Stargazing (The Walker Family Book 2) Read online

  STARGAZING

  BOOK 2

  THE WALKER FAMILY SERIES

  BY

  BERNADETTE MARIE

  This is a fictional work. The names, characters, incidents, places, and locations are solely the concepts and products of the author’s imagination or are used to create a fictitious story and should not be construed as real.

  5 PRINCE PUBLISHING AND BOOKS, LLC

  PO Box 16507

  Denver, CO 80216

  www.5PrinceBooks.com

  ISBN-10: 1631121286 ISBN 13: 978-1-63112-128-9

  Bernadette Marie

  Copyright Bernadette Marie, 2015

  Published by 5 Prince Publishing

  Front Cover designed by Bernadette Soehner

  Photo by: Александр Савченко

  Author Photo: Brenden Murphy 2015

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations, reviews, and articles. For any other permission please contact 5 Prince Publishing and Books, LLC.

  First Edition/First Printing October 2015 Printed U.S.A.

  5 PRINCE PUBLISHING AND BOOKS, LLC.

  Stan,

  Unimagined Brilliance.

  That is what I see when I look at our lives.

  It’s as if I’m Stargazing.

  I love you.

  Acknowledgements:

  To the five Stars of my life: I enjoy watching you shine. I love you to the stars and back.

  To my brightest Star: You are my sun but you let me shine and for that I am forever grateful.

  To my mom, dad, and sister: Thank you for allowing me to always let my mind wander into the stars as a child. I’ll never outgrow that.

  To Connie, Clare, and June: You are my trio of light. Just when it seems that the sun will set, it is you three that bring out the brilliance of my projects.

  To my Street Team, my readers, and my fellow authors who bring me back to the computer every day to do what I love because they share their support with me…Thank you!

  Dear Reader,

  This book, like so many of my books, took me on a journey I didn’t see coming.

  Bethany Waterbury sure had a lot of skeletons in her closet. She was a challenge of the greatest kind as she fought back from a true, everyday demon which so many people fight.

  Kent Black was the opposite. He was more fun, because he’s an author. It’s fun to look inside yourself and pull out those parts that are as important to the character as they are to the person who creates them.

  I hope you enjoy this second installment of the Walker Family. They are so very different, each and every Walker. I look forward to what they will tell me each time I sit down at my computer.

  Happy Reading!

  Bernadette Marie

  Other books by Bernadette Marie

  The Keller Family Series

  The Executive’s Decision

  A Second Chance

  Opposite Attraction

  Center Stage

  Lost and Found

  Love Songs

  Home Run

  The Acceptance

  The Merger

  The Escape Clause

  A Romance for Christmas (A Keller Novella)

  Aspen Creek Series

  First Kiss

  Unexpected Admirer

  On Thin Ice

  Indomitable Spirit

  The Matchmaker Series

  Matchmakers

  Encore

  Finding Hope

  The Three Mrs. Monroes

  Amelia

  Penelope

  Vivian

  The Walker Family Series

  Walker Pride

  Stargazing

  Single Titles

  Cart Before the Horse

  Candy Kisses

  STARGAZING

  Chapter One

  Hands in front of her chest, palms pressed together, Bethany inhaled as she pressed her foot to her inner thigh. Her body wobbled on one leg as she closed her eyes in an attempt to achieve her balance.

  The Georgia sun glittered through the trees and the spring air filled her lungs on the patio outside of her bedroom.

  She held the pose for five full breaths, letting the peace of the morning wash over her.

  Letting her foot slide to the floor, she lifted her hands over her head, sucked in a deep cleansing breath and folded in half. Her spine gave a few pops as it lengthened.

  The problem with this pose was she could see her toes were in desperate need of a pedicure. The next exhale was a sigh.

  Bethany Waterbury stood, reached for her lemon infused water, and her towel. She wiped the sweat from her brow and sipped her water. In six hours, she had an audition for a commercial. This would be her first audition in nearly a year. Deep inside she didn’t know what was worse, having done the horror movies she’d made in L.A. or wanting a grocery store commercial so bad she could taste it.

  There was a tapping on her bedroom door.

  “Come in,” she shouted as the door opened and her roommate Susan walked in, a cup of coffee in her hand.

  “It’s beautiful out here today,” she said as she joined her on the porch.

  “It is. Still can’t believe you gave me this room and didn’t take it for yourself,” Bethany admitted to her roommate who had given her the biggest room with the jetted tub and the patio.

  Susan shrugged and sipped her coffee. “As soon as the house is built I’ll have my own porch off my master suite,” she said with a smile.

  Bethany knew the day was coming. Susan would be moving in with her fiancé, who happened to be Bethany’s cousin Eric.

  Two months ago a psychopath, who had once had an affair with Bethany’s mother, had shot Eric and burned his house to the ground before kidnapping Bethany. Weeks earlier he’d killed off Eric’s animals and caused destruction to Eric’s property and his grandfather’s. It seemed as though Douglas had been obsessed with Eric’s cousin Lydia as well.

