Nights of Lily Ann: Finding Kathleen, page 1
Nights of Lily Ann
Finding Kathleen
by
L.L. Shelton
T.A Williams
CONTENTS
Nights of Lily Ann
NIGHTS OF LILY ANN
Acknowledgments
1
Kathleen
Lily Ann
2
Kathleen
Suzy
3
Lily Ann
Kathleen
4
Bobby
Lily Ann
5
Kathleen
Bonnie
6
Kathleen
Lily Ann
7
Kathleen & Lily Ann
8
Bonnie
Lily Ann
9
Kathleen
David
10
Bonnie
Lily Ann
11
Kathleen & Lily Ann
12
Suzy
Dexter
13
Kathleen & Lily Ann
14
Kathleen & Bonnie
15
Lily Ann
Mabel
16
Kathleen & Bonnie
17
Lily Ann
Bonus:
Do you want to find out what happen to Rebecca after she stepped into the elevator?
Cuffed To Her is available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited
NIGHTS OF LILY ANN
NOVELLA ONE
FINDING
KATHLEEN
Nights of Lily Ann: Finding Kathleen is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by:
AATA New Beginnings
Newport News, Virginia
First Edition © 2019 by L. L. Shelton & T. A. Williams
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to Email: writeabook4u@outlook.com
Acknowledgments
I want to thank a few special people in my life that has supported my writing adventure from the beginning. Thank you to my sister Patsy Allen for your love and believing in me. Thank you to Carol Allen-Jones for your friendship and the endless pushy ways. Thank you to Tina Allen-Jones for strength, not just physical, but also emotional. Also, Thanks to Pam for your support and love. To my son (Casey) and daughter (Jessica), I love you with all my heart. I am me because of all of you.
L. L. Shelton
I want to thank my husband, Country, and son, Tray, for loving and supporting me. Thanks to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Silver, and all my family and friends for their encouragement and support. THANKS to L. L. Shelton for allowing me once again to edit another book. I look forward to discussing the books that I had the privilege of editing with my family and friends at future gatherings, as I’m sure they will enjoy reading them all.
T. A. Williams
Thank you to May Dawney of May Dawney Designs for the beautiful cover page for Nights of Lily Ann: Finding Kathleen. Working with you was a pleasure. Please check out her designs at https://covers.maydawney.com for more amazing creations.
Thank you to our readers. Hope you enjoy Nights of Lily Ann. Want more? Find more exciting lesbian fiction by L. L. Shelton and T. A Williams on Amazon.
Please check out our books:
Our Glass Falling Sand
Cuffed to Her
Our Glass Shattered (to be released 2019)
Nights of Lily Ann: Redemption of Carly (to be released fall 2019)
Dark Clouds: Trouble Ahead (release date to be announced)
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1
Kathleen
Lilly Ann
Kathleen
Kathleen eyed the woman sitting across from her in the north position of the bridge game. The older woman studied her cards with intensity, holding the cards tightly with crooked fingers and slightly bent elbows. There was evidence arthritis had played havoc over her body throughout the years. Kathleen loved having seventy-five-year-old Mabel as her partner during the friendly weekly bridge game. The word friendly was used as loosely as the competitive, cutthroat seniors used tactics to demolish and defeat their opponents. The games were held in the basement of a local church; the air inside the old building remained damp and cold. The cold did not compare to the cold-hearted emotions the seniors revealed during game time. The transformation back to loving grannies was astounding once the playing of cards ceased.
Mabel clapped her hands together after the game ended. She wiggled in her chair to relieve the numbness in her buttocks. “Let’s eat!” she announced, standing.
The ladies all lined up at the food table. Lifting lids of casserole dishes one by one, their noses hovered and sniffed before they would take a chance on the recipe. Mabel ambled through the food line, gathering a spoonful of this and a spoonful of that. She strategically placed them onto her plate. Kathleen followed while balancing a plate along with two cups of sweet tea, one for herself and another for Mabel; meanwhile, Mabel put a dab of food on Kathleen’s plate to help the progress along. The two ladies, upon finishing the food line, shuffled around the gathered women to sit in the middle of the floor.
A larger woman began speaking as they took their seats. “The scores have been tallied, and drum roll please. The winner today is . . . Mabel Shumaker!” The room filled with acclamation. Kathleen watched Mabel nod around the room. After a few queen waves, Mabel turned her attention to Kathleen.
“So, Kathleen, when are you going to stop hanging around with all these fuddy-duddy women, myself excluded of course?” Mabel asked as she forked the unknown food on her plate.
“We have this same conversation every week. I enjoy playing with the women in our bridge club.” Kathleen responded as she had a dozen times before.
“I didn’t ask you that, young lady.” Mabel pushed the unknown food to the corner of her plate. “I know you enjoy it. I can tell that. We love having you, but you are still the youngest woman in here. Barely fifty-five and you choose to hang around with —” Mabel paused her words to look around the room at the grey-haired females before she continued. “—Seventy-year-olds. You are single and should be out on dates, not eating unidentifiable food.” Mabel used her fork to knock a piece of broccoli around the plate like a soccer ball.
