by Ava Riley
Triple Shot
by
Ava Riley
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
About the Author
www.lazydaypub.com
Triple Shot
ISBN-13- 978-1-61258-048-7
ISBN-10- 1-61258-048-3
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Copyright © 2012 Ava Riley
Cover art by Bret Poinier
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, any events or locales is purely coincidental. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission from the publisher LazyDay, with the exception of quotes used in reviews and critical articles.
Dedicated
To
To Staci and Lazy Day Publishing ~ Thanks for continuing to believe in this writer and the gang from Long Beach!
To my husband, Marc ~ there aren’t enough words in this lifetime to express the love I have for you in my heart. I am proud to walk by your side, comforted that it is your embrace I feel each day, and blessed that every single day it is your face I see first thing in the morning and the last at night. Thank you for believing in me and for your constant support.
To ALL my family and friends who have enriched my life on a daily basis…thank you!
And last, but of course not least, to my three writing professors at the University of New Mexico…Katie Pelletier, Marisa Clark, and Samantha Tetangco. You all have inspired and encouraged me to be a better writer by your words and have added very helpful tools to my writing toolbox. Thank you!
Chapter 1
Peering out the window of her small two bedroom apartment, Susan Lismore leaned her head against the cool glass and closed her eyes. This just keeps getting better by the minute, she thought as raindrops pelted against the only barrier between her and the dreariness outside. She couldn’t remember the last time it had rained so much in Long Beach. Yet, what manifested itself outside in the wet darkness served as a reminder of what stirred within her spirit for well over six months now. Loneliness didn’t even come close to describing the mixture of emotions she dealt with day in and day out. Since Tessa’s wedding, Susan sat by and watched while all her friends fell in love as she laughed off her singleness in an effort to hide the real pain she felt in her life. That pain meant dealing with the declining health of her mother, and watching as her father battled daily to stay strong for the woman he committed his life to as she withered away before their eyes. The barrage of emotions she faced from day to day only intensified by the reality of not having anyone to help ease her burden her. This was the life she had been ushered into and it was hers to travel alone.
Pushing away from the window, Susan drew the blinds and closed off the world outside. She grabbed her comfort foods for the night from the coffee table and plopped herself on the burgundy sofa that all but consumed her living room. Absolutely nothing screamed pathetic more than a twenty-six year old with her legs tucked under her and a bag of chips in her lap on a Friday night. She flipped through the multitude of recorded shows on her DVR, a sad reminder that she’d had very little time to even breathe lately because of work and family obligations. Her mother’s recent move from Susan’s childhood home into the Alzheimer’s unit at Long Beach’s Nursing Facility had put a strain on her and her father, consuming any time that she may have had to herself.
Susan paused at the one show that would be sure to turn her sour mood into a full blown pity party. An all-night marathon about housewives who had too much money and time on their hands was exactly what she didn’t need, but she went with it all the same. What the hell, she thought. It certainly couldn’t get much worse than it already had been. In all honesty, Susan needed a good old pity party right now. Maybe if she did a jig with the depression knocking at her door, she’d get it out of her system and get back to being the carefree, take shit as it comes, person she’d been her entire life.
A few hours later, she ended up in a fetal position, wishing like hell she’d just taken a few sleeping pills and gone straight to bed instead of trying to leave her sorrows at the bottom of an empty chip bag. She found herself lying on the cool tile floor of the only bathroom in her apartment, her cheek pressed to the flooring trying to find relief from the heat consuming her skin after having paid homage to the porcelain gods. An all-night worship session hadn’t been in her plans, but nonetheless where she spent the majority of her evening. Mustering up as much energy as her body would allow, Susan pushed herself off the floor, and rinsed her mouth out with cold water from the faucet. She didn’t even bother with the glass sitting on the counter. She wrapped her lips around the cold metal like it would be her last opportunity to fill her mouth with liquid. When her stomach could no longer accept anything else, she slowly made her way to her bedroom and crawled into the full-size oak bed her parents bought her when she first moved out of their house. Susan didn’t worry with undressing herself, instead she buried her head under the piles of pillows that littered her cozy bed and succumbed to the darkness that surrounded her.
