Flashback: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (The Everyday Heroes World) Read online

  Flashback

  An Everyday Heroes World Novel

  Rhian Cahill

  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

  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

  Chapter 38

  Epilogue

  KB Worlds

  Newsletter signup

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Look for these titles by Rhian Cahill

  Also Written By K. Bromberg

  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 events, locales, or persons living or dead are entirely coincidental.

  © 2020 RHIAN CAHILL AND KB WORLDS, LLC. 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.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people.

  Published by KB Worlds, LLC.

  Cover Design by: Tugboat Design, LLC

  Editing by: Missy Borucki

  Copyediting by: Nicole Hartney of Letter-Eye Editing

  Published in the United States of America

  Introduction

  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to the Everyday Heroes World!

  I’m so excited you’ve picked up this book! Flashback is a book based on the world I created in my USA Today bestselling Everyday Heroes Series. While I may be finished writing this series (for now), various authors have signed on to keep it going. They will be bringing you all-new stories in the world you know while allowing you to revisit the characters you love.

  This book is entirely the work of the author who wrote it. While I allowed them to use the world I created and may have assisted in some of the plotting, I took no part in the writing or editing of the story. All praise can be directed their way.

  I truly hope you enjoy Flashback. If you’re interested in finding more authors who have written in the KB Worlds, you can visit www.kbworlds.com.

  Thank you for supporting the writers in this project and me.

  Happy Reading,

  K. Bromberg

  For those readers, like me, who didn’t want to leave Sunnyville.

  1

  Smiling at the real estate agent showing her the house, Mazey Novak tried not to give away her disappointment.

  Oh, the house was fine, everything she wanted, in fact. It was that she was here at all that depressed her.

  Sunnyville was a long way from Orange County and the perfect life she’d had there.

  Or thought she’d had.

  Shaking her head free of the painful memories, Mazey forced her lips into a bigger smile and injected some cheer into her voice. “Thank you, Mrs. Russell. I’m sure I can find everything without too much trouble.”

  “Right, of course you will, my dear.” The older woman patted Mazey’s arm. “And you probably want to get settled.”

  They both glanced at the U-Haul behind Mazey’s Yukon.

  Getting settled would probably take five whole minutes. It was a sad state of affairs when the sum total of thirty-two years of life barely filled a trailer.

  “I’d like to at least unload before dark,” Mazey said as she returned her gaze to the neat little house she’d rented for six months.

  She would need to think about buying something eventually, but until she got her bearings and worked out where in Sunnyville she wanted to live, this two-bedroom bungalow would work well enough.

  “When we last spoke, you mentioned you had the utilities switched on for me.”

  “Yes. Everything is ready to go, and I left the itemized bill inside on the breakfast counter with the other paperwork. The owner left the washer and dryer as well as the refrigerator like we talked about. If it interests you, there are some gardening tools in the small shed out back. But don’t feel as though you have to dig into the garden. I have a company I use for the rental properties I manage and can give them a call to arrange weekly maintenance if you’d prefer.”

  “Hmm . . . Oh, no, that’s fine. I like gardening. Didn’t get to do much in recent years.” Stuart had insisted she live in an apartment, which meant no garden except what she managed to grow in pots on her tiny kitchen windowsill. Smiling, she murmured, “It will be nice to spend time in a yard again.”

  “Well, let me know if you change your mind.” Mrs. Russell held out a set of keys. “The front and back door are keyed the same. The other key is for the storage room at the rear of the carport. The garden shed doesn’t have a lock, but there isn’t anything of value in there right now. It does have a padlock latch, so if you want to lock it, you can.”

  Mazey took the bundle. “Thank you.”

  “Be sure to call if you need anything else.”

  “I think I’m set. You were kind enough to pick up my small list of groceries and have the utilities taken care of, making my arrival so much simpler. Do you offer this level of service to everyone?” Mazey asked, curious to know if she was receiving special treatment due to the quickness of the move and her willingness to pay extra to expedite the process.

  “Oh, yes, it’s why I’m the top realtor in Sunnyville.” Mrs. Russell beamed. “I pride myself on my personalized service. Not everyone needs or wants the same things, and I like to be able to provide whatever those needs and wants may be.”

  “Well, when I’m ready to look for somewhere to buy, you’ll be my first call.”