  She sipped her water again. Guilt still plagued her when she thought about it. Had she just stayed in California, where the magic of Hollywood had long given up on her, none of this would have happened to Eric.

  It was her fault. She was the spitting image of her late mother. Just having seen her had set the man into some psychotic episode.

  He’d been locked up and she’d been in counseling. When she’d come to Georgia, this wasn’t what she thought she’d be doing. The point in moving was to bond with her father, not seek counseling because of it.

  Okay, she’d bonded with him—a little bit.

  He was a mess of a man, just as her mother had been a mess of a woman. Perhaps that was the common factor that had them together for the short time in which she was conceived.

  Her father had a gambling problem, which had led him to using the family land as collateral to pay off his debt. His lack of discipline, of any kind, had nearly cost the family more than he already had.

  There wasn’t a lot of pride in saying she was Byron Walker’s daughter.

  “You look like you have a lot on your mind,” Susan said as she walked out onto the patio. Her new diamond ring sparkled in the sunlight.

  “I was just thinking about everything. My counselor says I can’t blame myself for Eric’s loss, but it’s hard not to.”

  “He doesn’t blame you. No one does.”

  “Just me.”

  Susan moved closer to her. “This is really bothering you.”

  “How can it not? I’m lucky that when Douglas shot Eric it didn’t kill him. Or that he didn’t die in the fire.”

  Susan knelt down in
front of her and rested her hand on Bethany’s knee. “Eric is fine. The house is framed. The stalls are full of horses and you are safe. Honey, you have to be able to move on.”

  She nodded. This wasn’t anything that she hadn’t been told already.

  Susan stood and held out her hand to Bethany to stand. “What are your plans today?”

  “I have an audition.”

  Susan’s eyes grew wide. “Really? That’s wonderful.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “And you’re going with me to Pearl’s bridal shop this afternoon, right?”

  Bethany had forgotten she’d promised to go wedding dress shopping with Susan. At least her sister owned the store. It was another step in getting to know her family—spending time bridal shopping would do that.

  “I’ll be there. Pearl is expecting us.”

  Susan sipped her coffee. “You’re still able to work tomorrow, right? Lydia has us set to cater the book club dinner. They have Kent Black coming.”

  “Kent Black?”

  “The writer.” She held out her hand to gesture. “Haven’t you read him? Oh, he’s genius.”

  Bethany narrowed her gaze on her. “He writes science-fiction doesn’t he?” she asked and Susan nodded. “Why would I read that? Why do you?”

  Susan laughed. “I’m thinking you must be the only person who hasn’t read it. It’s been a New York Times bestseller for months. They’re looking to make a movie of it. Hey, maybe you can put in a good word to him and he can suggest they cast you as Dessilla.”

  “Dessilla? Sounds like a role I was designed for.” She blew a hair from her forehead. “I’m done with horror movies.”

  “No, she’s a beautiful alien.”

  Bethany groaned. “I don’t think I want to be an alien either. I’d better get ready. And yes, I’ll be available for the book club.”

  “Good.”

  “How did she get him to come to the book club anyway?”

  “I think she’s more connected than we think,” Susan winked. “I’ll talk to you later. Good luck on your audition.”

  “Don’t say that. It’s bad luck.”

  “Right. Are you supposed to break a leg for TV too?”

  “It’ll do,” she joked as Susan walked back out of the bedroom.

  ~*~

  Coffee houses once were a source of inspiration. They had a vibe and a feel to them. Now, Kent thought, they were more like bars.

  The same people walked in and out of the door every day. They ordered the same addictive concoction and either carried it out or sat for hours and chatted with others.

  He missed the days where he could pull up to a table and no one bothered him for hours. Since he was traveling, it was one of his only options. Sure, he could hole up in his hotel room, but that wasn’t very inspirational either.

  Even though he’d rather be alone, he needed to surround himself with people for inspiration—he just wished they weren’t so noisy.

  The door opened again. It had become a habit to look up and study the person. This one had him sitting up, removing his fingers from the keyboard of his laptop, and following her with his eyes.

  Long red curls bounced over her shoulders, which were bare in a sundress with yellow flowers. She was lean and toned and absolutely radiant.

  She walked to the end of the line and Kent turned in his chair to follow her with his gaze.

  She smiled at the boy behind the counter. Kent noted that the young man flushed at her simple gesture. That said something.

  She continued on to pay for her drink. He heard the woman ringing up her order offer a pastry, to which the redhead waved off with her hand and a laugh. Obviously she’d avoid that, he knew just by looking at her. Her drink was probably low-fat blah too.

  When she turned, the beauty of her hit Kent right in the chest. He’d never seen such a beautiful specimen.

  She was scanning the room looking for an open seat. Wasn’t it his very lucky day? The only free chair was at his table.

  He stood, bravely—as bravely as any man who locked himself in his house and wrote about aliens could possibly be.

