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Last Summer: A Novel
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PRAISE FOR KERRY LONSDALE
Everything We Keep
A Top Amazon Bestseller of 2016 and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
Amazon Charts Bestseller
Liz & Lisa Best Book of the Month Selection
POPSUGAR and Redbook Fall Must-Read Selection
“This fantastic debut is glowing with adrenaline-inducing suspense and unexpected twists. Don’t make other plans when you open up Everything We Keep; you will devour it in one sitting.”
—Redbook magazine
“Aimee’s electrifying journey to piece together the puzzle of mystery surrounding her fiancé’s disappearance is a heart-pounding reading experience every hopeless romantic and shock-loving fiction-lover should treat themselves to.”
—POPSUGAR
“You’ll need an ample supply of tissues and emotional strength for this one . . . From Northern California author Kerry Lonsdale comes a heart-wrenching story about fate sweeping away life in an instant.”
—Sunset magazine
“Gushing with adrenaline-inducing plot, this is the phenomenally written debut every fall reader will be swooning over.”
—Coastal Living
“A beautifully crafted novel about unconditional love, heartbreak, and letting go, Everything We Keep captures readers with its one-of-a-kind, suspenseful plot. Depicting grief and loss, but also healing and hope in their rawest forms, this novel will capture hearts and minds, keeping readers up all night, desperate to learn the truth.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A perfect page-turner for summer.”
—Catherine McKenzie, bestselling author of Hidden and Fractured
“Heartfelt and suspenseful, Everything We Keep beautifully navigates the deep waters of grief, and one woman’s search to reconcile a past she can’t release, and a future she wants to embrace. Lonsdale’s writing is crisp and effortless and utterly irresistible—and her expertly layered exploration of the journey from loss to renewal is sure to make this a book club must-read. Everything We Keep drew me in from the first page and held me fast all the way to its deeply satisfying ending.”
—Erika Marks, author of The Last Treasure
“In Everything We Keep, Kerry Lonsdale brilliantly explores the grief of loss, if we can really let go of our great loves, and if some secrets are better left buried. With a good dose of drama, a heart-wrenching love story, and the suspense of unanswered questions, Lonsdale’s layered and engrossing debut is a captivating read.”
—Karma Brown, bestselling author of Come Away with Me
“A stunning debut with a memorable twist, Everything We Keep effortlessly layers family secrets into a suspenseful story of grief, love, and art. This is a gem of a book.”
—Barbara Claypole White, bestselling author of The Perfect Son and The Promise Between Us
“Everything We Keep takes your breath from the very first line and keeps it through a heart-reeling number of twists and turns. Well-plotted, with wonderful writing and pacing, on the surface it appears to be a story of love and loss, but just as you begin to think you’ve worked it out, you’re blindsided and realize you haven’t. It will keep you reading and guessing, and trust me, you still won’t have it figured out. Not until the very end.”
—Barbara Taylor Sissel, bestselling author of The Truth We Bury and What Lies Below
“Wow—it’s been a long time since I ignored all of my responsibilities and read a book straight through, but it couldn’t be helped with Everything We Keep. I was intrigued from the start . . . So many questions, and Lonsdale answers them in the most intriguing and captivating way possible.”
—Camille Di Maio, author of The Memory of Us
All the Breaking Waves
An Amazon Best Book of the Month: Literature & Fiction Category
Liz & Lisa Best Book of the Month Selection
“Blending elements of magic and mystery, All the Breaking Waves is a compelling portrayal of one mother’s journey as she grapples with her small daughter’s horrific visions that force her to confront a haunting secret from her past. Examining issues of love, loss, and the often-fragile ground of relationships and forgiveness, this tenderly told story will have you turning the pages long past midnight.”
—Barbara Taylor Sissel, bestselling author of The Truth We Bury and What Lies Below
“With a touch of the paranormal, All the Breaking Waves is an emotional story about lost love, family secrets, and finding beauty in things people fear . . . or simply discard. A perfect book club pick!”
—Barbara Claypole White, bestselling author of The Perfect Son and The Promise Between Us
“A masterful tale of magic realism and family saga. With its heartfelt characters, relationships generational and maternal, and a long-ago romance, we are drawn into Molly’s world. While her intuitive gifts may be ethereal, her fears and hopes for her daughter and personal desires are extraordinarily relatable. Woven with a thread of pure magic, Lonsdale crafts an intriguing story of love, mystery, and family loyalty that will captivate and entertain readers.”
—Laura Spinella, bestselling author of Ghost Gifts
Everything We Left Behind
Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal Bestseller
Amazon Editors’ Recommended Beach Read
Liz & Lisa Best Book of the Month Selection
“In this suspenseful sequel to Everything We Keep . . . readers will be captivated as the truth unravels, hanging on every word.”
