The Truth about Broken Trees (Light Keeper Series Book 3) Read online

  THE TRUTH ABOUT BROKEN TREES

  A Novel

  by

  Kelly Hall

  DESCRIPTION

  Lily Jordan and her friends have one rule—No secrets in the circle. However, when an unexpected visitor threatens to expose Granny by revealing a secret that shakes the family tree, Lily is forced to keep it to herself in order to protect Hunter and Owen.

  When the truth is finally known, Lily follows Owen on a hunt for answers only to find more than they bargained for. Together they must rely on each other to save themselves and those they love. Can they trust the answers they find, or will Talon uncover a truth that proves deadly?

  While some trees break through storms, others, though shaken, grow stronger.

  Contents

  THE TRUTHE ABOUT BROKEN TREES

  DESCRIPTION

  COPYRIGHT

  Acknowledgements

  Works by Kelly Hall:

  THE SECRET OF STRANGE WATERS

  Dedication

  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

  EPILOGUE

  Want more?

  From the author

  About the author

  BrixBaxter Publishing - Experience New Worlds

  COPYRIGHT

  The Truth about Broken Trees

  Copyright © Kelly Hall 2016

  First published in US as a paperback and ebook. This imprint by BrixBaxter Publishing 2016

  Cover Designer: © Kelly Hall, JS Marx Designs

  © BestForYou, © athalaric, © Oleksandr Kotenko

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to my husband, Randy, and our amazing sons, Ty and Jesse, for always having my back and supporting me with unconditional love. Thanks so much to my family and friends who give me support and encouragement. I love you all so much.

  Works by Kelly Hall:

  Light Keeper Series:

  The Legend of the Light Keeper

  The Secret of Strange Waters

  The Truth about Broken Trees

  The Shape of Severed Circles

  Anthologies:

  Darkness Echoes: A YA Short Story Collection;

  Witch Moth

  Echoes of Winter: A Collection of YA Winter Tales;

  Cold Hearth

  Spellbound: A Young Adult Novella Collection;

  Tethered

  THE TRUTH ABOUT BROKEN TREES

  Dedication

  To Mom,

  You’re the best example and inspiration I could ever have in my life.

  I thank God every day that He gave me to you.

  I love you.

  Chapter One

  I wasn’t sure what had happened—a vision, a dream, or a nightmare? A nightmare, definitely a nightmare.

  My stomach turned thinking about it now, while I waited for the tardy bell to ring, feeling Owen’s foot kicking my desk behind me. I wish he’d stop! I wanted to give him a look that would let him know he was pushing me too far, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him—not after the vision. Okay, there, I admitted it. It was a vision. A dream I could handle; a dream was harmless and wouldn’t have me freaking out. But no, instead of a dream, I got a vision. And although I sometimes misinterpreted my visions, they always came true.

  I wouldn’t have been so sure about the vision not being a dream if Holly hadn’t witnessed the Light hovering above me while I lay in bed staring wide-eyed into it. It found me again. I didn’t beckon it, I hadn’t drunk the Water for weeks, but that night out of nowhere, there it was.

  It was different from most of my visions; I couldn’t see much. Well, not at first, but I felt plenty—hands and lips in total darkness, my eyes desperate for light. And as it came—my gift, the Light—I was sickened by who I saw. Owen.

  I had thought for sure I kissed Talon in the darkness. I mean, it had to be him. But then I couldn’t deny it when I saw Owen so clearly. In my heart, I knew the only thing I could do was find out why the vision showed Owen.

  When class was over, I jumped from my desk and headed straight for the bathroom, leaving Holly and Owen behind.

  ***

  School let out early and that worked in my favor. I had way too much on my mind to think about schoolwork, and I thought it beneficial to my grades that we got a whole week off for Thanksgiving break. Maybe I’d have time to clear my head.

  Talon drove home in silence. Every now and then he’d glance my way until he finally let out a sigh. “Lily, what’s wrong? And don’t say nothing. You’re too quiet.”

  Talon normally endured my talking non-stop on our daily trips home. His suspicious looks were no doubt from my unusual silence, but I didn’t think he’d appreciate my inner struggle considering he hated Owen. He’d be furious, not to mention hurt, and no telling what he’d do to him.

  “Nothing,” I snapped as I sank in my seat. “Nothing,” I repeated in a softer, kinder tone. He shook his head and then ran his hand through his tousled brown hair. Then he flashed me a glance and let out a long breath making me think he didn’t believe me.

  Things had been strained between us since Halloween, the night Talon accidentally killed Kevin Hilliard. We were still working on our relationship too, which had gotten even more complicated since our parents’ marriage two weeks ago. After the wedding, Talon decided that he couldn’t be with me, at least, not right now.

  It all started, or ended rather, when I went against his wishes on Halloween night. He’d told me to stay home, and instead I had gone out to look for Owen who was missing.

  Talon white-knuckled the steering wheel. “I told you not to say it’s nothing. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” Talon always tried to take care of me but this time it was different—he just wanted to be friendly.