  Quickly he wiped the crumbs from the front of his shirt and put on a grand smile, just as the redhead waved at a man across the room and headed toward him.

  Kent slithered down into his chair and ducked behind his computer screen. He was used to that. Why should today be any different?

  He took a Harry Potter movie pen from his Star Wars Celebration bag and jotted a note on the napkin on the table.

  Redhead, glorious redhead in a yellow flowered sundress.

  She’d live on forever, he decided, on the pages of his books as the princess he’d needed who lived in the far away galaxy of Vela Centauri.

  Chapter Two

  Bethany hugged her brother Jake and sat down at the table he’d claimed by the window. The coffee shop was unusually crowded today. Thank goodness he’d gotten there early.

  “You look stunning today,” he complimented.

  “Thanks. I had an audition.”

  “Really? A movie? Here in Georgia?”

  She laughed as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “No. Grocery store commercial.”

  He made an “O” with his mouth then sipped his coffee. “How did it go?”

  Bethany shrugged. “Me, youthful and fit. The other twenty women, mid-forties with mommy bellies. Who would you trust as a spokesperson for a grocery store?”

  “You didn’t get it?”

  “No. I should stick to horror movies,” she tried to make light of it, but it nearly hurt to say it. “I’ll just keep serving at Susan’s catering events.”

  “Not a bad gig.”

  “No. It’s been a good thing. I met a gal who owns a yoga studio too. I’m going to take a few classes and then she said when she sees my form, if it’s good, maybe I can teach.”

  “Sounds like you’re making your life here now.”

  “I think I am. I even have plans to have lunch with dad next week,” she said, and swallowed hard.

  His lips tightened. “Well, that’s positive. He’s hardly talked to me since Grandpa’s funeral.” Jake shrugged. “I take that back. He did need me to look at his car the other day. He needed a freaking oil change. That was all.”

  “Quite a contrast to Uncle Everett.”

  “I used to wish I was his son instead.”

  Hadn’t Bethany even mentioned that she wished she’d been from the other side of the family?

  “They have a unique bond,” she said spinning the cardboard sleeve around the coffee cup.

  “It’s up to us to create that,” Jake added. “He didn’t do that for us. He kept you from us.”

  “Now I know why.”

  “But we didn’t know. We had no idea. We just knew our moms hated your mom and they don’t think highly of Dad either,” he said referring to his mother and his sisters’ mother.

  “None of this is our fault.”

  “It’s not. That’s why we have to step up now and become a family. The five of us.”

  This was what she’d wanted—what she’d dreamed of her entire life. It was why she’d come to Georgia.

  Bethany hit the button on her iPhone and checked the time. “I have to get over to Pearl’s. Susan is wedding dress shopping.”

  Jake grinned. “I can’t say I ever thought Eric would get married.”

  “They’re good together,” she said feeling the slightest pang of jealousy ripple through her. She’d love to find what Eric and Susan had found. But, considering she attracted psychopaths, the last thing she even needed to think about was men. Maybe she’d bring that up with the counselor tomorrow. Perhaps there was a standard time frame in which a victim was supposed to wait before they felt secure in dating—or even mingling with the opposite sex. Even the thought of it brought back the feeling of Douglas Brant’s hand on her throat and the look of pure terror in his eyes when he shot Eric and set fire to the house.

  “Are you okay?” Jake aske
d resting his hand on her arm. “You’re as white as a ghost.”

  “I’m fine,” she sucked in a breath. “I’m just fine. Sorry. I’d better be going before Pearl and Susan start looking for me.”

  He nodded, but she’d caused him alarm.

  They both stood and she picked up her drink. “Thanks for the chat.”

  “I’m glad to have you here, Bethany. I really am. And I’m glad you’re getting to know the girls,” he offered, referring to their sisters. “I live in the same town and our mothers have always been friends, but to say we are family…”

  “We will be,” she assured him. “We will be.”

  Kent watched the redhead stand up and hug the man goodbye. There was nothing romantic in the hug.

  He watched as she maneuvered through the tables and headed toward the door.

  “Hey, Bethany,” the man called after her and she turned. “Let me know how lunch with Dad goes.”

  Bethany! Could her beauty be any more enhanced than with such a gorgeous name?

  “I’ll do that,” she said in a voice equally as heavenly. As she turned back toward the exit she caught Kent’s eye.

  He sat paralyzed behind his computer screen. Damn it, you idiot, smile—he tried to convince himself. Instead, Bethany smiled at him and kept walking.

  He was blowing this!

  The man was her brother. He’d nearly said that out loud when he mentioned their dad. There was no ring on her finger and she’d smiled at him.

  As she walked out the door, Kent closed the computer and quickly tucked it into his bag. Trying to make his exit, he gathered all his trash and juggled it into his arms. Coffee splashed onto his shirt, but he didn’t care. He dumped the trash into the can by the door and followed her to the parking lot, where she climbed into her car and drove away.