—RT Book Reviews
“A stunning fusion of suspense, family drama, and redemption, Everything We Left Behind will hold the reader spellbound to the last sentence.”
—A. J. Banner, bestselling author of The Twilight Wife and The Good Neighbor
“Love, loss, and secrets drive Kerry Lonsdale’s twisty follow-up to the bestselling Everything We Keep. Everything We Left Behind is an enthralling and entertaining read. You’ll be turning the pages as fast as you can to see how it ends.”
—Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, authors of The Good Widow
“While Everything We Left Behind, the long-anticipated sequel to Everything We Keep, is page-turning and suspenseful, at its center it is the story of a man struggling to discover the truth of his own identity. A man who is determined above all else to protect his family, a man who is willing to risk everything to find out the truth and to ultimately uncover the secrets of his own heart. For everyone who has read Everything We Keep (if you haven’t go do that now!), this is your novel, answering every question, tying up every thread to an oh-so-satisfying conclusion.”
—Barbara Taylor Sissel, bestselling author of The Truth We Bury and What Lies Below
“With one smart, unexpected twist after another, this page-turner is as surprising as it is emotionally insightful. Everything We Left Behind showcases Kerry Lonsdale at the top of her game.”
—Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences
“Told through a unique perspective, Everything We Left Behind is a compelling story about one man’s journey to find himself in the wake of trauma, dark secrets, and loss. As past and present merge, he struggles to confront fear and find trust, but two constants remain: his love for his young sons and his need to protect them from danger. This novel has everything—romance, suspense, mystery, family drama. What a page-turner!”
—Barbara Claypole White, bestselling author of The Perfect Son and The Promise Between Us
Everything We Give
Wall Street Journal Bestseller
“Fans will not be disappointed in this stunning conclusion to the Everything Series. With Lonsdale’s signature twists and turns, nothing is a given until the last, satisfying page. I cried, I bit m
y nails, and I lost myself in images of wild horses galloping across rural Spain as I journeyed through Ian’s past and present. A page-turner about the devastating impact of mental illness and dark secrets on a family, Everything We Give is also a story filled with the enduring power of love.”
—Barbara Claypole White, bestselling author of The Perfect Son and The Promise Between Us
“Kerry Lonsdale gives everything away in this final book in the Everything Series, Everything We Give. Questions involving an enigmatic woman, the mystery of her name and her identity, and her connection to Ian kick off what is a fast-paced and sensual story of suspense. Like Everything We Keep and Everything We Left Behind, books one and two in this delectable and layered series, Everything We Give is the frosting on the cake, delivering more than one surprise and a total knockout punch of an ending.”
—Barbara Taylor Sissel, bestselling author of The Truth We Bury and What Lies Below
“Kerry Lonsdale brings the conclusion to the Everything Series to a magnificent ending. Ian’s journey through past and present is a trip to remember. A fast-paced thriller with romance and intrigue. Bravo Kerry!”
—Kaira Rouda, bestselling author of Best Day Ever
“Everything We Give is a satisfying conclusion to this series, which began with a funeral when there should have been a wedding and ends with the final fallout from the mysterious woman who warned the almost-widow that all was not as it seemed. Lonsdale has woven together a tapestry of characters—Aimee, Ian, James—whose lives are intertwined in ways even they don’t entirely know. [It’s] both a romance and a mystery, [and] readers will turn these engrossing pages quickly to find out what their final fates would be. Fans of this series will not be disappointed.”
—Catherine McKenzie, bestselling author of Fractured and The Good Liar
ALSO BY KERRY LONSDALE
THE EVERYTHING SERIES
Everything We Keep
Everything We Left Behind
Everything We Give
STAND-ALONE
All the Breaking Waves
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2019 by Kerry Lonsdale Inc.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Lake Union Publishing, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Lake Union Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781542093088
ISBN-10: 1542093082
Cover design by Rex Bonomelli
First edition
For Evan, my favorite skier: may the snow always be plentiful, the air crisp, and the mountain yours.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
EPILOGUE
Coming Summer 2020
AUTHOR NOTE
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PROLOGUE
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT
August 18, 2018
Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Interviewer: Ella Skye, Senior Features Writer, Luxe Avenue magazine
Interviewee: Amira Silvers, Academy Award–winning Actress
[Continuation of Recording]
Amira: My mother always preached that the more bite marks on your tongue, the happier your marriage.
Ella: What did she mean by that?
Amira: Marital success isn’t measured by what you share with your spouse. It’s what you don’t. Are you married, Ella?
Ella: Yes. For three years.