Kathleen’s head shook before a giggle slipped out. “Maybe this year I will work on a new social life.”
Mabel pointed her fork towards Kathleen. Her eyes squinted as she waved the fork in the air. “I have something for you.” She placed the fork down and started to sort through a clutch purse, producing a newspaper clipping after a few minutes of digging. Wrinkled hands pushed the folded black and white paper across the table. Mabel's lips widen to reveal pearly white dentures.
“What are you up to?” Kathleen asked with a curious look on her face. Her eyebrows came together in the middle of her forehead. The paper laid on the table untouched.
“Check out the article when you get home, dear.” Mabel inched the item towards Kathleen. “Now help me to my car. I can't eat this stuff. How do these women call this food?”
***
Kathleen opened the front door of her condominium, dropping the car keys in a turquoise bowl. Her ears perked up as she listened for a moment for the sound of pitter-patter on the hardwood floor to echo down the hallway. The house was silent. She shrugged her shoulders, kicked off her heels and then thumbed through the mail. “Bill, junk, bill, and AARP. They have been bugging me for five years. Maybe this is the year; I break down and finally join.”
Kathleen made her way to the couch and allowed her body to free fall. Her arm swung over to cover her eyes. A couple of deep breaths and she relaxed into the cushions. “Umph!” Air exploded out of her lungs as twenty pounds dropped down on her stomach. “Hey, Dexter!” She peaked past her arm. A big tongue panted inches away. “I thought you were ignoring me?" Grabbing both sides of Dexter’s face, she rubbed vigorously until his eyes closed. “Hey, my big man! I missed you. Want to go for a walk?” The words barely escaped her lips before Dexter jumped off in one leap. “Umph!” Kathleen folded up like a book as four paws used her body as a launch pad.
“Go get your leash,” Kathleen said while she pulled herself to a sitting position. Dexter had been a companion for six years to Kathleen. Even as a puppy, he was the biggest labradoodle in the litter. The only caramel puppy, Dexter stuck out like a sore thumb against all the white puppies. He was a clumsy little devil. Face planting was his best trick. It was his love that helped Kathleen put one foot in front of the other for the past few years. Dexter walked up with his leash in his mouth. “You ready?” She asked. Dexter wagged his tail from side to side, banging into the
Ring. Ring. Kathleen’s hands patted at her raincoat aimlessly trying to find which pocket held the cell phone. She fumbled with the zipper before retrieving the item that was buried deep in the pocket. Elaine’s picture filled the screen. Dexter stared up at her with those big brown eyes. His tail had stopped swishing and tucked between his legs. “Don’t give me that look. It is Aunt Elaine. You know I have to answer it. We will go out as soon as I talk to her.” Her finger swiped the screen to the left. “Elaine hold on,” Kathleen said into the phone before lowering it to her side.
Squatting down, she removed the leash which allowed Dexter to gallop off. He circled twice in his bed before plopping down with huff.
“I heard that, Dexter.”
Another free fall commenced while finding her way back to the couch. “Hi, Elaine. What’s going on?” Kathleen said, trying to gauge if the sister on the other end of the phone was the lecturing sister or the loving sister. Her eyes squeezed closed in anticipation.
“Just checking in, Kathleen. How are you?”
Kathleen’s cheeks puffed out as she blew air from her mouth. It was the loving sister that spoke. And so, Kathleen mouthed the words thank you. She wasn’t sure who she thanked for the non-lecturing sister; but, at that moment the lecturing sister could not be handled.
Elaine, her younger sister, could be overbearing at times. She called at least once a week since Victoria, Kathleen’s wife, died two years ago. She meant well but did not know when to back off. Kathleen had lost count of how many times she nearly took Elaine’s head off for no reason. Kathleen had changed over the years. She was no longer the needy sister. The pain had hardened her.
“I am doing fine. I was about to walk Dexter. How are you, Elaine?” Kathleen asked out of habit rather than concern.
“Wonderful!” Elaine answered. “I am calling because Julia will be singing in a concert at the Winter Festival. We want you to come.”
“Julia?” Kathleen said the name, but she wasn’t paying attention to the conversation.
“Your niece. My daughter!” Elaine said with a slight tone that blared through the receiver into Kathleen’s ear.
“I know she is my niece. I was just wondering why she was doing a concert at the festival.”
“Singing is the new craze amongst teens. Who knows what goes on in the life of a teenager. So, will you come?”
“I don’t know, Elaine. I think I am busy that day.”
“Don’t use that excuse, Kathleen. You don’t even know the day of the festival. I swear it makes no sense why you stay closed up in that condominium. It is not healthy. Do you think Victoria would approve of this?
