The Ties That Bind 1
Copyright © June 2017 by D. A. Young
Cover Art by T. E. Black Designs
Interior Formatting by Champagne Book Design
Editing by Little Pear Editing Services
Proofing by Ideality Consulting
NO PART OF THIS BOOK MAY BE COMMUNICATED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL. THIS INCLUDES PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR BY ANY INFORMATION STORAGE OR RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT THE WRITTEN USE OF THE AUTHOR’S CONSENT.
This book is a work of fiction and intended for mature audiences aged 18+ only.
All names, characters, places, businesses and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and have been used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales or events is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Author’s Letter
Books by D. A. Young
The Ties That Bind Book One Playlist
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
About the Author
Hello,
Welcome to The Ties That Bind Series!
Going in, you should know that this trilogy is much darker than any of my other work. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever written so, please make sure you read the disclaimers. You’ve now been officially warned. We’re starting fresh with a cast of brand new characters, and I can’t wait to see where this adventure take us with this unlikely couple that falls HARD for each other and their supporting cast. The Ties That Bind will be written in three installments that starts in the past and leads us to the present. The reason I decided to create this series in this format is because there was no way I was going to be able to get away with a flashback here and there. These characters had plenty to say and rightfully deserve their time in the spotlight.
Happy Reading!
To my readers—thank you always for your continued support.
To Champagne Book Design, T.E. Black Designs, Little Pear Editing, & Ideality Consulting—thank you so much for making the adventure and its packaging come together seamlessly! For always going above and beyond, doing more and understanding my vision.
Sincerely,
D. A. Young
WHISKEY ROW SERIES
SWEET OBSESSION
NEW BEGINNINGS
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
PERFECTLY IMPERFECT
NO GREATER LOVE
ALL WE EVER NEEDED
BAYMOOR SERIES
THE FARMER & THE BELLE
LOST & FOUND
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS NOVELLA SERIES
SECOND CHANCES
FOREVER YOURS
THE TIES THAT BIND SERIES
BOOK ONE
BOOK TWO
BAXTER PARK
WINNER TAKES ALL (A KISMET COVE COLLABORATION)
Interested in what I’m doing next?
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And/or my blog
Renegades—X Ambassadors
Would I Lie To You—Eurythmics
Keep Ya Head Up—2Pac
Heavy—Linkin Park ft. Kiiara
Dreamlover—Mariah Carey
Streets of Philadelphia—Bruce Springsteen
Heaven Help Me—Deon Estus
Under The Bridge—Red Hot Chili Peppers
I’ll Be There—Mariah Carey ft. Trey Lorenz
Wonderful Tonight—Eric Clapton
Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover—Sophie B. Hawkins
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted—Jimmy Ruffin
Don’t Walk Away—Jade
Survivor—Destiny’s Child
Time After Time—Cyndi Lauper
Wild Night—John Mellencamp & Meshell Ndgeocello
Everybody Plays the Fool—Aaron Neville
Some Nights—Fun
Animals—Maroon 5
You Remind Me—Mary J. Blige
Stay—Eternal
Big Girls Don’t Cry—Fergie
1994
Los Angeles, California
“Come away from the window and sit with me, Billy.”
Although this was now their reality, Willamina Stanton, or “Billy”, as she was called by her friends and family, was still unused to her mother, Melody Lashay’s new voice. Gone was the smooth, dulcet tone that read her bedtime stories and offered the best advice. In its place were thready whispers that turned into croaks if Melody overexerted herself.
“It looks like it’s going to rain. Even though it’s only two in the afternoon, the sky is really dark. And tomorrow is prom! What if it rains?! My hair is going to turn into a gigantic ball of frizz! I knew I should have gotten my hair braided!”
“Billy—”
“I’ll be right there, Mom. I’m just making sure that Effie picks up her dog’s business from our yard,” Billy replied, referencing their neighbor across the street and willing her tears not to fall.
She didn’t want to increase her mother’s discomfort nor deplete what little energy Melody had left by having to comfort her daughter. This really sucked because since discovering her mother was ill, Billy was barely managing to keep it together in front of her mother. Considering her brain was constantly buzzing with suffocating fear, the task was no easy feat. Only when she was certain that she was alone did she break down. Late at night, in bed, with the pillow over her face. The girl’s locker room at school. In the car. The bathroom. While showering. The dressing room at Macy’s as she shopped for her high school graduation outfit.
Trying to swallow the lump in her throat, Billy waspishly added, “I don’t even know why she had to go and get a dog that big anyway! Her bungalow is only a thousand square feet, yet, she goes and buys a Great Dane to take up all of it! And the name? Cuddles. Really?”
“Billy—”
“You can’t name a beast of that size Cuddles! You think the other dogs in the neighborhood are going to respect him once they find out his name? Effie should have given him some street cred and named him ‘Killer’ or ‘Avenger’! Something that he can hold his head up high with dignity and—”
“Willamina, enough!”
