90 Days (Prairie Town Book 2)

90 Days

Prairie Town book 2

By T.E. Ridener

©Copyright T.E. Ridener, 2015

Author’s Note

These stories are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

Cover by Double J Book Graphics

Editing by Lindsay Errington, LTE Editing

Acknowledgements

As always, I’ll try to keep this short and sweet.

My Double J’s- my, how you’ve grown! I cannot believe you’re both in the double digits now.  Time sure does fly, doesn’t it?  I love you to the moon and back, my darlings.

To my street team and fans- thank you for supporting my stories and for loving them as much as you do.  I am so grateful to have you in my life.  I wouldn’t be where I am without each and every one of you. Your faith in me is humbling; your friendship is priceless.

To the beta readers for this story- thank you for always wanting to read the words I write and for keeping out a watchful eye.  You guys seriously rock and I couldn’t do it without you.

This book is dedicated to

Riley K. Wiederhold

A note to the readers

As you return to Prairie Town, I hope you will keep an open mind and an open heart.  Remember that on the inside we are all exactly the same.

No matter your reason for reading this story, I hope you know how wonderful and special you are as an individual.  Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

Trans Lifeline: (877) 565-8860 (USA)

(877) 330-6366 (Canada)

Welcome back!

Chapter 1

Laney

    
Bolting up in bed, Laney sucked in a shaky breath and peered through the darkness.

    
Home.
  She thought, relieved. 
I am home.

     Sleep didn’t come very easily lately.  She didn’t dare mention it to her parents or siblings, but life hadn’t necessarily been as great as she pretended it was—not by a long shot.

     Raking her fingers through her hair, she released a quiet sigh before carefully slipping her legs over the side of the bed and placing them on the floor.  The wood was cold beneath her feet and a shiver raced up her spine, assuring her that she was very much awake and the nightmare was over.

     At least for now.

     All Laney McIntosh, second-born child to her parents, had ever wanted was to be happy.  It’s all she’d ever wanted for her siblings, too, but their happiness seemed to come easier than her own.  Why?  She didn’t have the faintest idea, but on most days it didn’t seem fair.

     Once she was in the bathroom, she closed the door as quietly as possible and turned on the light, staring at her reflection in disgust.

     Gone was the young girl with hopes and dreams and the belief that anything was possible; she had been replaced with a woman who had experienced things no person ever should.

     “God, Laney.  You’re a mess.” She whispered, blinking back moisture before tears had a chance to form.

     Her life was never supposed to be like this; so cold, so meaningless, so…
sad
.

     Though she would never wish any harm to her sister, she had always imagined Lydia having a harder time than her.  After all, it was Lydia who had transitioned from being a boy to a girl, wasn’t it?  She had endured years of criticism and abuse from people, only to blossom into one of the most beautiful women Laney had ever seen.

     “And now she’s getting married.” She whispered, frowning at the thought.

     It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for her sister—God, she was.  She was unbelievably happy for Lydia.  So happy it almost made her want to puke sometimes.  But she was also jealous.

     Gut-wrenching, rage-inducing jealousy coursed through her veins on a daily basis and it was geared towards her sister who had been nothing but kind to her.

     It was wrong and unfair to Lydia, but she couldn’t help how she felt.

     It was nearing 4AM when she turned the hot water off and pulled the shower curtain open.  Staring into the steam-filled room with numbness embracing her naked form, Laney bit back a sob and reached for her towel.

     The last thing she wanted to do was wake Lydia up.  Her sister would be concerned and would probably want to hug her or something.

     She didn’t deserve that hug.

     She didn’t deserve Lydia’s love at all, honestly.

     
I am a terrible, horrible sister.
  She affirmed while drying off, gazing at her reflection wearily. 
God, she deserves a better sister than me.

     This was nearly a nightly routine for Laney; waking up after only a few short hours of sleep, taking a shower, crying and throwing herself a pity party, and then going to work where she’d mindlessly do her job.  At the end of the day, she’d return home and repeat the whole process all over again.