Susan should have stayed in bed for a few more days. The pressure in her temples and the flip-flopping of her stomach confirmed that last night’s binge did indeed take place; that it hadn’t been a dream as she first thought when she peeled her eyes open. She actually felt worse than any hangover she’d ever had. Wiping the drool from the edge of her mouth, she pushed disheveled blond hair from her eyes, before glancing at the clock for the first time. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her because she surely couldn’t have slept well past two in the afternoon. Yet, once they came into full focus, the clock on her bedside table confirmed it was two twenty-five. Her sugar coma from last night apparently was more severe than she’d thought when she all but crawled down the hall to her bedroom. Susan rolled her tired body to the edge of the mattress and placed her bare feet against the worn tan carpet. She curled her toes several times, a habit she picked up in high school to try to wake up completely, and rubbed the palms of her hands along her thighs. She took her time easing herself from the bed with her eyes half closed; she stretched her back as she shuffled her feet towards the bathroom to take care of necessary business. As she washed her face, feeling the grit that settled overnight on her skin, she let her thoughts wander back to Tessa’s wedding. She’d only gotten to briefly talk to Tessa, only giving her congratulations to the bride and hugging the groom, but they’d both promised to get together for lunch at some point in the near future. That seemed like a lifetime ago. She needed to call Tessa and make that lunch date happen before she found herself buried with work again. The last opportunity Susan and Tessa had to spend any real quality time with each other had been shortly after they worked together on a fundraiser for the hospital. Tessa had photographed doctors and Susan had the delight of interviewing them. Since that time, Susan hadn’t gotten to see much of the
woman who had quickly become her closest friend.
Susan walked past the evidence of last night’s food binge, as her cell phone vibrated across the glass coffee table, and stopped just at the empty chip bag. She needed to replace her moment of weakness with a steaming cup of java, not conversation. Out of habit, however, she quickly snatched it up, and saw Tessa’s name staring back at her. She slid the small green arrow to unlock her phone and answered the call.
“Hello,” Susan choked out, her voice sounding as if she’d just spent the last twenty four hours chain smoking.
“Susan? Oh good I was hoping you’d answer.”
“Hi, Tess. What’s up?”
“Are you okay? You sound like you’re sick?” Tessa asked.
Susan shook her head as if the two of them were on video chat. “No, just paying for last night’s pity party.”
“Pity party? Why are you –"
“Not worth talking about,” Susan interrupted.
“Well,” Tessa’s voice hitched, “I was hoping that maybe you’d like to get together tonight. Cade and Rowan have a friend coming in from Texas and we’re all going to The Launchpad for drinks later this evening.”
“Is this friend a doctor also?” she asked, always upbeat about the prospect of a doctor friend.
“Yes, he’s a doctor.” Tessa’s laughter drifted through the phone. “He went to school with Cade and Rowan.”
“Sure, I have nothing else to do. And you know me; I’m always up for new friends. What time?”
“We’ll be there around eight, but you can come any time you like, whatever works for you.”
“I’ll be there at eight. And thanks for the invite,” Susan responded.
“Great, we’ll see you then.”
Susan tapped the screen of her cell, ending the call and looked around her apartment in disgust. Damn, she needed to clean up, but the necessities of life took precedence before she could fully function. Coffee and breakfast first. After her belly was full she would make all right with her world within the confines of these walls. It had taken Susan longer to make coffee than it did to actually clean her place. She wasn’t normally neurotic about much, but when it came to cleanliness she got a bit on the crazy side. That character trait she attributed to her overbearing, OCD mother. When she lived at home, Susan made an effort daily of keeping things clean to avoid any confrontation with the woman. In all the years she’d been alive; it had been the only thing they’d fought over.
Susan figured the night wouldn’t be one that ended early if she were going out to the bar with Tessa and Cade, especially if an old friend was in town. One thing she always counted on with those two was late nights filled with laughs and good times. A short nap before the festivities began would hopefully chase away the grogginess from the night before and put her in the right state of mind. Heaven knows she needed more out of life than what she’d been experiencing of late and maybe tonight would be the turning point for her. Tonight, she decided, would be the night she found the fun Susan that had been in hiding for the past few months.
Chapter 2
Settled in seat C4 on a one way train to Los Angeles from the heart of Texas, Josiah Hunter rubbed at his weary eyes as trees blurred at an accelerated rate. His black Stetson rested on one knee as the other leg stretched as far as it could between the small space between him and the passenger in front of him. He hadn’t seen his college buddies, Cade and Rowan, for more years than he wished to count or to admit. When they graduated from medical school, he’d had every intention of keeping in touch with them, but when his duties in the military took him overseas, he’d let life get in the way. He hated that he had to leave while the two of them stayed behind and made lives for themselves in Long Beach, but he’d signed on the dotted line to give the Marines four years of his life after college. Now here he was, all these years later, finally heading back to California. In all honesty, he owed them so much more than a phone call now and then. If not for those two, he would have never made it through school. There were too many times that Rowan or Cade had set him straight when he was ready to give up on the idea of becoming a doctor. He was no imbecile, but he certainly had to work harder than most to make it through his classes. Late night pep talks, all night study groups, and an occasional trip to The Launchpad, had been his saving grace during those years.
