Bridie Blake - A Distant Voice

Published by Evernight Teen at Smashwords

www.evernightteen.com

Copyright 2015 BridieBlake

ISBN: 978-1-77233-550-7

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Katelyn Uplinger

ALL RIGHTSRESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproductionor distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part ofthis book may be used or reproduced electronically or in printwithout written permission, except in the case of brief quotationsembodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names,characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actualevents, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, isentirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

In loving memory of mygrandparents.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I want to thank mymum and dad for their endless levels of support. I definitely hitthe jackpot with the two of you. You drop by if you havent heardfrom me in a few days, you come over to fix things and you let meborrow food from your house. You are both incredibly selflesspeople who would do anything for your family.

A huge thank you to my brothers andsisters, their partners and all my nieces and nephews. I considermyself very lucky to belong to a family that genuinely wants tospend time together, and does so as often as we do.

I have some pretty cool friends whoforce me to leave my books and have some sort of social life.Without them Id no doubt be a hermit, who truly believes hercharacters are talking to her.

Thank you Tess for always being theperson to read over my work first, who sits with me for hours whilewe discuss my work, who endures every stage of the writing andsubmission process with me, and who is my go to whenever I need asecond opinion. Which is all the time. Im annoyingly indecisive.Your friendship keeps me sane. And Ruth, weve been through a lottogether over the last couple of years and our friendship issomething I truly treasure. Your excitement over reading this book,and your ongoing encouragement, keeps me motivated when Im havinga bad day. And thanks for being my Nashville viewingbuddy.

And yes, this may sound silly, but I doneed to thank the creators of Nashville. My obsession for thatshow, and the music from it, helped create the idea for A DistantVoice. So Im completely justified in re-watching the show over andover again. Its all in the name of research!

Thank you to the team at Evernight Teenfor turning my dream into a reality. Its a pleasure working withyou and your team of authors. A massive thanks to Jay Aheer fordesigning my gorgeous cover. And thank you to my editor KatelynUplinger for the work you put in. And for appreciating my HarryPotter references.

And last, but certainly not least, aspecial thanks to you, the readers. I write books hoping theyll beread and enjoyed. And if Im lucky, youll love my characters asmuch as I do. I love getting feedback from you all so dont be shy.Send me an email through my Website, or find me on Twitter,Goodreads or Facebook and let me know what you think.

Happy reading xx

A DISTANT VOICE

Bridie Blake

Copyright 2015

Chapter One

Violet and a Rose

Two hours ago we passed intonothingness. An endless stretch of road that didnt make me feelany better about the move. Was it too late to turn the car aroundand drive back to Chicago? My eyes flicked to the mirror anddespair washed over me. There was no turning back.

Strands of hair clung to my neck assweat trickled down my back. My cheeks burned and the steeringwheel was sticky under my clammy hands. It wasnt exactly how Idwanted to roll into Wandorah. I silently cursed the broken airconditioner for the hundredth time. Dad couldve at least forkedout the money to fix it before he left us. I played with the littlevent in front of me, rolling the dial up and down as though thatwould magically fix it. With a frustrated sigh I turned myattention back to the road and the farmland we drove by.

Beside me, Mom stared out the window.Lost in her own thoughts and seemingly oblivious to the sweat boxwe sat in. Finding out Dad had a new girlfriend only a month afterhe walked out had been the final straw and shed sunk deeper intoher own darkness, unable to pull herself out of bed and provide forus. And now we were leaving the memories of happier times behindus. Those memories that clung to me like a dead weight, dragging mefurther into my own world. A world that Id blocked everyone from.Everyone except Rose. My eyes flicked to the mirror again and asmall smile tugged at my lips as my eyes met my older sisters. Shenodded toward the empty road and rolled her eyes before resting herhead against the window and staring outside.

Id only been to Wandorah once. Wedcome for Gramps funeral seven years ago and I didnt remember muchabout the place except that Id really liked Grans house. Theredbeen a porch swing and Rose and I had sat on it for hours making upsongs until Mom dragged us to the car. Mom and Gran didnt get onand the day of the funeral had been the last time wed seen her.Dad used to tell Mom to forgive and forget but Mom said theressome things you cant move on from and having Gran as a mother wasone of those things. Mom didnt like to talk about her except towarn us not to end up like her. A faded country music star whosecareer had ended in a public spectacle of drugs and alcohol. Roseswore she wouldnt because her dream was to teach and she had nointerest in performing and stardom. Me? I loved to sing and I usedto daydream about following in Grans footsteps and seeing my name,Violet Hayes, on billboards. But when Rose promised Mom I followedsuit because I didnt want to disappoint them. That had become myown little mission in life. Avoid disappointing the family. Be asgood and perfect as Rose. It was something I failed miserablyat.

Id lived in Roses shadow for as longas I could remember. Shes the perfect daughter. Good grades,polite, funny, beautiful. And no matter how hard I tried, I nevermeasured up. So eventually I stopped trying and slipped into thebackground. I was comfortable there. Happy to let Rose shine andfollow her dreams because I hadnt worked out what mine were sinceId sworn not to try at music. Rose would tell me not to worry.Shed say Id know the answer one day. That was easy for her to saybecause shed known what she wanted to do for years. She workedhard to get good grades so she could go to college. But followingher dreams hadnt made her happy. Not once the depression took holdand tore away at her like it had Gran and Mom. It drained the lightfrom her, suffocating it until all I saw was a flicker of theperson she used to be. And it scared me because itd only be amatter of time before it got me too. I was like a ticking timebomb. Only thing was, I didnt know what the trigger wouldbe.

I saw the fear in Moms eyes every timeshe looked at me. I just pretended I didnt because it made thegaping hole in my chest easier to deal with. Thats how I livedmost days. In denial. Sometimes it made things easier and I couldbelieve that my life wasnt one gigantic black hole of sadness,disappointment, and loneliness.

Turn off after the truck stop. Momspoke in a wispy voice that sounded nothing like it used to. Eachday it seemed harder for her to speak. Each word a struggle. Anexhaustion. She used to be loud, her voice filled with laughter,and it drew me to her even when I resisted. People naturallygravitated toward her as though she were some magnetic force andthen it stopped and she became as invisible as me.