The rambling words shriveled up in Billy’s throat. Immediately, guilt dropped like five-hundred-pound anvils on her shoulders as Melody wheezed and gasped uncontrollably. She raced from the window to comfort her mother who was struggling to regain her composure.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just…” Billy trailed off helplessly, her stomach heaving and thrashing with despair. That was nothing new. It was the constant state she lived in since receiving the petrifying news. She didn’t want to admit that she was still in denial over the reality of what would soon follow. They both knew they were on borrowed time.
Melody Lashay Stanton was dying.
Her mother, and idol, was perishing, and there wasn’t a damn thing Billy, Melody’s personal physician or her specialists could do to prevent it. It was unfathomable for Billy to reconcile that her kindhearted, beautiful mother, with her larger than life personality, would soon be gone. God was calling her home at only thirty-six years of age.
Melody patted her hand weakly; her touch was paper thin, almost nonexistent. Billy gently curled her fingers around her mother’s fragile fingers and settled into the
oversized recliner next to the bed. The chair also doubled as her bed ever since she’d brought Melody home from the hospital two weeks ago. Junie, the in-home nurse, stayed in Billy’s room. Melody had insisted that when she passed, it wouldn’t be in a strange place. She wanted to be surrounded by love in the home that she’d created with her daughter.
And she was.
Against her doctor’s wishes, Melody came home and the love poured in. The celebrities and designers she’d worked with throughout her career as a stylist visited and sent flowers, necessities, and food. One Italian design house was particularly fond of Melody, and the oldest son hired a cleaning service for the Stantons. Their friends in the neighborhood also pitched in to help. They sat with Melody while Billy finished the last month of her senior year of high school. The Lees maintained their landscaping, and Mrs. Manchia, recently retired from teaching, insisted on making meals for them. Effie, a former adult-film actress, entertained Melody, regaling her with stories of the good-old-days and partying with Heff at the Playboy mansion.
All of their efforts were a reflection of the kind of person Melody was. Her generous and selfless nature inspired the best in everyone she encountered. Billy was grateful for them and their outpouring of love and sympathy. However, their lives wouldn’t be impacted daily by Billy’s loss. They would never be able to feel this wound as deeply as she did.
“I know, baby, but it’ll be here before you know it, so get used to it! You have to, my love,” she added to soften the blow that caused Billy’s tears to roll down her face. “I’ve done all that I could to prepare you for that moment.”
“You think I don’t know that?!” Billy sobbed hoarsely, unsuccessfully attempting to turn the waterworks off. “I know that you have! Sorry, Mom. You’re just going to have to forgive me for being selfish and not wanting you to go. You preparing me doesn’t make a difference. I’m not ready. I wouldn’t be ready twenty years from now either! How can you ask me to live when I’m literally watching my life slip away in front of me?!”
“Your life is just beginning, baby,” Melody corrected, attempting to keep her voice firm, but Billy’s heartache was also hers. To see her daughter in so much agony and knowing she was the cause of it, debilitated her more than this fucking disease ever could. When she got to heaven, she knew that the first thing she’d do was thank God for blessing her with a daughter like Willamina. Not that she hadn’t done it a bazillion times already. Her baby girl was the love of her life. Although she was young when she had her, Melody didn’t regret a single moment they’d shared together.
“You have so many adventures ahead, you’ll be too busy to be sad, let alone think of me.”
“Those drugs they gave you must be grade-A quality if you believe that. How can you even say something like that?! My entire life revolves around you!” Billy rebutted fiercely.
Life was a two-faced bitch for real, Melody thought bitterly while mustering up an encouraging smile for her daughter. It cheesed up in her face and showered her with blessings, tricking her into a false sense of security, all the while plotting Melody’s demise behind her back. She wouldn’t get to see Billy graduate from college. Hell, she was trying to hang on for her upcoming high school graduation. She wouldn’t see her only child get married. Or hold grandbabies that hopefully looked and were as sweet as her own baby. At least Billy would have memories of the time they’d spent together. Moving in and painting this home. Melody taking her daughter with her to night school as she completed college. Vacationing in Hawaii and most recently, last summer’s cross-country road trip from L. A. to New York City, right before her diagnosis.
Billy was her best friend. In earlier times, when Melody felt like giving up and was tired from working two jobs and going to school, Billy would always bring her dolls to her and put on a show. Then, her sweet girl would kiss her cheek and look at her with those big, trusting brown eyes and give her a pep talk.
“Don’t worry, Mommy. Everything’s going to be A-Okay.”
“Come here, love.”
