A Thousand Sunsets (Band of Sisters) Read online

  A Thousand Sunsets

  A Band of Sisters novel

  Also by Marianne Rice

  A Well Paired Novel

  At First Blush

  Where There's Hope

  What Makes Us Stronger

  Here With You

  Finding Our Way Back

  Something More

  All of You

  A Wilton Hills Christmas

  Marshmallows & Mistletoe

  Cocoa & Carols

  Peppermints & Packages

  Band of Sisters

  Ten Million Fireflies

  A Thousand Sunsets (Coming Soon)

  Rocky Harbor

  Staying Grounded

  Strawberry Kisses

  Wounded Love

  Playful Hearts

  The McKay-Tucker Men

  False Start

  False Hope

  False Impressions

  The Wilde Sisters

  Sweet on You

  Then Came You

  Wilde for You

  Standalone

  Smoke & Pearls

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Also By Marianne Rice

  A Thousand Sunsets (Band of Sisters)

  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

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  THE END

  CHAPTER ONE

  Also By Marianne Rice

  About the Author

  By Marianne Rice

  © 2021 Marianne Rice

  Cover Artist: Wicked by Design

  Editor: Amy Briggs

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. 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 publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact Marianne Rice at www.mariannerice.com.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Owen McDougall had more work than he could handle—almost—but he’d feel terrible if he skipped out on the grand opening weekend of Camp Illumination. He had eight months of projects to complete in the next ninety days, but Brooke had been awesome to work for and he couldn’t very well turn down the invite to celebrate when he’d put hundreds of hours into the project. Somehow, he’d make up the lost hours of the day.

  He wasn’t sure how, since the Littlefields wouldn’t let him work Sundays, or past five o’clock. Jennifer Littlefield was still nursing their youngest and she and Will had three others under the age of six. Owen supposed they needed as much quiet time as possible around their homestead. But they also wanted their addition done.

  He tugged on his McDougall Construction baseball cap and snagged his keys from the kitchen counter. One quick glance about his fixer-upper and he moved swiftly to the front door and down the rickety front steps, leaping over the third one, which had rotted away last fall.

  Someday he’d actually get around to making the necessary repairs on his own place. The remodeling would have to wait until... well, probably not until after Livy was in college, or at least able to drive herself places.

  Which wouldn’t be for at least another six years. Eight years until she graduated from high school. By then Owen would be forty-two. Not exactly too old to settle down, but old enough to know he’d lost his younger years to taking care of his parents’ mistakes.

  Not that Olivia was a mistake. She was the sweetest, purest thing in his life. Which was why he worked his ass off to keep her safe. To keep her away from their father and to make up for their mother’s neglect.

  When he’d mentioned the grand opening of Camp Illumination last month, her big brown eyes widened in excitement. The poor thing didn’t have much going for her other than a grumpy older brother. A brother old enough to be her father.

  If his mother hadn’t needed Livy so much in her life, he would have taken his sister to live with him long ago. But he couldn’t take her only daughter away from her.

  Owen climbed behind the wheel of his truck and started the engine, then made his way into town to pick up his sister at the Black Fly Diner.

  Besides Livy, the diner was all his mom had to look forward to. It wasn’t the life she’d wanted for herself. Owen knew that and didn’t blame her for her mistakes. It was Roger, the root of all evil...

  Not wanting to sour his mood, he rolled his shoulders until they cracked, and changed the station to the annoying pop music his sister loved. A few minutes later, he pulled into the diner’s lot and shut off the engine.

  The lot was fairly empty for ten in the morning. The early breakfast-goers were already home and the lunch crew hadn’t come out yet. With so few dining options in this neck of the woods, his mother did okay there. She’d never make enough to afford an exotic vacation or have a luxury vehicle, but the diner kept her busy, paid the bills, kept food on the table, and clothes on Livy’s back.

  Barely. What his mother didn’t cover, he took care of.

  While shopping was right up there with poking his eye with a dull knife, he still took his kid sis out in August before school started and splurged on her at Christmas and on her birthday in June. It was the least he could do for the cutest little nugget who put him way up on high on a pedestal.

  The bell above the door rang as he stepped inside the diner.

  “Owen!” Livy spun around on the stool at the counter and dashed across the scarred and stained linoleum floor, plowing into him and hugging him tight as if he’d been off at war for the past two years.

  “Hey, peanut.” He hugged her back. The celebrity-like greeting wouldn’t ever get old. He wasn’t an overly affectionate person until Olivia came into his life. Before then, for twenty-two years, he was the asshole son who put as much distance between himself and his parents as he could.

