now, he had a lot on his plate. His birthday, his five-year sobriety anniversary, and this damn fire bug that was wreaking havoc in town.
It was terrifying to think that someone in our peaceful, little valley would want to hurt people. We were all a family, regardless of our last names. When it had first started, the guys at Rescue had thought it might be kids, bored and playing pranks. But after the fire at the Mill last month, there was no denying that whoever was doing this wasn’t playing around.
Daniel’s cousin Todd had been severely injured in that fire, and was still doing rehab at the hospital I work for, to deal with all of it. He could have died. I think that really woke the town up to what was going on, even if the town leaders weren’t openly discussing it.
Hopefully, the surprise party we were throwing for Daniel’s birthday would give everyone a fun distraction during these dark times. I’d helped with the planning but had to work the night shift and wouldn’t actually be able to attend.
That was probably for the best. Daniel would have more fun if I wasn’t there. We were friends, but it was still a little awkward for both of us to be in family groups after our divorce. Best for him to enjoy the night and me to burn off frustration at work.
It was fine. Everything was just fine.
Chapter Three
~ Daniel~
“Sorry we couldn’t get a table at the vineyard,” Corrine said after we’d placed our orders. “Sascha’s been overwhelmed and forgot to hold a reservation for me.”
“Don’t be silly,” I assured her. “I’d rather have cheese sticks with you here than some fancy, overpriced meat at your sister’s place any day.”
She laughed, but I meant it. Corrine and I were five years apart in age, but we’d always gotten on like gangbusters. Probably because she was mature for her age, and I was totally immature for mine. A match made in cousin heaven.
“So, how have you been?” I asked. “We’ve been so busy, I feel like we’ve barely had a chance to talk lately.”
“Bored,” she admitted, lifting her shoulder in a shrug. “Nothing ever happens in this town.”
“On a good day, anyway,” I agreed. “Be thankful for the quiet.”
“You’re talking about the fires, aren’t you?” she asked, lowering her voice and leaning forward.
“Word travels fast around here,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Well, after the mill fire, it was pretty hard to keep quiet,” she said. “People aren’t as dumb as you rescue boys like to think. We can piece things together. That’s an awful lot of fires in a short amount of time to be coincidence.”
“Have you heard anything else?” I asked. “Any of the kids in town talking about pulling pranks or anything?”
“Not that I’ve heard.” She shook her head. “But I’m related to the law in this town, no one’s going to risk talking around me if they know anything anyway. If I hear anything, you know I’ll call you or Kyle immediately. All I do know is that people are scared.”
“I don’t blame them,” I said solemnly.
To be honest, we were all scared over at rescue, too. My cousin Todd, the fire chief, and his brother Kyle, the police chief, were working tirelessly to try to dig up leads. And my brother David and I were doing everything we could to help.
But to be honest, David was just the park ranger, and I’m a paramedic, so we don’t have much in the way of investigative skills. Mostly we fetch coffee and tape photos to whiteboards. It just felt good to be able to help in any capacity. My cousins were at their wits end, and none of us could figure out what our next step should be.
“Ugh,” Corrine said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to talk about sad stuff. It’s our birthday. We should be celebrating.”
“Cheers to that,” I said, clinking my water glass against hers.
For a minute, I wondered if she’d purposely not gotten us a table at the vineyard. Most people had stopped pussy-footing around me when it came to drinking in my presence, but my closest family had sto
pped imbibing around me all together. It was a nice gesture, but I’d been doing my damndest to assure them it wasn’t necessary.
I was a big boy, five years sober even, and I wasn’t going to fall into a whiskey bottle if someone drank a beer at my table.
“Happy Birthday, guys!” Evelyn Dale said as she walked up to the table with a small cake in her hands. “Thanks for coming in to celebrate with us tonight.”
Evelyn owned the diner we were having dinner at. I ate here most nights actually, since I’d never really learned to cook and it was located right across from the rescue station.
“Where else would I go?” I teased. “Thank you. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”
“It was no trouble,” she insisted, leaning down to kiss my cheek, then bustling over to do the same to Corrine.
“Thank you, Mrs. Dale,” Corrine said, blushing slightly at the attention.
“Blow ‘em out,” Evelyn insisted. “You’ll have wax all the cake if you don’t.”
I motioned for Corrine to do the honors, and she closed her eyes and blew hard, extinguishing the flames.
“You all have a lovely night, okay?” Evelyn said. She reached over and patted my cheek then bustled off back toward the kitchen.
“What did you wish for?” I asked Corrine.
“Cake for dinner,” she teased.
“Your wish is my command,” I said, reaching over and cutting her a slice, sliding it onto her plate. “Cake and cheese sticks.” I laughed and shook my head. “I hope David got me a treadmill for my birthday.”
“Please, he’ll have you out splitting logs at four a.m. if he wants you to work out,” Corrine said, rolling her eyes. “His summer camp was the worst we ever had.”
“Yeah, that’s why they’ve never asked him to host again.” I didn’t tell her he’d done that on purpose. He hadn’t wanted to watch over a pack of kids in the woods for a week anyway, but our Aunt Beth had pressured him to take her two youngest girls, Corrine and Annie, along with a pack of other middle schoolers for some camping safety lessons. Worst idea ever.