An empty glass, a half-emptied bottle of some kind of alcohol was out. But also a picture frame.
I held my coffee mug to my mouth, not taking a sip. In all the times I’d been here, I’d never seen any pictures out. Hudson’s home was decorated in masculine colors for comfort, but what he’d never had out were family photos. Not even of his dad or mom. Or Brandon.
Between the drinking, his stressed-out and distant attitude, and now this… a warning alarm sounded in my head, sending a cold shiver down the back of my neck.
I hadn’t even asked how he was or what he seemed upset about when he first opened the door, all the lights off behind him. So why would he have been drinking, staring at a picture in the dark?
My feet pulled me toward that photo. Whatever was in it held the answer to all of those concerns. I knew it as surely as I knew my own name, but I took another step toward it, the prickling at my subconscious screaming at me to go slow. An entirely unpleasant sensation started at my fingertips before traveling like needles up my arms.
I picked up the picture and then turned it, in order to see the photo. My jaw fell.
“What the hell?”
Hudson was in the picture… with a woman.
At first glance, she was beautiful, with long, blonde hair and piercing dark eyes. Hudson was embracing her from behind and behind them were metal bleachers and a baseball field, but it wasn’t the location or Hudson’s wide smile I loved so much that grabbed my attention. It was their eyes.
Hers.
I’d seen those in another life.
“Holy shit.” I blinked, then two more times, hoping I could chase the image away. Surely it wasn’t. I picked up the picture to get a closer view only to have my hand holding it start to tremble.
Nooo. It couldn’t be.
But it was true. I knew those eyes. That smile. That serene expression this girl wore.
Looked right into them while I poured my heart out in prison and watched as tears, true, genuine tears had filled them right before she cried with me.
“No,” I gasped.
I wish you would have had a dad like mine.
“Oh my God.”
The photo shook in my hand. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be her. Because that would mean…
A rush of ice raced down my body, sparking goose bumps on my arms, straight to my toes. I glanced at the hallway leading to Hudson’s room. To the room where I was falling in love with a guy who’d shown me something beautiful.
Where he could take all the ugly pieces of my past, all the ugly things I’d done and had done to me, and with his help, forge something beautiful with the ashes.
And he’d lied.
This entire time.
He let me cry on his shoulder and in his arms while I told him everything.
Things I’d only told this woman before. And he’d known—so much more than he ever let on.
The sound of a door clicking shut made me whip my head in that direction and Hudson was suddenly there, frozen at the entrance to his hallway while I gaped at him.
“Who is this?”
He didn’t take his eyes off me to bother glancing at the picture still shaking in my hands. “Lilly—”
“You know her?!”
He came to me, hands up, palms out. “Please. Let me explain.”
“Who is this?!” I shrieked so hard the glass in the frame I still held rattled.
I dropped it, the wood clanked on his coffee table before the beautiful, sweet woman, the only woman I’d trusted with the truth—the only person until Hudson—I’d trusted with the truth, mocked me with her kind smile and the gentle way she’d gained my trust.
So much like Hudson.
I laughed but it was cold and brittle.
Disbelief.
He’d warned me.
They knew where I’d been.
It was David’s story to tell.
Somehow, in falling in love with Hudson and trusting and believing I could move on from everything, I took all the morsels he gave me and wrapped them in a pretty bow, forgetting that secrets were behind them.
Stupid, stupid me.
How? How I had forgotten that nothing good would come to me, nothing honest and pure and good? They’d known everything from the very beginning. Why? Why would they do this to me?
I stepped back from him. The mug in my hand fell to my feet, dousing my toes and his carpet with hot liquid.
I barely felt it.
The ice freezing my veins was much more painful.
“Lilly—please. I know. I get what you’re thinking—”
“You don’t know shit, Hudson.” I laughed, cold and full of venom. “Or hell, you know everything, don’t you?” I flung my hand toward the frame. “Who is she?” I asked again, swallowing the vile taste clawing up my throat, and stared down at the girl. “Who is this girl to you?”
My scream bounced off every wall and corner of his living room while at the same time, my heart shattered into a thousand pieces.
This man—who I was starting to believe I was falling in love, was nothing but a liar.
THANK YOU for reading All The Ugly Things! The conclusion to Hudson and Lilly’s journey, All The Beautiful Things, will release on May 11th. Pre-Order today. https://amzn.to/2OHQ9SV
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Thank You
This story and duet wouldn’t be possible without the incredible support of so many people. Thank you, first, to my earliest readers Ashley, Gina, and Michelle. All of your feedback was invaluable.
To Hilary who is always there to keep me motivated, remind me of all the things I’m forgetting, and who replenishes my Skittles collection, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without you. I’m so grateful for your support and your friendship.
Thank you to my team of editors. Dawn, it’s been an absolute pleasure working with you. I hope we work together on many more books to come. Ellie and Virginia, as always, your excellent work fine tunes my stories into masterpieces. Thank you for your flexibility and your hard work!
Shannon, you’re the best. Always. Forever. Your talent is astounding and I’m thankful I can call you a friend.
Special, enormous thank you to my family who is always here, cheering me on and being so patient when I’m in my office. Your support is everything to me and I love you all with all of my heart.
To my Sweeties! I love you ladies and your excitement for my books! Special thanks to you this time for coming up with Brenna’s name for me. It fits her perfectly.
To all the bloggers who devote their time and passion into reading books, book tours, release events, leaving reviews, promoting and pimping – you are all rockstars! Thank you for all the love over the years.
And last but definitely not least – to you the reader. I’m blown away with every release how much you adore my books. You have made my dream a reality and I hope I can cheer you on with yours.
About the Author
Stacey Lynn likes her coffee with a dash of sugar, her heroes with a side of bossy, and her wine a deep shade of red.
The author of over thirty romance novels, many of which have been best-selling titles on Amazon, AppleBooks, and Barnes & Noble, she loves being able to turn her vivid imagination into a career that brings entertainment and joy to her readers. Focused on sports romance and emotional, small-town romance, she also loves stretching herself in different genres.