  He’d hated his father more than the devil and was too young and self-absorbed to care what had been happening to his mother. And then when his little sister was born, she changed his world. Made him straighten his ways and focus on what was important.

  His sole purpose in life had been to keep her safe.

  “Can we go now? I helped Mom with the morning dishes and mopped the bathroom floors. She said I could leave as soon as you got here.”

  “Excited much?” He tugged her ponytail and kissed the top of her head. “Let me say hi to Mom first. I’ll be right back.”

  Ignoring Livy’s pout, he rounded the counter and stepped through the swinging doors to the kitchen. He found his mother at the sink, elbow deep in suds.

  “Livy said she did the dishes.”

  “Owen.” His mother’s smile and greeting were much like his sister’s. No matter how many mistakes his mom had made and kept on making, he was a sucker for her smile. It didn’t happen often,
even less as the years went on, so when she did grace him a welcoming greeting, he held on to it. Tight.

  “Olivia’s been talking my ear off all morning about this camp. Are any of her friends going to be there?”

  He didn’t point out that as her mother, she should know the answer to those kinds of questions, not him. Or the reason she didn’t have many friends was because she was forced to grow up too fast.

  “The point of these camps is to make new friends, so it’s okay if she doesn’t. Besides, today is just the grand opening. Mostly friends and families and the workers who’ve been a part of the project.”

  His mother knew this, too, but in her typical nature, didn’t remember, or listen, or care. The self-absorption trait he’d picked up early in life had been inherited from both his parents.

  “We had a good crowd this morning. Must be the maple bread. Everyone loves when I make it the breakfast special. Today’s lunch special is chop suey. Folks loves that too.”

  He let his mom ramble on about her menu before cutting her off.

  “I’m sure all your customers will leave with full bellies. Listen, Livy and I need to get going or we’ll be late for the ribbon cutting.” He leaned down and gave his mother an awkward hug. They hadn’t been huggers until after Livy was born.

  She brought them together, made them a small, happy family of three. At least they had been happy. For the past few years, he started noticing gradual changes. Fewer hugs. More complaining. Less involvement with Livy.

  Nellie McDougall hadn’t aged well, but not many would given her situation. She was too skinny for someone who lived in a kitchen.

  “It’s about time,” Livy said with as much drama as he’d expect a ten-year-old to make who had been waiting for an entire five minutes.

  He could do the drama too. “Sorry to keep the princess waiting.” Bowing before her, he lowered his head and gracefully extended his arms to the door.

  “Weirdo.” She giggled.

  Hiding his smirk, he stood and held the door open for her. “Your chariot awaits.”

  The drive to the camp was less than thirty minutes, but Livy acted like they were driving across country.

  “Are we going to be late?”

  “Since when did you care about punctuality?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged and stared out the window.

  He’d never seen her so excited about anything before. Not even Christmas or her birthday. The question from his mom about her friends rang in his ears. Now that he thought about it, he’d never heard Liv talk about any friends. She’d tell him stories about things at school, but no names of friends ever come up.

  For her birthday, he always brought her out to eat. They’d gorge on ice cream, go bowling or to the movies. Not once had he asked her if she wanted to bring a friend, or even have a party. He was a guy. A guy who didn’t think about such things. Was it normal for a ten-year-old not to want a party?

  He could ask his co-workers or his friends from the gym, but most of them were as single as he was or married without kids. And even then, he wasn’t sure if he’d call them his friends.

  Owen considered himself easy to get along with. His crew was decent. They got along well, even went out for drinks from time to time. But he kept his private life private. They knew he had a much younger sister but didn’t know he practically co-parented her.

  And what a terrible job he was doing. He needed to talk to a girl about it. To a woman. But they were few and far between in his life as well. If he wasn’t working on a Saturday night or a Sunday afternoon, he had Livy.

  They either hung out at his house, ran errands, or did something fun. She seemed to enjoy hanging out with him if her greeting was any indication.

  Maybe Brooke could give him some advice. She was about the same age as him, but she didn’t have kids either. Still, she was a woman, and she worked in a school. On top of that, she was opening the summer camp. She had to know something about kids. Maybe she’d know how to help Livy find friends.

  He’d formed a decent friendship with Brooke and respected her new husband, Drew. They didn’t talk much, both buried in work. Drew wrote books. Owen built stuff. Not a lot of common interests. Brooke was fun to work for. Or rather, with. The former Army sergeant was insistent on putting in as much sweat and muscle into renovating the camp as he and his crew.

  At first the project hadn’t been too complicated. Fix up the abandoned camp so it was suitable for campers by the following summer. The cabins needed new doors, and a few needed new windows. The mess hall some updating. Nothing he and his crew couldn’t handle.