Amira: What’s your husband’s name?
Ella: Damien Russell.
Amira: That’s right. Isn’t he that rich tech entrepreneur who built a company to compete directly with his father’s? I thought I read that somewhere.
Ella: I wouldn’t exactly put it that way.
Amira: Hmm. Are you happy?
Ella: With Damien? Very much.
Amira: Then take my advice. Hold your tongue. You won’t end up like me.
Ella: You recently divorced. It was all over the tabloids but you haven’t talked to anyone until now. What happened?
Amira: I learned that my mother was right. Funny how that happens. I said too much to Harry, simple as that.
Ella: Care to elaborate?
[Pause]
Ella: I know this must be difficult for you to talk about, but—
Amira: No, I wouldn’t have asked you here if I didn’t want to tell you.
Ella: Take your time.
[Pause]
Amira: I was fourteen when my stepfather sold me to pay off his debts to his drug dealer. I spent six months in forced prostitution until the authorities raided the house where they kept me and six other girls locked up.
Ella: Jesus.
Amira: The day I turned eighteen, I left home and never looked back. I legally changed my name and buried my past. I told no one about what I’d gone through until the day I told Harry.
Ella: How long had you been married?
Amira: Five years.
Ella: Why did you tell him?
Amira: Guilt. I hated keeping secrets from him.
Ella: How did Harry react?
Amira: Oh, he was sympathetic until he started to change.
Ella: How so?
Amira: It was subtle at first. He’d tense when I’d hug him. Then he stopped initiating sex, and eventually the sex just stopped. He could barely look at me when he served the divorce papers. He claimed that when he closed his eyes and kissed me, all he could see were the dozens of faceless men who had had their hands on me.
Ella: What an asshole. [Pause] Sorry, that was uncalled for.
Amira: You’re right. He’s an asshole. And shame on me, I still love the fucker. I want to forget . . .
[Pause]
Ella: What do you want to forget?
[Pause]
Ella: Are you all right?
Amira: [Crying] Yes . . . I mean, no.
Ella: Do you need a moment? [Pause] No? All right, then, can you tell me what it is you want to forget?
Amira: Everything. What happened to me and what I told Harry. I want to forget that I love the asshole, and I want to forget him. I know how to do it, too.
Ella: You what?
[Pause]
Amira: Turn that thing off.
[End Recording]
CHAPTER 1
November 2018
“Ella.”
A soft murmur comes from somewhere beyond her dreams. Her name.
“Ella.”
Another whisper.
Damien.
Biting tongues and keeping secrets.
“Ella, sweetheart. Wake up.”
Her eyes flutter open. She looks up into her husband’s blue-grays, the whites of his eyes bloodshot. Her heart goes out to him. He must be working late nights again. She tries to recall which client is giving him difficulty: the new commercial bank in Atlanta or the social media company based in London touting itself as the Facebook for the iGen? But she doesn’t know. Her mind is blurry, a camera lens that can’t focus.
Damien leans over her. Dark whiskers dust his jaw. Locks just as dark sweep back from his forehead. He’s been running his fingers through the thick mass. He does that when he’s stressed. And worried. He’s definitely worried. Why? And why are his jeans rumpled and shirt crinkled? That’s not like him. He looks like he hasn’t showered in days.
With a quick glance over his shoulder, he shoots her a conspiratorial smile, a flash of straight teeth. He drops a white bakery bag on a food cart. “I got you an omelet, as promised.”
When did he promise that?
And where did that food cart come from?
Ella looks past her husband’s looming form and her heart stalls. Stark walls surround them in a box-shaped room. Lysol and antiseptic cling to the air. The drone of unfamiliar voices penetrates the closed door. A door she doesn’t recognize.
This isn’t their bedroom.
Ella inhales harshly through her nose, the chemical smell burning the back of her throat. Her chest rapidly rises and falls as her gaze bounces around the hospital room. How did she get here? Why is she here? And why is Damien acting as if waking her up here isn’t surprising? Doesn’t he realize where they are?
Damien removes a cardboard take-out container with a Luna’s Café sticker from the bag. Luna’s is their favorite café around the corner from their Russian Hill flat. They eat there most Saturdays. Ella frowns. What day is it?
Saturday. She’s sure of it, because last night was Friday. She cooked Damien dinner.
Damien opens the box, bending back the flaps. Steam rises, carrying the scent of cooked onions and bell peppers. Ella’s stomach turns over. He positions the food tray over the bed. Ella instinctively recoils, scooting out of the way. Jagged pain tears through her lower abdomen. Her left wrist throbs from putting pressure on it. She gasps, a sharp, audible intake of air.
Last Summer: A Novel
Everything We Give_A Novel