Sneak Peek

First chapter of Free at Last

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I can’t believe it’s almost August already. And that means it’s almost book release day for Free at Last! It’s always an exciting day when one of my book babies is finally in the hands of readers. Something I’ve been working on for months is finally going to be out in the world. It’s such a crazy feeling!

To celebrate this book launch in just over a week, I decided to share the first chapter with all of you. I hope you enjoy it, and if you want to keep reading then get ready for next Thursday! And don’t forget, you can pre-order the e-book now on Kindle so you won’t have to wait to receive your paperback.

Before you dive in, as always, I want to thank you for your time and support. I’m grateful for everyone reading these words, and I pray your day is blessed beyond measure.

XOXO
Kaelin

CHAPTER ONE

Every day of my life is a lie.

That was Kara Greene’s mantra as she looked in the mirror each morning.

A pair of sad emerald eyes stared back at her. Trapped behind them was a girl who no longer existed but wanted to be free. Only a memory now. Someone who used to be but wasn’t anymore.

And she hated it.

She hated the way she’d been forced to become someone she wasn’t. Hated her father for his choices that had brought her there. Hated her mother for standing by and letting it happen.

She even hated her name. The name that had been given to her in place of her real one. A name that meant slamming the door shut on everything she’d once known and loved. A name that was a lie, just like every other part of her life.

Not for the first time, Kara imagined what it would be like to leave. To just go away somewhere and make a life for herself. A life that she got to decide, not some random people she didn’t know who claimed to want what was best for her.

Okay, so their protection may have saved her life, and for that she was grateful. But living this pretend reality, hiding in the shadows and trying not to be noticed, didn’t feel much like living. It felt like dying every day.

Being someone she was told to be instead of who she really was – what kind of life was that?

The saddest thing of all was not even knowing who her true self might have been. If things were different and her family hadn’t had to run away, what would she be doing right now? Surely not staring at a pile of travel brochures she’d stockpiled over the years.

Yet here she was, doing just that. It had become sort of a game to her. Whenever she saw any type of brochure about some place she’d never been, she snagged it up and took it home, tucking it in a drawer under her socks. And on days like today, when it all felt too heavy, she pulled out the ever-growing collection and spread them out on the dresser, trying to picture what life might be like in one of those places. Away from the delusion she’d been forced into living.

Descriptions and images of various destinations danced before her eyes, each one beckoning her to come. To taste what life had to offer there, far away from here. New faces and new experiences, just waiting for her to find them all on her own.

Kara’s gaze lingered on the colorful papers before traveling up to her bedroom window. The view outside was far from cheerful as dark gray clouds threatened to pour down at any moment, casting the world in a shadow that matched her ominous mood. It was almost as if nature itself was telling her to get out of Denver. To leave and find somewhere to set that girl behind her eyes free. If nothing else, to figure out who she really was, because sometimes separating truth from fiction felt impossible.

Turning her gaze back to her treasured brochures, Kara lifted a finger to trace the words on one that caught her eye. San Antonio, the Alamo City. Although she couldn’t recall any specific details, she remembered learning about the Alamo in one of her schools. But it wasn’t the city’s nickname that captured her attention, it was the photo of a river flanked by stone walkways, with a row of rainbow umbrellas running down the path on one side.

Squinting to get a closer look, she saw that the umbrellas were part of a riverside restaurant. The people dining beneath their shade smiled as the sun sparkled over the water. A few ducks floated by without a care in the world. Beautiful green trees draped over the river as a boat full of tourists made its way under an arching bridge.

For some reason, the photo beckoned Kara. It drew her in and made her want to see it in person. Of all the places featured on the brochures spread out in front of her, this was the one she couldn’t take her eyes off of. Maybe it was the peaceful feeling it seemed to exude, or perhaps it was the happy colors of the umbrellas. Whatever it was, she felt stronger and stronger by the second that this was it. This was the place she needed to go.

And she needed to go now.

Gathering the stack of papers into a neat pile, she tucked them back under her socks and closed the drawer. Only the San Antonio brochure remained, like a beacon of hope to her stormy soul. She opened the next drawer down and dug underneath her T-shirts until she found a thick envelope stuffed with cash. Her savings from working in a coffee shop for the past few years, which she’d had to beg her father to let her do even though she was a legal adult.  

Fingering through the bills, Kara knew she had more than enough to carry out her plan. She could run away right now and be just fine on her own. But was she really brave enough to go?

Even though she resented her parents, she’d never tasted life without them. She didn’t know what it was like not to depend on them. She may have been twenty-four years old, but when it came to life experience, she was basically still a child.

Or at least that’s how they treated her. Maybe any parent would in the same circumstances, but it was suffocating. Kara was sick of being treated like a caged animal in the zoo. Tired of being tiptoed around and whispered about. She wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that they talked about her in their bedroom at night. That they argued about how to handle her, like she was a liability to their fragile existence. The fact that she wanted to grow up and move on with her life was somehow reprehensible to them, especially her father.

Well, no more. Thinking about it only strengthened her resolve. She was going, and today was just as good as any other day. In fact, the sooner the better, before she talked herself out of it.

Dragging a suitcase from the closet, she stuffed as many clothes and shoes into it as she could. She threw in a few personal items, but there wasn’t much she cared about bringing with her.

Yet she couldn’t leave without Trinkie, the only thing she’d been allowed to bring with her when they’d first been relocated. Leaving your whole life behind is hard for a twelve-year-old girl, but it helped having her old stuffed dog along for the ride. She hadn’t been too attached to it by that point, but over the next few months she’d found solace in the ratty old thing. Trinkie had been her only friend for a long time, a confidant in the middle of the night when Kara cried silent tears.

He was with her through their first placement in Washington, where she felt like an outsider on a foreign planet. Her new name was Kelsey Givens and life felt like a bad game of dress-up, trying to become someone new by putting on different clothes and a new identity. Then nine months later, when her mother accidentally let their secret slip to a neighbor, Trinkie came along to Delaware, a place she hardly remembered because they’d only been there six weeks. She couldn’t remember why they’d been relocated that time, or the next, but they’d eventually wound up in Denver, where she’d been forced to become Kara. Trinkie had stayed by her side through it all. There was no way she would leave him behind now.

A glance at the clock showed that she needed to hurry if she wanted her plan to succeed. Her parents would be home soon, and then she would have to wait. And she wasn’t sure if she would find the courage again tomorrow. With one last look around her room, she lugged the suitcase out to her car, an old Corolla that was still in pretty good shape, which was more than she could say about herself.

Before she started the car, something sprang to mind that she couldn’t ignore. Running back into the house, she rummaged through her mother’s nightstand until she found a tiny slip of paper. All that was written on it was a name and a phone number, but Kara needed it more than her parents did, so she slipped it into her pocket and made for the door.

A sudden twinge of guilt surged through her, and she turned back again. Momentarily forgetting her anger, she grabbed a pen and piece of paper and wrote out a quick note for her mother. She reassured her that she would be okay, but she didn’t give any details. This adventure was hers and hers alone. She could check in with her parents sometime down the road, once she got settled into her new life. Until then, a simple note would have to do.

Besides, if her father knew where she was going, she wouldn’t last a day. He would hunt her down and drag her home, and he would make life a living hell even more than he already did. Keeping this secret meant staying in control of her situation, something entirely foreign to her up until now.  

Outside the house, Kara turned back one more time and said a mental goodbye to this chapter of her life. And what a long and tortuous chapter it had been. 

She had no idea what awaited her or if she’d ever truly escape this nightmare, but she knew without a doubt that this was something she needed to do.

For the first time in her life, she was in control, and that was all she wanted.