Lawson and Jill
A Night Storm Legacy Novel, Book One
Caitlyn O’Leary
Contents
Introduction
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
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Caitlyn O’Leary
© Copyright 2020 Caitlyn O’Leary
All rights reserved.
All cover art and logo © Copyright 2020
By Passionately Kind Publishing Inc.
Cover by Lori Jackson Design
Edited by Rebecca Hodgkins
Content Edited by Trenda Lundin
Technical Advice by Larry Conway
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2020 has been a year of change and loss. I want to dedicate this book to three souls who died before their time.
My mother-in-law, a gracious and kind lady, with a smile that could light up a room and a heart as big as Texas. She welcomed me as a true daughter and was the best mother any son could hope for; Mary Pat Peters.
Paul Dunkley, a family man who was my husband’s best friend at the high school he attended. His sense of humor, fun and loyalty was like no other.
To Garrett Lai, one of the greatest men it has been my privilege to know. He gave my husband a leg up and mentored him early in his career, and it was invaluable. He became a great friend to our family. His intelligence and wisdom knew no bounds.
All three of these people have left holes in John and my hearts this year. May they be smiling down on us and entertaining the angels with their unique personalities.
Introduction
Can Love Heal Heartbreak?
Sick and tired of being sick and tired, Lawson Thorne knows he needs help, but it’s difficult for a Marine Raider to admit. But seeing someone you love, someone so strong, break? Makes a man think hard about walking a different path.
Jill Keiler knows heartache, up close and personal. She has closed in on herself, and she doesn’t know how to open up anymore. When she sees Law, she immediately knows he’s a kindred spirit.
Can two people who have been through the fire find solace in one another’s arms? Perhaps even find laughter again? But if they are lucky enough to find the other half of their soul, will one madman slaughter their dreams?
Chapter 1
Lawson Thorne hit the key fob on his large white pick-up truck and locked it. It was new, so he’d parked it well away from the rest of the cars in the parking lot. It’d been easy since it was a late afternoon on Thursday and only people like him were here at the rec center.
He didn’t want to be here, or maybe he did.
Fuck, I don’t know, and doesn’t that just prove I have a problem?
Sighing, he trudged up the long set of steps that led to the entrance of what was once a high school in the nineteen-forties. The place had seen better days.
The mustard-green linoleum seemed to go on forever as he wandered the halls looking for his assigned room. As he turned what he hoped would be the final corner, he damn near stepped on a little kid who was looking over his shoulder as he was clearly trying to make his escape. God knew from where.
“You’re going to be captured by the enemy if you don’t look where you’re going,” Law said as he let the kid run into him.
The boy looked at Law’s belly. Then his eyes made the long crawl upwards until he met Lawson’s eyes. “How tall are you?” the kid asked.
“Over six feet. How old are you?”
“Seven and three quarters. My birthday is in November.”
For the first time in days, Law felt the corner of his mouth tic up in a smile. He remembered when it was important to sound older. Wiser. More important.
“So where are you running to?”
The boy let out a long-suffering sigh. “I haven’t figured that part out yet. I just don’t want to go back to the arts class. It’s lame.”
Lawson steered the kid over to a wide set of stairs and sat down next to him on the lowest step. “Is it really that bad?”
“It wasn’t bad until everyone ruined it. First, we were going to make beehives out of bubble wrap. We had to shape it like a hive and paint it. It was going to be cool until Damien popped all the bubbles.”
“So that’s why you want to leave?”
A frown formed on his angular little face. “Nah. If it was just that, I woulda stayed. But Marty started eating the broccoli on the other artwork and ruined that one, too.”
“Little man, I understood about the bubble wrap, but how was broccoli art?”
“We was making trees and gluing ‘em inside of shoeboxes to make a forest. Marty likes broccoli and glue, so he ate a lot. I was hoping he’d get sick and stop, but he didn’t. So, Angela just poured glitter all