  “You’ll be purchasing a property when your lease is up?”

  “I hope to, but I don’t want to rush into anything. This is a big move, and I want to be sure I’m happy before I lock myself into a mortgage.”

  “Well, dear, you just give me a call when you’re ready, and I’ll get you set up with exactly what you’re after.”

  Mazey smiled, believing the woman’s words without a doubt. “Thank you. I’ll let you know.”

  Mrs. Russell looked at her watch. “All right. If you’re sure you don’t need me to show you around further, I’ll be on my way. I have another client I have to meet in fifteen minutes a few streets over.”

  “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you.”

  “You didn’t, dear, I’ve got time before he arrives.” Mrs. Russell held out her hand. “It was lovely to finally meet you in person, to put a face to the voice. I’m sure you’ll love it here in Sunnyville, and we’ll be looking for that foreve
r home before too long.”

  “I hope so. And again, thank you for everything. You’ve made this move seamless, and I’m eternally grateful,” Mazey said as she shook the older woman’s hand.

  “You’re more than welcome, and do call if you find the yard work too much and want that landscape service.”

  “I’ll be fine, I’m looking forward to getting my fingers in all those flower beds.”

  “Well, I’ll hope to see you soon for the purchase of your own garden.”

  “When I’m ready, you’ll definitely hear from me.”

  Mrs. Russell flashed her another beaming smile and headed for her car.

  She would have to remember to take a thank you gift into the real estate office. Maybe a bottle of wine or some flowers, possibly chocolates. It would have to wait until she took a trip into town to see what was available.

  Mazey returned Mrs. Russell’s wave before the woman hopped into her car and drove down the street. A street filled with neat, well cared for houses, with gardens and manicured lawns, and the occasional child’s bike or ball. There was even the echo of children playing somewhere in the distance.

  So different from the apartment buildings in the area she had spent the last few years living.

  Taking a deep breath, Mazey gripped the keys in her hand tighter as if she could squash the memories that kept bombarding her and headed for the front door of her new home.

  The one she’d rented sight unseen except for the pictures Mrs. Russell had sent via email. Mazey hadn’t had time to come up and see anything firsthand and had left the search up to her agent.

  She’d barely made the decision to move out of LA when the job at Mercy-Life had all but fallen in her lap. She had submitted her resume as quickly as she could, and she was sure it had helped to have a referral from within the company.

  Mazey had met Alyssa Drummond when they had been partnered at a training course years ago. They’d stayed in touch, and while they weren’t best friends or even talk-every-month friends, Alyssa had been happy to put in a good word at Mercy-Life for Mazey when she’d contacted her friend to ask about the company.

  Alyssa’s recommendation, combined with Mazey’s experience, meant within twenty-four hours of applying, she’d received an offer for the job.

  After that call, Mazey couldn’t move fast enough. She’d accepted the position immediately, then gone straight into work and handed in her resignation. With that done, she’d begun the task of packing up her apartment and unwinding the life she’d lived for the previous six years.

  That had been two weeks and two days ago.

  This time next week, she would start her new job as a flight nurse. It would be a change from her head of trauma nursing position at the busy Anaheim Memorial Hospital Emergency Department. But she was ready for the change, for the challenge her new role would deliver. She couldn’t wait to get started.

  What she was most looking forward to, was her new life.

  A new start where nobody looked at her with pity or anger or disgust.

  It was the anger and disgust that affected her the deepest. She’d had no idea Stuart—her fiancé—was married with children. The shame of being the other woman, even though it hadn’t been her fault, had hung around her neck like a lead weight. The minute she’d left the hospital where she’d discovered his deception, that weight had lifted off her.

  Those first few steps relieved the constriction in her chest, and after weeks of emotional upheaval, she felt like she could breathe again, felt in control.

  She hadn’t realized the extent to which she had allowed Stuart to dictate her actions until the whole thing had blown up in her face. He had told her where to work, where to live, what to do in her spare time—and she had let him.

  No more.

  From now on, no one would tell her where or how she should live her own life.

  She wouldn’t let any man influence her choices ever again.

  She’d learned a valuable lesson when she’d been confronted with Stuart’s wife and children.

  Her life hadn’t been anything like she’d wanted despite it seeming so.

