Katie Lyn’s Guarded Heart: Sweethearts of Country Music, Book 4 Read online

  Katie Lyn’s Guarded Heart

  Sweethearts of Country Music, Book 4

  Marie Savage

  ©2019, Marie Savage

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  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.

  No part of this work 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 written permission of the publisher.

  While this novel is a work of fiction, the author respectfully and fictitiously used real locations, businesses, music venues, television shows, awards, song titles, social media networks, streaming services, and music media networks throughout the story for entertainment purposes. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended. The publication and use of these trademarks are not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  SWEET PROMISE PRESS

  PO BOX 72

  BRIGHTON, MI 48116

  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

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek

  More from Sweet Promise Press

  More from this Series

  More from Marie Savage

  About the Author

  Prologue

  “Fix your makeup girl, it’s just a breakup.” Eighteen-year-old newlywed Katie Lyn Bishop Howell sang the line to her favorite Miranda Lambert song as she tried to hide the red blotchy skin and fix the runny mascara that made her look like a rabid raccoon. Her mother would be here any minute and she didn’t want her to see she had been crying for hours, especially over a man. She powdered her nose one more time, as she continued to sing Mama’s Broken Heart.

  As she put away her makeup, she noticed the positive home pregnancy test still sitting on the bathroom counter. The two pink lines only a little faded now, unlike the morning she took the test when they nearly blinded her. On that day, she couldn’t wait for her husband, Trevor, to get home from job hunting, so she could surprise him. He was surprised all right. So much so, he took off that night and didn’t return home until the next day.

  The doorbell rang and Katie Lyn checked her makeup one more time. Time to put on her big girl panties and face the music. Before she stepped out of the bathroom, she quickly stuffed the test in her jeans pocket. She didn’t want to take any chances of her snooping mother seeing it before she could break the news to her gently. She could just hear the lecture now, and she knew once her mama was on her soapbox, she was in for a long afternoon of I told you so.

  “Hi, Mama. How’ve you been?” Katie Lyn strained to smile as she opened the door. She was struggling to hold it together, when she’d rather just walk into her mama’s arms and cry her eyes out.

  Lynette Bishop walked inside the small apartment and began looking things over, like she always did anytime she’d visit. She’d nitpick about how messy Trevor was and how she needed to decorate the place up. Decorating required money, and money for that was hard to come by, especially when you could barely afford rent. Katie Lyn knew she hated her living in the apartment, but if her mama didn’t help her soon, she’d be living on the streets.

  “You’ve made some changes in here. Where’s that big screen TV that y’all had no business buying in the first place? Especially on credit. Don’t tell me Trevor pawned it? Just as well if he did. It was too big for this room anyway,” her mother rambled on.

  “Mama, would you like some tea?” Katie Lyn asked as she went to the refrigerator to pour a glass.

  “So where is Trevor? Don’t tell me the lazy bum is sleeping again. He’d better be out looking for a job. I’m sick and tired of hearing his excuses of not finding work.”

  Lynette took a sip of the sweet tea, before setting the glass down on the breakfast bar.

  “He needs to give up this dream of being a country music star and get a real job.”

  Katie Lyn didn’t want to rehash this old discussion again. She was supportive of her husband’s dreams of making it big in Nashville one day. It was a dream they shared and what attracted her to him in the first place.

  “You two kids need to . . .”

  “Mama, have a seat. We need to talk,” Katie Lyn interrupted and knew by the surprised look on her face that she was being disrespectful.

  “I’m sorry, but I need you to please be quiet and listen to what I have to say.”

  “Oh no. What’s he done now?” she asked before sitting down on the barstool.

  Katie Lyn sighed, remembering to be strong like her best friend Cinnamon coached her just earlier today. She could do this. She had to do this.

  “Trevor’s gone,” she said and was surprised how she made it sound like it was no big deal. Of course, she had practiced it over and over in the mirror for the last half hour.

  “What do you mean gone?” Her mother suddenly smiled. “Did you finally kick him to the curb?”

  Katie Lyn wished that was the case. Better to be the rejector than to be rejected.

  “No, Mama. He left me.” Katie Lyn closed her mouth and bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to cry.

  Her mama rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, he’ll be back. Y’all do this all the time. He’ll be back when he needs some money. Mark my words on that.”

  It was true. In her brief three months of marriage, Trevor did the leaving thing a lot, only to come back and beg for forgiveness and, of course, money.

  “No, I don’t think he’s coming back this time. He took all his belongings and left me these.” She pushed the set of papers in front of her on the counter.

  She watched as Lynette picked up them up and quickly glanced through them.

  “He wants a divorce?”