  When he’d heard about the project and the idea behind it—a camp for kids with different needs, whether it be health, emotional, or physical issues—he couldn’t say no. Somehow, he managed to work on the camp, keep up with all his other projects, help support his mother, and still find time to care for Livy.

  The kitchen remodel in the lodge was ninety-nine percent complete when a local thug set the place on fire. It had been devastating. More so to Brooke, obviously, especially once they’d learned it had been arson. Thankfully the guy had been caught and they were able to rebuild before the first snowfall.

  It was one thing after another which never gave Owen time to work on his own house or for his personal life. Even though Owen had a line of projects ahead of him, he couldn’t very well turn his back on the grand opening. Especially when his little sister had been excited to visit.

  He turned down the dirt road leading to the camp and Livy stirred in her seat. “Are we almost there?”

  “Couple miles.” Had he known she was going to be so excited to come he would have brought her out months ago.

  A row of cars and trucks lined the dirt road. Assuming the lot at the camp was full, he pulled up behind the last car and parked.

  Before he had the ignition off, she’d jumped out and was waiting by his door. Hiding his smile, he slid out of the truck and pocketed his keys.

  “I’ll introduce you to Brooke. She runs the camp. Her friend Gina has a lot of arts and crafts planned for today, or you can do some of the outside activities with Brooke, or we can walk around. We can stay as long as you want, okay?”

  “Sure.” Livy’s ponytail swung as she skipped by his side. She wore the jeans with the flowers on the back pockets he gave her for Christmas and a cute shirt with sparkles on it he’d found at the store at the mall she loved so much.

  It was tailored for girls her age and she loved every item in the store, so it made mall shopping a little less painful. More like a rubber spatula to the eye. Down only a notch or two.

  There had to be over a hundred people milling around the grounds. Adults and kids. He scanned the area first for any girls Livy’s age he could pair her up with. Most were already playing in the field or trying their hand at tennis.

  He spotted Brooke and waved. Her face lit up when she spotted them. Patting the shoulder of the person she was talking to, she said a few more words then jogged over to them.

  “You must be Olivia.” Brooke held out her hand and Livy shook it. “But I’m confused. Your brother said you were ten. You look way closer to sixteen.”

  Her compliment elicited a giggle from Livy. Good, maybe Brooke would be the one to help him with some parenting advice.

  “I’ll be eleven on June eleventh.”

  Brooke gasped and crushed both hands to her chest. “No. Way! Eleven on the eleventh! That means you’re in store for the most epic birthday party ever. You only turn eleven on the eleventh once.”

  Owen cringed. So maybe Brooke was the wrong person to talk to after all. Unless she was planning this epic party.

  “Not helping,” he muttered loud enough for only Brooke to hear.

  She grinned and took Livy’s hand. “I’ll show you around while your brother snoops at the cabins to make sure they’re holding up.”

  It hadn’t been his plan, but he appreciated Brooke taking charge here.

  He kept his private li
fe away from his work life, but with this job being about kids, he’d finally caved and told Brooke about his much younger sister. Not a lot. No specific details. He’d asked if he could bring her to the opening day celebrations and didn’t elaborate. Brooke being Brooke had a barrage of questions and had scolded him for not bringing her out earlier.

  Spotting Drew over by the horseshoes, he crossed the field to join the one other adult he knew there.

  Maybe when Livy made some friends, she could teach him how to find some of his own as well.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Even though Charlie didn’t technically need her culinary degree to be the head cook for the camp, it still pleased her to see the frame hanging above the farm-style sink in the lodge. Brooke had surprised her with it and said once Charlie aced her final, her they’d slip her degree under the glass so the campers on kitchen duty could see the efforts of her hard work.

  Finding true love had turned her tomboy best friend into a sentimental girl. Not that Charlie had a problem with sentiment. Of the four of them, Brooke was definitely the roughest around the edges, with Charlie coming in at a close second.

  Skye had a heart of gold and a body of a supermodel, which could have made her the annoying one of the group but it only added to her charm. They all knew Skye was aware of how gorgeous she was, but she’d roll her eyes and crack jokes about the rest of them, blowing off their compliments.

  And then there was Gina Fisher. She was known as Fish when she was a badass soldier. Since she was still dealing with PTSD, they called her by her birth name instead of the military nickname. It wasn’t the roadside bomb and the burns on half her body that had softened her, she’d always been the quiet, sweet one of the group. She cared more about everyone else and put herself last.

  She was sort of the opposite of Charlie, which made them pretty tight. The whole “opposites attract” gig. Not that she wasn’t close with Brooke, they were, but they were a lot alike. Maybe too much at times. It hadn’t ever been a problem or ever lead to major arguments.