Melody held her frail arms out to her daughter. Cautiously, Billy climbed onto the bed. Immediately, she was wrapped in her mother’s embrace. She laid her head against her mother’s chest and underneath her cheek was…bone. Chemo had claimed the long, black silky curls that Billy used to bury her face in and replaced it with peach fuzz underneath her silk scarf. Gone were the soft cleavage and the distinctive combination of Chloe perfume and lavender. All things familiar were now memories to treasure. Melody had wasted away to less than ninety pounds, but she didn’t seem to care that Billy might be crushing her and there was no place her little girl would rather be. They lie there, in that position, as the clouds hijacked the sky and darkened the room.
“I called your grandparents. They’ll be here tomorrow for a visit. Please keep an open mind and give them a chance, Billy. Don’t be biased because of my relationship with them. They mean well.”
“If you say so. For you, I’ll try. Even if your dad keeps looking at me like I’m something he discovered under his shoe.”
“Pay him no mind. He always looks like that. I’m pretty sure he had that same expression on his face the first time he masturbated,” Melody assured Billy good-naturedly.
“Gross.”
“Totally inappropriate but it’ll help you in dealing with his standoffish behavior if you remember that. Now, let’s get to the important stuff. Everything in my closet now belongs to you.” Melody pressed her finger to Billy’s lips when she would have protested. “Sshh! Don’t even act like you haven’t been eyeing those vintage Pucci scarves hanging on the back wall.”
“Nope! Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Billy denied sleepily as she snuggled in closer to her universe.
“Uh-huh, sure you don’t. Keep everything! Most of its vintage or will become so in time. What doesn’t work for you might work for my grandbabies. You do plan to have children, don’t you?”
Billy’s face was hot with embarrassment. “Mom! That’s so far down the line; nobody’s even thinking about stuff like that.”
“Well, I should hope no one’s thinking about that! You’ve got way too much going on at the moment to let your head get turned around by some boy. The right one will understand that, Billy.”
The fondness in Melody’s tone indicated that she might have experienced such an interlude, making her only child curious as to when it had occurred. Melody lived and breathed her career. In addition to her busy schedule, she was also Billy’s biggest cheerleader, attending all her school events/activities so, she had little time for a social life. She dated occasionally, but none of it lasted, and she was completely fine with it. Melody belonged to Melody. She loved her freedom more than she could any man. It was an unspoken understanding between her and potential suitors. They rarely discussed Billy’s father. The only thing Melody was adamant about regarding him was that they’d been in love and she bore him no ill will.
“How will I know if he’s the right one?” Billy panicked at the thought of not being able to confide any of this to Melody when the time came. “What if he’s really a wolf disguised as a sheep?”
“Because your heart will tell you, silly girl! Just be smart about it and don’t forget to love yourself first and never stay if the love isn’t mutual or it takes him too long to figure out. You’re not a damn doormat for him to use and abuse! Please make sure you live your life on your terms—go to school, explore new places, experience different cultures—before the love thing happens, Billy. You come first. Otherwise, you’ll only resent each other, and everything will go to hell in a gasoline-drenched hand basket.”
“Are you speaking from personal experience?”
Melody swallowed back the rising tide of unspoken emotion. She was quiet for so long that Billy thought she’d fallen asleep and arose to check on her. Melody gave her a soft smile. “No child. Soap operas.”
They shared a laugh and Billy lay back down, urging her mother, “Tell me more.”<
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“What else do you want to know? I’ve told you everything.” Melody pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Are you ready for prom tomorrow? I can’t wait to see you in that dress!”
“I still can’t believe you’re letting me wear it!” Billy sighed dreamily over the creation that Melody had received as a gift from the infamous design house. “Vintage Valentino! I’m taking it to my room tonight, just in case you change your mind.”
“Then it will be in good company with my raspberry Chloe blouse, Jordache jean shorts, and Ralph Lauren polos you swiped from my swag bags.”
“Sorry. Still not ringing any bells.”
“Why am I even bothering? It all belongs to you now anyway, sweet girl.” Melody ran her fingers over her daughter’s long, single French plait, thick eyebrows, and boldly flared cheekbones. Billy could have a successful career in modeling if she wanted. She was certainly striking enough. However, Billy’s passions resided in the theater and the arts. She hated being photographed. If Melody wanted a picture of her, she had to be sneakier than the devil to catch an unsuspecting Billy.
“My life is going to be unreal without you,” Billy sniffled pitifully. “I need more of you, Mommy…”
“I’ll always be with you.” Melody fell silent, listening to the distant rumble of thunder approaching. She was exhausted, and her eyes felt heavier than usual, yet, her limp arms hugged Billy closer. “You want more? Okay, here it is, kiddo. Be a badass. A complete and utter badass! Break the fucking rules and mold them to fit you, Willamina. Do what feels right and never apologize for how you feel. Own your shit. Travel as often as you can. Make memories out of moments…”
She talked nonstop and Billy clung to her every word. Melody could only pray that her arsenal of advice left an indelible mark for her precious daughter whenever she needed guidance. Billy listened intently, storing the pearls of wisdom in her heart and only interrupting Melody once.