  “Yes, ma’am, and I gave it to him. What do the papers say exactly? I’ve been too upset to concentrate on reading them.”

  Lynette looked over the papers again as she read the highlights.

  “He doesn’t want to pay you alimony, which is funny, since you’re the one that’s been pretty much supporting him.” She smirked but stopped and looked up at Katie Lyn.

  “Wait. You already signed these?”

  “Yes.”

  “When?”

  “A few hours ago. He asked me to meet him at the lawyer’s office and not drag this out.”

  “How could he afford to get a lawyer to draw these up?”

  “By wiping out our joint bank account and what little savings we had, and . . .”

  She paused as she struggled to fight back the tears. Her vision was already starting to blur.

  “And what, Katie L
yn?”

  “He pawned my guitar, Mama.” She couldn’t hold back the tears any longer as they started rolling down her cheeks.

  “That lousy no good worthless thief!” Lynette started to rant as she came off the bar stool and huffed and puffed while pacing the floor.

  “I can’t believe this. I should’ve locked you in your room the day you met Trevor Howell. I told you when you ran off, that nothing good would come with being with him. I’m too much of a Christian woman to say the things I’d like to say now.”

  Katie Lyn had witnessed this tirade before, and she knew it was probably a good thing Trevor Howell was long gone. She knew her mama had to have worked hard to buy the guitar on her thirteenth birthday. Her mama was so angry she’d probably kill him, and she hadn’t even heard her other news yet.

  “Did you know he was going to leave?”

  “Of course not. He waited until I went to work. I came home and found he was gone, along with his things, the tv, and my guitar.”

  “Why now? He seemed perfectly happy to sit on his rear end all day and make a pigsty out of your apartment while you worked all day stocking shelves at Walmart. Let me guess. He found another woman?”

  Katie Lyn knew her mother would automatically jump to that conclusion, especially since it happened to her when she was her age.

  “It wasn’t another woman, at least I don’t think it’s another woman, but I have an idea why,” Katie Lyn said.

  “Don’t tell me he’s still upset that you wouldn’t reach out to Waylon for money. He came to me a few weeks ago wanting to get in touch with your daddy and I told him no. That’s it, isn’t it? Am I right?”

  “That’s one reason and don’t call him that. Waylon doesn’t deserve to be called my daddy.”

  “I wish you never told him about Waylon. Ever since you did, he’s been obsessed. Sometimes, I wish I’d never told you.”

  Katie Lyn tried to hold back the sting of that statement.

  “He’s my husband, or at least he was. I didn’t want to lie to him.”

  “And look what it’s got you. I’m sorry, baby, but I told you three months ago when you rushed off to marry the no-good coward loser that he was going to break your heart. He’s like all men, you can’t trust them, baby. And you shouldn’t have signed those papers without discussing it with me first. You’re lucky you don’t have any more left to take otherwise he could have cleaned you out. Well, I guess he already did that.”

  “Mama, I don’t need a lecture right now. I need help.” Katie Lyn was getting desperate. She knew she shouldn’t have signed the papers without someone going over them first. But she was broke and couldn’t afford an attorney.

  “Honey, I don’t have any money to give you. I’m barely making it on my own as it is.”

  “I know and I wasn’t going to ask you for money, Mama. I swear. I was hoping you’d be willing to move here. Live with me. We could take care of each other, like we used to.”

  “I don’t know, Katie Lyn.” Lynette shook her head.

  “This apartment isn’t so bad, better than the trailer you live in now. Besides, you have a knack for fixing things up. If you help me, we can stay here. I’ll even give you the master bedroom. Please, Mama, I’m really going to need your help.”

  Her mother looked at her and her expression changed. She immediately sat back down.

  “Why do I feel there’s more to this story than Trevor hightailing it out of here?”

  Katie Lyn remained silent. She could already see the wheels turning in her mother’s head. She knew she didn’t even have to tell her and that she already figured it out.

  “Oh, baby girl, please don’t tell me what I think you're about to tell me.”

  Katie Lyn took one last deep breath and spit the words out. “I’m pregnant.”

  Lynette started shaking her head, straining to hold a civil tongue. Her biggest fear for Katie Lyn had come true. She warned her time and time again to not follow the same path she did eighteen years ago.

  “Well, that’s it, isn’t it? I’m assuming you told him.”

  “Yes.”

  “What did he say?”

  “Nothing much. He took off to hang with some buddies of his.”

  “Of course, he did. When did you tell him?”

  “A week ago. When I first realized I was late and took a home pregnancy test to confirm it.”

  “Well, we know now why he decided to leave.”

  Katie Lyn hung her head in shame.

