Table of Contents
Living with Regrets
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Unwanted Guest
Everything is Under Control…Or Not
Collision
Trust
Orchids and Willow Trees
Kryptonite
Better Left In The Past
Just like old times
Delicate Strength
The One
Root Beer Slushies
Lectured by a Teen
Twenty Something Questions
Transcendence
Home
Deja vu
The Other Side of the Truth
Silent Treatment
Rendered Happiness
All Too Familiar
Letting Go
Sweet Dreams
Confronted
The Letter
Unexpected
Curveball
Self-Control
Deceit
Regret
LOVE
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Copyright
Living with Regrets (No Regrets Series) book 2 Copyright © 2016 Aimee Noalane
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author of this book, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in fictitiously manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The author acknowledges the trademarked / licensed status and trademark / license owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks / license is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark / license owners.
Cover image copyright ©
Used under license from the model
Illegal reproduction without permission is not permitted and punishable by law.
Cover design by Schmidt’s Author Services
Formatter CP Smith
EBook ISBN: 978-0-9953482-3-3
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9953482-2-6
Dedication
I dedicate this book to you.
To anyone who’s tried to tear you down,
to anyone who’s told you that you won’t succeed:
Look at them straight in the eye,
Smile at their ignorance,
And show them exactly just how AMAZING you are.
Prologue
Abbygail
“Abby.”
I heard his voice but couldn’t catch sight of him, nor where it came from. My entire body shook under the agonizing pain. It was as if my heart was being ripped into thousands of irreparable pieces.
“Abby, are you okay?”
I opened my sleepy eyes to Oliver’s warm breath against my skin. My eyes creased as I tried to assess my surroundings only to realize that Oliver and I were still cuddled up against each other on the trampoline in his back yard.
“Yeah, Ol,” I replied a bit dazed, “I’m fine. What time is it?”
“I don’t know. I think we fell asleep. Your crying woke me up.”
“I wasn’t crying,” I argued defensively. I turned my head to the side and looked over at my best friend.
“Yeah, Abs, you were. See?” His warm thumb caressed my cool skin and he showed me the tear he wiped off my cheek. “What were you dreaming about?”
I sighed. “I don’t know, really. The last thing I remember before you woke me up was sitting alone on the football field. The whole place was deserted.”
Oliver turned on his back and placed his hands under his head scanning the sky. According to the weather station, the night was perfect to watch the mid-August meteor shower, so Oliver and I had decided to spend the evening out to look at the stars. I guess sometime between the first shooting star and the middle of the night, we’d both fallen asleep.
“What were you doing?”
“Waiting, I think.”
“Waiting for who?”
I frowned and roamed the black sky searching for answers, but I came up empty. I turned my head and looked at my best friend’s dark eyes. I could barely see them through the faint light of the constellations above us, but I felt them watching me with worry.
As he reached out to take a strand of hair away from my lips, the whole dream came back, hitting me full force with excruciating pain. I closed my eyes. A huge tear tipped over and slowly ran down my cheek.
“Abby?” Oliver asked concerned.
“You.” I reopened my eyes trying to make sense of my own thoughts, and then looked at my clueless best friend. “I was waiting for you, and you never came.”
“Well that’s why it’s called a dream, Abby. You know as much as I do that I would never leave you, especially not on a football field,” he teased. “Now come here, I’m cold and you’re hogging all the covers.”
He pulled our comforter over our bodies and wrapped his arm around me.
“Just a nightmare,” I repeated to myself as Oliver held me tightly inside his strong arms.
“Hey, Abs, do you think you and I will always be close like this?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“I’m not sure. I guess I was just wondering. I find it hard to picture my life without you in it, that’s all.”
I knew what he meant. He and I had been neighbors and best friends for over sixteen years, and had never been apart for more than a few days at a time.
“The fact that you are trying to picture it at all is pretty cruel, if you ask me.”
I saw his sly grin as I turned my head back up to the sky. We both remained quiet, searching for shooting stars.
“Promise me, that whatever happens, you’ll never let anything or anyone come between us, Abbygail.”
I smiled. “I promise.”
“Why are you smiling? I’m serious, Abs, this isn’t funny.”
“I know, Ol. It’s just, it’s kind of funny that I’m the one that had the bad dream about you leaving me, yet you’re the one worried about me abandoning you. You have to see the irony in this, don’t you?”
“It’s because I love you, Abby.”
My heart constricted. I pulled on the hand he was holding me with and laid it over my chest, tightening his hold on me. “I love you too, Oliver, but honestly, I really doubt things will remain like this forever. I mean do you think our friendship will be this simple when we go our separate ways for school? Or how about when we start dating?”