To say Josiah was excited about meeting up with his buddies after all these years would be an understatement. He needed to get back to some normalcy again, away from the strict routines and regulations of military life. Josiah needed to put behind him the sights and smells of war, needed to push aside as much as he could the memories of patching up wounded soldiers and fellow Marines. War time was a bitch and although he held his head high, proud knowing he’d done his part and stood side by side with some of the finest men and women in uniform and saved some of the bravest, he was ready to leave as much of that life behind as he could. There would be no forgetting the atrocities he witnessed during his time in Afghanistan, the head doctor the military had assigned him upon his return made sure that Josiah knew it was okay to remember. Although he worked daily to prove the shrink wrong on that point. Josiah didn’t want to see another solider lying under his hands fighting for his life because some jackass decided to use a young child as a decoy or a weapon and he certainly didn’t want to feel the grit of sand coating his lips and seeping into his pores ever again. He served his country without regret even though he’d been planted in the middle of a battlefield in a war he didn’t believe in. His time in the military gave him a greater appreciation for civilian life and he was more than ready to get back to any kind of life outside the military. He needed to start living for himself again and California would usher him into that life.
Josiah leaned his head against the window as he watched the world outside rush by.
“Heading home?” The older woman in the seat next to him asked, bringing him from his thoughts.
“I guess you could say that,” he responded.
“My grandson just joined the Army. I saw your bag when you stepped on the train.”
“Marines. I just got out. How old is your grandson?”
“Nineteen. His parents tried to persuade him otherwise, but he was hell bent on following in his grandfather’s footsteps. My Henry served in the Army. Two tours in Vietnam. He died three years ago. He would have loved to see Jacob make the commitment he had so long ago.”
“Yes ma’am. It’s quite the honor to serve. The name is Josiah, by the way.”
“Ellie. Nice to meet you, young man.”
Josiah spent the next few hours chatting it up with his new traveling companion, telling her stories of his time out of the country, of the men he served with and how he had been gone too long from the place he truly did consider home. He told her of Tessa and Cade’s wedding and that he’d been out of the country when they tied the knot and had only heard the news when he arrived home a few months back. The conversation with Ellie became a painful reminder of all he’d missed out on, how life for Cade and Rowan went on without him.
Josiah had called Rowan as soon as he dropped his bags on the shaggy carpet of his parents’ home to catch up on all that he missed. He hadn’t even bothered with unpacking or thumbing through all the mail that had piled up while he was gone. Josiah hadn’t expected to hear that bit of news about Tessa and Cade, but honestly those two made more sense than anyone else he knew. The most shocking bit of information that came across the telephone wire had been Rowan’s break up with a woman named Erin who he had almost married and his new found love Madison. Josiah didn’t even need to be standing in the same room with him to understand how deeply in love Rowan found himself. He spoke highly of her and with such reverence that the love he felt couldn’t be missed. Josiah arched his back, shifting in his seat, and stretched his arms over his head. He was more than ready to get off this god-forsaken train and catch up with his buddies.
“Do you have a bag overhead?” he asked Ellie.
>
“Just a small one. Don’t you worry though, I can get it,” she said as she placed her fingers lightly on his forearm. “I may be up there in age, but I’ve never been one to ask for help.”
“Yes ma’am I’m sure you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself. However, if my mother found out that I didn’t help a beautiful woman with her bag, she’d tan my hide…no matter how old I am.”
Josiah and Ellie laughed as the train slid in on a whisper, finally coming to a stop. He stood and pulled Ellie’s small brown overnight bag from the overhead compartment, reaching his empty hand out to her. She took it and allowed him to help her from her seat.
“You take care of yourself, young Josiah.”
“You do the same, Ellie. And good luck to your grandson.”
Josiah watched Ellie slowly make her way down the aisle before he glanced out the window and caught sight of Rowan. He should have known he would be waiting for him, even though Josiah had reassured him that he would get a rental car and meet him at his place. He grabbed the oversized duffle bag courtesy of the US Marines, and after most of the passengers filed out, he made his way down the steps excited and nervous. He’d missed out on so much and even though talking to Rowan had been like old times, he couldn’t help but see himself as the outsider now. Before Josiah’s feet hit the last step of the train, he heard Rowan.
“J!” Rowan’s voice carried through the small crowd. Within moments, he stood before Josiah with his hand outstretched.
“Rowan, buddy. Damn, it’s good to see you again. How the hell are you?” Josiah asked as he shook his hand.
“Couldn’t be any better. I’m so glad you made it. Cade had a late appointment or else he’d be here too.”
“That’s okay, completely understandable,” Josiah spoke as he noticed a brunette walking towards them. Rowan had told him all about his new girlfriend when they’d spoken on the phone. If the description he’d given Josiah were correct, there was no doubt this was Madison.