  I glanced over at his tired eyes, where dark circles had begun to form due to lack of sleep. He’d never admit it, just like I’d be keeping my latest vision to myself, but I’d heard him talking, even crying out sometimes, in the night from bad dreams. I understood how terrifying they could be. Talon kept trying to convince me that our dreams stemmed from all the terrible things we’d been through, but I believed mine were warnings.

  “It’s nothing you can help me with.” I glanced at the road. “You look like you could use some rest.”

  “Yeah, sleep hasn’t been kind to me lately.” He turned his gaze to me, giving me a furrowed brow. “You didn’t get into it with Cate over the whole Henry Oliver ordeal, did you?” He’d been waiting on me to bring him up to her. I warned him I would, but I hadn’t found the right time to bring up my dad—much less the man who’d killed him. I knew I’d have to
, sooner or later. I needed answers, the most prominent question being why? Why did my mother decide to hide something so important from me, especially after I’d decided to date Talon, instead of making him into a brother figure. Not that knowing he’d accidentally killed the man who’d accidentally killed my dad would matter, but she should’ve been more open about it. It wasn’t like I’d never find out. Tom had lied to Talon, too, but I let him deal with that in his own time, in his own way. “No. Not yet,” I mumbled.

  “Then tell me what’s wrong.” His persistence annoyed me.

  “It’s nothing, really.” After another pleading look from Talon’s deep brown eyes, I turned up the radio and glared out the window beside me to deter any chance of conversation for the rest of the ride home.

  I hated keeping secrets from Talon. We’d always been so open and honest with each other. He knew all my deepest secrets. Being a Light Keeper remained the biggest secret of all. A few others knew it too—my cousins, Owen and Hunter Riley and Granny, who all lived next door. Holly Conner, Hunter’s girlfriend—and more officially his promised fiancé—knew it too, since she’d moved in with me. My parents, however, had no idea.

  If anyone else ever found out it could be dangerous to our situation, especially mine. So we all kept the secret among us. Owen called us the Circle, since we made a pact promising to share every bit of information that pertained to the Light. “No secrets in the Circle,” Owen always said, but this was so shocking it would surely rip us apart. I just can’t tell Talon. Not ever, I thought. My stomach tightened as I lay my head over on the cool glass of the car window.

  Holly waited for me in our room when I got home. She sat on my bed with her big blue eyes staring at me curiously. As I walked to my closet, she sighed dramatically. “Well? Tell me.” She’d been trying to get me to explain what I’d seen in the vision all morning. Well, at least every chance she had.

  “No.” I shook my head. “It’s private, and don’t say a word to Talon. He’ll only try to ask more questions.”

  “Hmm,” Holly put her finger to her mouth and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Let’s think about this. You had a vision—one that’s so private you can’t even share it with me—and you don’t want Talon to know.” She sat quiet for a minute pondering those facts, and when I finally turned to face her from my closet, I found her smiling. “I’ve got it!” She snapped her fingers like a classic movie sleuth.

  She watches too much TV with Granny. I released a long breath. “What?”

  “You and Talon, that’s it? You’re gonna do it,” she whispered the words. Her eyes widened as a smile spread across her face. “I’m right, huh? You saw it?”

  “No, we’re not even together at the moment and I’m not going into it with you, so you can just give up guessing right now.” Holly and I usually talked about these things, but she’d only brought it up because of the visions, so I decided not to oblige her curiosity.

  Holly threw her hands up in the air. “Ugh, I wish you two would just get back together and get it over with already.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re one to talk, Miss Wedding Night.” Holly hadn’t gotten it “over with” herself.

  “Am I?” She flashed me a smirk, raising a brow to bluff me. She told Hunter she wanted to wait until they married. “Tell me about your vision and I’ll tell you everything,” she bargained.

  “You’re lying. IF you had—and you haven’t—you would have told me already.”

  “Would I?” She kept her act up another few seconds, but realized I wouldn’t fall for it. She dropped her shoulders as if she’d deflated. “Fine, I’ll find out sooner or later.” She seemed quite sure of herself. She kicked off her sandals and folded her feet beneath her.

  “God, I hope not,” I mumbled. My stomach turned as I walked across the hall to Talon’s room and knocked.

  If Holly found out, then Talon would too, and only after it came true, which would be bad—very, very bad. Deep down I knew nothing could stop it from happening. Somehow, somewhere, sometime, I would kiss Owen—passionately. I might even like it. That raised more questions than I was prepared for.

  Talon opened the door, grabbed me around the waist, and pulled me in. “Tell me what’s bugging you.” He walked backward to the bed, pulling me along with him.

  Not again. “I’ve already told you, it’s nothing.” I frowned trying to think of a way to get myself out of this conversation. “It’s girl stuff, that’s all.” I gave him a stiff glare.