“I hope it will…” He paused. “And why wouldn’t it, anyway?”
“Because people change when they get older. Friends grow apart. That’s life, Oliver.”
“I hope you’re wrong.”
I thought about life and tried to picture it without Oliver. It was impossible. This guy wasn’t just my best friend. I truly, deeply, loved him. The thought of him not being in my life was beyond painful.
“I hope I’m wrong too, but if I’m not, do you know what I wish?” I opened my eyes and searched the sky. “I wish that, if one day something does tear us apart, we’ll figure out a way to find each other all over again.”
Oliver hugged me tightly and pulled my body even closer against his.
“Abbygail, trust me,” he whispered, kissing my cheek. “If you’re right, I will make sure that we do.”
Unwanted Guest
Abbygail
“Fuck.” I exhaled.
My mother’s intruder raised his pierced eyebrow, questioning me with his dark stare, and I was unable to look away. With my eyes glued to his, I inhaled, and then exhaled again. Over the years, the thought of seeing Oliver Langton again had crossed my mind more times than I could count, but nothing could have had me prepared for everything I was feeling.
I have to be dreaming…
It was the sound of everything I was holding onto crashing to the wooden floor that pulled me out of my daze. I looked down and then back up. He was still there.
What the hell is he doing here?
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I growled.
“Well, hello to you too, Abbygail,” he mocked.
Oliver walked up to me with a sly grin spread across his face and kneeled down to help pick up the stuff I had let fall. When I realized that we were almost face to face, I put my index finger up to prevent him from getting closer and gave him my most defiant stare.
“Don’t.”
Avoiding his eyes as best I could, I grabbed everything and dropped it on the kitchen counter. Within a second, my entire world had once again shifted. Leaning on the counter, I looked at the floor and steadied my breathing. My heart stammered as it tried to make sense of everything I was feeling, but as I felt the goose bumps on my skin rise, I knew it was because he was close.
I left.
As much as I wanted to turn around and believe it wasn’t all just a dream, I couldn’t. The ache was just too much to bear, so I ran out and slammed the door behind me.
“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” I asked my mother who was stepping out of her car.
“Abb––”
“I hate you.” I replied, cutting her off. But my unfortunate immature attitude ended up biting me in the ass where she was concerned because all she did when I scowled at her was smirk and walk inside her own house.
I stomped across the street, and as I reached my front door, I realized that I had once again forgotten to turn on my front porch light. It seemed that even at the age of twenty-three, the concept of daylight being shorter in the fall than the summer, hadn’t completely sunk in. I let out a long enraged scream.
Why? Why is he here?
When I finally managed to walk inside, I slammed the door as hard as I could. It took exactly three seconds before sliding against the wall, and even less time before crumbling with the turmoil in my heart.
Oliver
Jenna walked inside her house as I was putting away the groceries that Abbygail had left on the counter.
“Well, that went nicely,” she mumbled to herself. “Hi, Oliver.”
“Hey, Aunt Jenna. Just give me a sec: I need to put the eggs in the fridge.”
I was actually surprised they hadn’t broken with the impact of Abby dropping them on the floor. When I came out of the kitchen, Jenna was waiting for me with open arms. She was even smaller than she was when she flew down to BC after my mother died.
“How are you?”
“I’m good, sweetheart,” she answered, hugging me tightly. “But I want to apologize about yesterday. I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around longer. I was just so tired after the funeral.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry. I had plenty of company to keep me busy. So tell me, when did you get so small?” I criticized. “You need to start taking better care of yourself, Aunt Jen.”
“You and my daughter are so much alike. I’m just working long hours, Oliver. I’ll be fine. Christmas is coming soon. Things will die down a bit at the clinic, and I’ll have more than my share of food. You on the other hand, are buffer than I remember.” She smiled. “So… things didn’t go so well with Abby, did they?”
We took a seat in her dayroom, “Yeah, well, I think she was a bit stunned when she saw me.”
“I assume so, seeing how you greeted her,” she smirked.
My eyes went down to where she was looking; I suddenly felt very much underdressed and ran back to my room, to grab a shirt.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Pish posh.”
“I just don’t get why you didn’t tell her I was coming home to bury my mother with my dad.”
“It was better this way, Oliver.”
Her eyes told me not to push it further. And by her daughter’s reaction to my presence, I assumed she might have been right.
“So, how are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m doing all right. Some days are good, others not as much. I knew it would be a matter of time before she left us, I guess it just takes a little getting used to not having her around the house anymore.”
