Lies and Omissions

by L. Lane Bailey

She thought her painful past was behind her. After meeting the man of her dreams, it all came rushing back to destroy her future, and even her relationship with her daughters, not to mention the love of her life. Not only did he have secrets of his own, but there were things he didn't know about his family. Time was not something he had a lot of. From the him, Gina’s husband, Howard, lurked. He reached down and grabbed Oscar by his scraggly hair and hauled him to his feet. With his other hand, Howard grabbed the back of Oscar’s belt. He dragged him across the living room, slamming his face into the doorway to the hall, then down the hall to the front door. Again, he slammed his face into the door casing of the front door, releasing his belt long enough to open the door.With the front door open, Howard again took Oscar’s belt in his hand. He pushed him through the doorway and tossed him. “Listen to me, boy,” Howard railed, his bass voice thunderous. “If you plan on coming in my house again, you take a minute and get yourself right with the Lord first, because I will send you to visit him. You follow me?”Oscar still hadn’t made it to his feet. “And you need to leave that girl alone. A dirtbag that would hit a woman like her don’t deserve any woman, let alone a sweet girl like her. Don’t let me catch you in my sight. Understand?”Howard turned and saw Cassandra propped in the doorway. He walked back in and helped her to the couch. He jogged to the kitchen and got ice for her. The bruise on the side of her face was blossoming from her ear almost to her nose.“Are you ok, Cassie?” he said, his deep voice calming. “You were out when I came in. “I think… I should be ok,” she replied, though she still couldn’t focus all the way.“Cassandra, we have to find a way to get you away from him permanently. I don’t know what he woulda done had I not come home,” Howard said quietly. “I know a guy that might be able to help. Why don’t you just lay down and relax… Gina and I will help you. You and those girls of yours don’t deserve any of this.”“Thank you, Howard, I don’t know how I can repay you.” noticed the other two moms glancing out to the rink furtively as they talked.“Hi,” she said, joining the conversation, “what are we looking for?”The figure skaters were having a meeting with the coaches, and wouldn’t be done for another fifteen minutes, so the moms were talking as they waited. Meanwhile, the speed skaters were filtering onto the rink to warm up.“You’ll know in a minute,” Evelyn said with a little laugh.Linda looked out on the floor. She recognized Tim Jackson, Karen’s son, but none of the other boys stuck out. “The main event hasn’t arrived yet,” Karen said. “I think he is still getting his skates on over in the skate room.”As she said it, Scott Williams rolled out of the skate room.“Him?” Linda said, pointing toward the youth.“No. That’s Scott,” Karen said, dismissing the tall youth with a wave of her hand. He was well over six feet, probably six-three, but the skates made him seem that much taller. He was lean to the point of being skinny and had a shock of bushy blonde hair on top of his head. He was also trying to grow in a mustache, but it was still sparse enough to be invisible from more than a few feet away.A moment later another young man rolled out of the skate room and caught up with Scott.“There we go,” Evelyn said with a leer. “The reason we come inside to pick up our kids,” she finished, nodding toward him.“That’s Nick Tower, right?” Linda said, recognizing him.“Mmm-hmm,” the other two women intoned at the same time.

227 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2021

About the author

Boy... what to say?
I had an idea and thought I could write a book. It turned into two... then three... then four. Working on #9 now.
I like cars, Jeeps, photography and writing (duh) and Scouting (I am an adult volunteer). You might catch me on:
FaceBook
https://www.facebook.com/LaneBaileyCa...
Parler
https://parler.com/profile/JeepOnRock
MeWe
https://mewe.com/i/lanebailey
Finally, my blog. I also have a special ebook for subscribers!
http://www.lanebailey.info/

My stories (so far) have been adventure/thriller/crime stories with a dash of romance dropped in to add a little flavor.
And I LOVE feedback.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completely enjoyed this story. The best part was the character development. Great stories coming out of this author.