  “Oh, you mean—girl, girl stuff.” He seemed relieved and quickly changed the subject after making a face. “Girl stuff” classified as one of the things he still wasn’t comfortable discussing with me.

  “You’re okay though, right? No more strange dreams with old ladies giving you dire warnings?” His mocking tone irritated me but I shrugged it off. I had dreams that I believed to be warnings, but Talon didn’t trust in them. He’d even gone so far as to point out that I shouldn’t fear my visions either, since I never knew how to interpret them. But I bet he wouldn’t like the last one regardless. Suddenly a memory from one of those creepy dreams came back to me: Owen with strange eyes as green as mine. It had to mean something.

  Satisfied with my dismissal, Talon lay back on the bed, pulling me to his side. He’d been getting really handsy lately, like old times. We’d only been split up for two weeks now, but it felt like forever. Three weeks if you counted the time he spent in Houston trying to clear his mind.

  “Talon.” I pulled away and sat up; frustrated that Mr. Time and Space couldn’t keep his hands off of me or make up his mind, for that matter. Him being all over me one day, and then practically running from me the next, made our break-up even harder.

  “Sorry.” He sat up on his elbows holding his hands out defensively, eager to change the subject. “I’ve been meaning to tell you that my mom called. She’s going to cook Thanksgiving dinner after all, and she wants me to come for a four day weekend.”

  My shoulders slumped. “But I’m helping with dinner this year, and with your dad gone it’ll leave Mom and me all alone.” I tried not to whine, but it came out that way. Talon’s mom always had the worst timing. “Granny will be disappointed, too. She wanted us all together.”

  “I’ll eat here with you and then I’ll go to Mom’s. I can handle two dinners.” He rubbed his tight tummy. “Besides, we’re eating early here and Mom’s dinner won’t be ready until after dark, if she doesn’t burn it.”

  Talon’s phone rang. He glanced at it, turned it off, and shoved it back down in his pocket. His clipped mannerisms reminded me of how he’d act when Angie, his old girlfriend, would call. I couldn’t help being a little jealous even though I had no reason to be, with us being broken up.

  “I’ll miss you.” I had hoped after his last trip, he wouldn’t have to go for a while, but I didn’t figure on the holidays.

  “I’ll miss you, too.” He pulled me in and kissed my forehead. Then he smiled his sweet smile and it found his eyes, which had always given away his every emotion.

  Times like these, with him so close, it would seem as though we were still together. It tugged hard on my heart and I grew weary from it. You can only pick at something so long before it gets tender, and my heart nearly bled. I took his kiss as my cue to go back to my room with Holly.

  She worked on her nails, buffing them to a high shine with a new worry set in her brow.

  “What’s the matter with you?” I asked, sitting on the floor.

  “Oh nothing, it’s just...I have a job,” she said, lifting a shoulder. I immediately understood. Hunter didn’t want her to work, not so long as he couldn’t, which was totally sexist and bullheaded. Granny wouldn’t let him get a job, though.

  “That’s good news, right? I mean, Hunter finally came around?” I hoped that he had. The two had an argument about it one day after school. I’d never seen Hunter so offended and angry. Surely Holly wouldn’t go behind his back? You couldn’t just hide a job.

&
nbsp; “I haven’t told Hunter. I start next week, after we go back to school.” She rubbed her nails harder until I wondered if they’d start to squeak. “You remember my cousin Naomi who owns the flower shop?” I nodded. Naomi had given Mom a great deal on her wedding flowers. “Well, she needs help. Her evening assistant quit. I’ve got the job as long as I can get a ride into town. Granny says it’s no problem, she’d take me herself.”

  “Granny knows?” Surprised, my eyes widened. “She doesn’t think you’re too young to work?” Granny wanted Hunter’s studies to come first so she wouldn’t let him have a job.

  “She understands that until we marry, technically, I’m on my own. I can’t mooch off of you and your family forever.”

  “You’re not a moocher,” I said. “You’re family to us. We love having you here and you’ve helped Mom so much with the wedding and chores. You do more than your fair share. Quite frankly, you’re making me look bad.” I giggled.

  “Thanks.” She blushed. “Still, I have to think of the future; it’s not like I have a fortune waiting for me. Hunter and I will need money for the wedding and to get started with our life together. If I start work now, I can at least get some money saved.” I wanted to laugh at her. If she only knew that she did have a fortune waiting for her, that is, if she stayed with Hunter.

  Granny had found a fortune of gold in her flower bed, and Hunter had found gold at our neighbor’s house just before the old man had died. He had managed to pilfer one ancient coin, which was worth quite a bit on its own, but he always searched for more. Granny had put her gold in the bank, but for some reason she never touched it.

  “But Hunter doesn’t seem to mind that you’ll be helping out at the salon all week?” I couldn’t see the difference.

  “That’s temporary and just to make Christmas money.” My mom had hired us both while school was out.

  “So is this why you’re alone in our room, buffing your nails? You’re avoiding Hunter?” They had a strong bond and even during their one argument, they never raised a voice at each other.