“I miss her so much.” She took my hand in hers. “She was a great woman and an amazing friend. Please remember that you’ll always have a home here, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Aunt Jen.”
She took me into a big hug when I noticed someone walking on my old lawn. I pulled away and stood to get a better view. “Is that Abby crossing the street?”
She turned around and looked out the window. “Yep, that would be her.”
“Why is she barefoot?”
“Probably because she forgot her shoes.”
“Yes, I get that. But I meant, why is she coming from across the street with no shoes on her feet?”
“That would be because she lives across the street now.” Jenna stood and walked to the front door to pick up a pair of black stilettos. “See, these are hers.”
I was speechless.
“Oliver, maybe you should go to the guest room for now. Abbygail’s temper hasn’t changed much since you saw her last, so things might get a bit ugly.”
She opened the door slightly before Abbygail reached it and saw me hesitate. Part of me really wanted to be part of their conversation.
“Please, Oliver. As you may have noticed, you’re still a touchy subject.”
Obliging to her request, I climbed the steps two by two, but instead of going to the guest room, I stood hidden around the corner near Abby’s old room and listened.
“Abbygail.”
I chuckled at how formally Jenna greeted her own daughter.
“Mother,” she responded in the same clipped tone. “I forgot my shoes.”
“Yes, I see that. Did you maybe leave in too much of a hurry?”
“Gee, what tipped you off?”
Jenna was right: Abbygail still had that temper of hers. It made me smile.
“Honey, can we talk about this?” she asked softly.
“No, we cannot. Tell me, Mom, which word in the phrase ‘I never want to see his face ever again, EVER.’ Did you not understand?”
Ouch, that stings.
“What would you have me do, Abbygail? He’s my best friend’s son. I’m not just going to abandon Oliver because you don’t want to see him. At one point in your life, he was your best friend, too. It’s been six years, Abby. Don’t you think it’s time to move on? Or I don’t know, maybe forgive and forget?
“Actually, it’s been six years and one month since he left, and it’s been five years eight months since he became the biggest jackass on the planet.”
I flinched, wondering if she’d counted it down to the day. It wouldn’t have surprised me if she had.
“Oliver,” she shouted. “I know you can hear me… I want you to GO AWAY.”
“Abbygail Evens,” her mother warned.
“Fine then. If you won’t leave, STAY OUT OF MY ROOM.”
As I remembered the lustful look she gave me less than a half hour before her walking out on me, I was tempted to ask her which room she wanted me to stay out of, but I decided it would be better to not push my luck.
“And, Mom, since you’re going to side with him on this one, don’t expect me for dinner. I lost my appetite.”
She left slamming the door. Again.
Everything is Under Control…Or Not
Abbygail
“So, Abb
y, what can I get you?” Stephan asked as he cleaned the worn-out redwood counter of his bar.
His barmaid, Casey would be taking over the job for the evening, but since Kylie and I arrived earlier than planned, he decided to do a little work while he entertained us.
We were about to meet our group of friends for our bi-annual reunion. It was an idea we came up with after our high school graduation. The tradition was the same every year. In the summer we went to Kylie’s lodge in Wasaga Beach and spent the entire weekend together, and when we all came home to our families for the holidays we would meet up at Stephan’s bar. I didn’t understand, until that evening, why he insisted on moving it up a couple of weeks.
“I’ll have a Long Island iced tea please.”
He looked at me curiously.
“What?”
“Nothing. How about you Ky?”
“Um, I think I’ll have some red wine.”
Stephan and Kylie had remained great friends, even though their relationship ended about a year after high school. Kylie went to study law in Toronto, and Stephan decided to stay home and take over his father’s business. From what I understood, or rather from what they both agreed to share with me, was that they wanted different stuff at the time in their lives, and the distance between them took a toll on their relationship. Both of them told me the exact same story, which made it look like it had been repeatedly rehearsed. However, since I couldn’t force anything out of them, I just had to wait for the day one of them would decide to fill me in on the real story. But that night, as usual where they were concerned, I could clearly see the many gazes they both kept directing to each other. Their story was clearly not over.
“One Long Island iced tea and one glass of red wine coming up.” He smiled. “So ladies, tell me. Why are you here so early?”
“We wanted to see you work.”
“You’re such a liar,” Kylie accused. “Abbygail is pissed at her mom and skipped family dinner.”
“Oh, really?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, really. So my plans changed, what’s the big deal, Ky?”
“You’re missing out on family dinner, babe.” Stephan interrupted. “Kylie and I both know that it’s a big no-no in Mrs. Evens’ book. Your mom’s going to be furious. You know that right?”
Living with Regrets (No Regrets book 2) Page 1