  “I think I need something stronger than tea.” Lynette tried to joke, but Katie Lyn wasn’t in the mood for humor. She was tired, sad, desperate, and felt all alone.

  She couldn’t fight the sobs any longer as she covered her face with her. She couldn’t believe she let herself be suckered by him and that he truly never loved her the way he said he did. If he loved her, he’d have never sold her precious guitar and he’d never leave her, especially knowing she was carrying his child. She felt her mama’s arms wrap around her as she cried in her arms.

  “Shh, baby, it’ll be okay. Of course, I’ll move in with you. It’ll be like Trevor Howell never existed. You’re my baby girl. We’ll figure all this out somehow together.

  “Thank you, Mama. I’m sorry to dump this all on you. I just don’t know who else to turn to.”

  “You can always come to me. I’m your mama and I’ll always be here for you.”

  1

  “No, Mommy! I want to be a mermaid like Ariel,” three-year-old Madison complained as her mother held up the Cinderella costume next to her.

  “But, Maddie, don’t you think it’ll be hard to trick or treat with a mermaid tail? See, they have this Cinderella costume. She’s a beautiful princess, too. Wouldn’t you rather be a princess?” Katie Lyn asked as she tried reasoning with her daughter.

  Madison sitting in the shopping cart, crossed her arms and frowned at her mother. “Cinderella is your favorite, Mommy. I don’t like Cinderella. I! like! Ariel!”

  Katie Lyn tried to keep a straight face at her daughter’s sassy attitude. She shouldn’t condone this kind of behavior, but she admired the fact that she was willing to stand her ground.

  “Why don’t you go ahead and get her the mermaid costume. I’m sure we can fix it so she can walk around just fine,” Lynette said as she held up the Ariel costume.

  “You’re not helping, Mama,” Katie Lyn scolded her. “You’re spoiling her by always getting her what she wants. Didn’t you just lecture me the other day about spoiling her?”

  “I was talking about you, not me. Besides, I’m Nana. It’s my job to do the spoiling,” she said as she put the costume in the shopping cart.

  “Besides, we can afford it now. When I was raising you, extra money was harder to come by. I don’t know why you even wanted to come here in the first place. We could have gone to a costume store, or even ordered something online.”

  “And have it delivered where, Mama? We still haven’t closed on the house and I doubt the post office is going to chase down the tour bus to deliver a package.”

  “I’m just saying that you’re a country music star now. Why on Earth would you want to shop at Walmart?”

  “I told you in the beginning, I don’t want to turn into a snob. I want to remember where I came from and help others. I know I’m lucky to be where I am today. Plus, I don’t want to raise my daughter thinking she’s better than anyone else.

  “And think about this. Remember last year when we couldn’t even afford to buy Madison a new costume? Even from Walmart?

  “Luckily, I found that cute ladybug one at the church yard sale, remember?” Katie Lyn smiled at the memory. She still got a thrill out of finding a treasure, and that day she was on cloud nine finding the costume she admired online, that was well out of her price range, for $3.00.

  “I guess you’re right, but we should’ve at least gone to our old Walmart and rub their noses in it a little.”

  “See, Mama, that’s what I’m talking about. I don’
t want to do that. They treated us well there, they even gave us a goodbye potluck and everything.”

  “You’re right. I’m letting all this get to my head. When you struggle for so long, I guess it’s easy to get carried away. When did you get to be smarter than me?”

  “I didn’t, Mama. You taught me everything I know. And it’s okay, I understand. I find myself thinking things like that, too.”

  Katie Lyn remembered how excited she was when her mama moved to Tennessee to be near her. She was just eighteen, and fresh out of high school when she ran off and married Trevor. He was a few years older, and she thought she’d met her prince charming, but he didn’t want to stay in Dothan, Alabama, where Katie Lyn grew up. Before the ink was dry on her marriage certificate, he rushed her away to Tennessee, where they found a small apartment they could barely afford in Franklin.

  Trevor didn’t share in her joy of having her mother so close by, in fact, he made sure he wasn’t home anytime he felt that Lynette would stop by and pay a visit. The only time he didn’t seem to mind is when she’d help them with rent money or bring them dinner.

  Her mother had been working for Walmart for over ten years and requested a transfer to Franklin when Katie Lyn moved there. She encouraged her daughter to be sensible and get a job there, too, and so she did. Trevor was truly happy about that, because now that she was earning money, he was free to work on his music. Her mother, on the other hand, just saw him as a lazy opportunist, who was taking advantage of her only child. If Katie Lyn had only realized earlier on, that her mama knew best.

  “Mommy, can I please have the Ariel costume? I’ll be good and clean up my toys like you ask me to.”