And there was the lecturing sister. One minute into the conversation and Mrs. Hyde had appeared. The switch came in record-breaking time. Kathleen dug deeper into cushions, holding the phone that had become silent. Closing her eyes, she listened to herself breathe. She loved her sister, and her heart was in the right place; but, the lectures had become unbearable. Elaine lived in a perfect world with a husband that was a lawyer, two kids, a big house, and a country club membership.
“Kathleen! Kathleen, are you there?” Elaine's voice squealed through the phone.
“I am here Elaine, but I don’t want to have this conversation again.” Dexter’s head laid across her thigh. Her comfort buddy had detected the stress in her voice. He always knew the very moment her life unraveled. Dexter twisted his head before nudging it under her hand. She smiled and rubbed him softly.
“But…” Elaine started to speak. Kathleen cut her off.
“Elaine, I love you. Dexter needs to be walked. I will think about going to the Winter Festival. Stop worrying about me.”
“Fine. I will call you in a few days. Love you too. Bye for now, sis.” The phone call abruptly ended.
“Aunt Elaine is mad at me.” The leash slipped around his neck again. “Let’s go for that walk.” Dexter took off, four paws spinning in place on the hardwood floor. “Slow down, Dexter. Take it easy on this old lady.”
Lily Ann
Lily Ann stood outside the front of the house, holding the doorknob. She needed a moment to gather herself before she entered. It was almost ten in the evening, so Suzy was the only person that should have been awake. It had been a very long night at work. All Lily Ann wanted was a hot shower and some food. A bowl of cereal eaten in pajamas would be perfect. She turned the knob, stepped inside and took a deep breath. As expected, Suzy was in the kitchen, and the rest of the house was quiet. Removing her gloves, scarf, and coat, she placed them in the closet. A quick retucking of her blouse and she headed towards the aromas coming from the only lit room in the house.
“Hey, Suzy,” Lily Ann said to announce her presence.
Suzy, the second child in their family and Lily Ann’s sounding board, spun around from the stove that she stood over stirring a pot. Suzy was about to turn eighteen and graduate from high school. She was smart and beautiful. Like Lily Ann, she had inherited their mother’s strawberry blond hair. Their two younger brothers, David and Bobby, had gotten fire engine red hair from their father. Suzy and Lily Ann always kept the secret that they both were glad the fiery red gene pool skipped them. She watched as Suzy walked over to the kitchen isle on which she leaned with both elbows. Suzy looked like a young her. She had a bounce in her step that Lily Ann had many years ago.
“Hi, are you hungry?” Suzy asked.
“I am starving, but can I take a shower first? It was a long, long night. I want to wash it off of me.” Lily Ann asked, even though her stomach protested with a growl.
“Sure, I will bring your plate to the living room. You can relax on the couch while you eat.” Suzy said as she turned back towards the stove.
“Be right back,” Lily Ann announced, forcing her way down the hallway. Lights illuminated through the crack of David’s door. She pushed the door open to find David playing video games.
“It is late, David! You have school tomorrow. Fifteen more minutes and then to bed. Got it?” Lily Ann addressed the teenage boy who sat on the bed hitting the controller with both thumbs at a rapid pace. He never looked up but gave a thumbs up. That was a win-win. David had rebelled lately. He didn’t want to follow the rules, and most definitely didn’t want to communicate with anyone. Lily Ann closed the door and headed across the hallway.
Cracking the door of Bobby’s room was like stepping back a million years. The boy was obsessed with dinosaurs. The tiny figure laid curled up in the bed innocently sleeping. His bright red hair stuck out from under the covers. One chubby foot was exposed and dangled off the side of the railing. Quietly walking over, Lily Ann lifted the foot, placing it back under the covers. The little boy wiggled.
“Lily Ann.” A sleepy voice emerged from under the covers.
“Shhh. Go back to sleep, Bobby.” She tucked the covers back around him. Lily Ann watched for a few seconds before she backed out of the room. She stopped at the door, taking a private moment to look at her little brother. A smile spread across her face before the door closed. It was time to wash the night off of her.
The stir-fry Suzy had made for dinner was beyond amazing. Without her culinary skills, the family would be living off of McDonald's food daily. Suzy had taken over the household duties since their parents died two years ago. They both raised David and Bobby. Lily Ann had gone to the courts and got custody of all her siblings. There was no way she would allow them to land in the system. It had been rough going at first. She was twenty-four when her parents had died in a car accident on an icy road in December. The secretary job didn’t pay the bills, so Lily Ann had to take a night job. The ad in the paper read:
Woman Wanted – Make your own hours.
Flexible. No experience needed.
Up to $100 / hr. Call Gayle at G’s Nightly Escorts.
Two years later and Lily Ann was one of G’s Nightly Escorts best lesbian escorts. She had made it very clear she would escort women exclusively. Never kissed or dated a boy and was not about to start. The work was slower than the girls that enjoyed men, but it was enough to pay all the bills. Suzy was the only sibling that knew about the escorting. She and Lily Ann had the don’t-ask-don’t-tell rule.