  The man of her dreams had been an illusion.

  The life they had planned was a fantasy he had no intention of fulfilling.

  The family she’d always craved was further from her grasp than ever before and after Stuart’s betrayal, Mazey didn’t know if she would ever have the courage to look for it again.

  2

  Rylan stared at the house in front of him and wondered what the fuck he’d been thinking.

  The two-story, six-bedroom, three and a half bath was far too much house for one man.

  And yet he’d bought it anyway.

  A holdover from his previous life? Probably.

  Not that he and his ex-wife had purchased a family home. He’d spent a lot of his short married life overseas, on one deployment or another, and they hadn’t found the time to look. He’d still thought of himself as a married man, a family man.

  And twelve months hadn’t changed that.

  The day Renee asked him for a divorce hadn’t really shocked him. It was her revelation that he wasn’t the father of the baby boy she was carrying that gutted him.

  Then she’d told him who the father was and gutted didn’t begin to describe how he’d felt.

  Betrayed? Furious? Cheated? Tricked? Gullible?

  Yeah, he’d felt all those and more.

  His wife and best friend had been having an affair behind his back for years, and he’d never have known if he hadn’t been discharged from the army. If he hadn’t downed his chopper and required a few months of rehab stateside, he never would have realized how close Renee and Jake were.

  Their closeness hadn’t bothered him in those first few months after the crash because he felt relieved that Jake was there to help Renee when he wasn’t. He just hadn’t known Jake was helping Renee become a mother.

  “Mr. Conners?”

  Rylan turned to the street where the agent he’d used to find the house too big for him was rounding the front of her car.

  “Mrs. Russell,” he greeted.

  “Am I late? I thought we said five?” she asked as she hustled up the driveway toward him.

  “We did.” He smiled in the hope of alleviating her concern. “I’m early.”

  “Oh, good. I thought for a moment I’d gotten the time wrong.” She pressed a hand between her ample breasts and finally returned his smile. “So. Anxious to move in?”

  “Yep, sure am. Although my furniture won’t arrive until tomorrow. A blowup mattress and a sleeping bag is all I need to stay the night.” Lord knows a blowup bed was better than what he’d had in some places during his twenty-year army career.

  “But you don’t have to vacate your apartment until Friday, you could stay there until you get everything moved in here.”

  “I could, but as I said, I’m keen to move in.” Even if he would be rattling around inside that huge empty house.

  “I guess that makes sense if you don’t need much. And if it’s only for one night . . .”

  “Exactly.” He glanced at the house. He’d slept in worse conditions. At least these walls weren’t under threat of being riddled with bullets or blown up. And he was ready for this next step, the planting of roots in his new life. “No point waiting. Besides, I have to be here at seven in the morning for the moving van.”

  “That’s early,” she murmured, her brow furrowing and her mouth tipping down on each end.

  “They’re driving overnight. Plus, once they’re here, it will probably take the better part of the day to unload everything.”

  Fifteen months ago, Renee had walked away with nothing from their home. She hadn’t wanted any of it, and while Rylan had gotten rid of their marital bed and purchased a new one the day she left, he hadn’t changed anything else. It seemed pointless when nothing else had been bought together.

  He’d inherited his grandmother’s furniture years ago, and he’d forbidden his wif
e to replace any of it during their three-year marriage.

  Maybe that had been part of their problem? They’d never really combined their lives. In fact, Renee had remained in her own apartment for the first eleven months of their marriage because Rylan had left on deployment a week after their wedding.

  The quickie wedding in Vegas.

  A quickie wedding that had been unnecessary when they’d discovered the positive test had been a false-positive and the baby they thought they were having didn’t exist. By then, he had been half a world away, and changing their path had seemed pointless because neither of their lives was all that different.

  They would probably have been better off going their separate ways then except that certificate between them hadn’t been a problem with Rylan away and Renee’s life continuing as before.

  “Well, Mr. Conners.” Mrs. Russell’s voice cut into Rylan’s thoughts. “Here are the keys and the last of the paperwork. All you have to do is vacate your apartment and hand in the key on Friday.”

  “I’ll probably turn it in before that.”

  “That’s fine. Whenever you’re ready.” She dropped the keys to the house into his outstretched hand. “I hope you enjoy your new home.”