     Life was miserable.

     With a heavy sigh, she trudged back towards her bedroom as quietly as possible, mentally preparing herself for the long hours ahead.

     “Laney?  Up again so early?”

     Lydia’s sleep-laden voice caused her to freeze in her tracks and she slowly turned around to peer at her.

     With beautiful dark curls hanging against her shoulders, her sister looked ridiculously pretty, even having just woken up.

     “Did I wake you up, Lydia?  I’m so sorry.” Laney whispered, her apologetic tone completely sincere.  “I tried to be quiet.”

     “It’s fine.” Lydia smiled, tiptoeing up to her and reaching out to touch her arm.  “Callum got a text and it woke me up.” Her smile faded as she gazed at her.  “You’ve been crying again, haven’t you?”

     When Lydia tried to touch her cheek, Laney jerked away and dropped her gaze to the floor, shame slipping over her like a dark, heavy veil. 

     “It’s okay, Laney; you can talk to me.  What’s the matter?”

     “Nothing.” She quickly replied, pursing her lips together.  “I’m fine.  I just couldn’t sleep is all.”

     “Well, it seems like you never sleep.” Her sister’s voice was full of dismay.  “I’m worried about you. What’s going on?”

     Uh oh.  This was the part where Laney began to feel cornered and that was never good.  She
hated
feeling trapped and while she knew her big sister had good intentions, it would end badly.

     “I have work in a couple of hours.” She murmured, raking a hand through her messy hair nervously.  “I should go get some rest before then.”

     “Please don’t avoid this.” Lydia pleaded, grasping her wrist gently.  “I know something is wrong.  You’re my sister, Laney.  I can sense it.  Why won’t you tell me?”

     “Because there’s nothing to tell.” She lied, huffing in annoyance.  “You’ve got a wedding to plan.  There’s no need for worrying over nothing.”

    “It’s not nothing to me.” Lydia frowned.  She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at her.  “Something is wrong.  You think I don’t pay attention to how you act sometimes?”

     “And just how do I act?”

     “Like the world is pressed down on your shoulders, like something is consuming you and I just want to help.  This isn’t the first time I’ve seen those red eyes and that puffy nose, Laney.  Nobody cries so often for no reason.  Please,”—she gripped her hand tightly between both of her own, pleading with her eyes—“talk to me.  That’s all I’m asking.  Tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.”

     “I don’t…want to talk about anything.” Laney pulled her hand free from her sister’s and backed away.  The look of hurt on Lydia’s face killed her, but this wasn’t a can of worms she wanted to open up so close to the wedding.  “Go back to bed, Lydia.  I’ll bring home something for supper tonight.”

     With that, she stepped into her bedroom and shut the door.

----------

Benji

     “Hey, Ben.  Buddy, can you take this up to Alex for me?  I need to take a piss, man.”

     “There are some things that can go without saying, Ed.  I got it.” Benji replied as he tugged his headphones off and reached for the clipboard his co-worker was extending towards him.

     “Sorry.” Ed gave him a goofy, lopsided grin and hurried out of the office, undoubtedly shoving past anyone who got in his way.

     Glancing at the clipboard between his hands, Benji studied the numbers from inventory.  Fridays were supposed to be Ed’s day, but damn him and his newly found bladder control problem.  He was milking it for all it was worth—Benji knew that—but he didn’t have a fair argument against the doctor’s note Ed had brought in the week before.

     “Damn.” He muttered, eyebrows pinching together.  “Does he even know how to do his fucking job?”

     It looked like he would be putting in overtime given Ed hadn’t even checked half the items he needed to, so he bowed his head and sighed heavily, once again questioning his decision to pick up such a shitty position at his neighbor-turned-friend’s ultimate nerd paradise shop.

      Benji had never truly considered himself a nerd until he became a teenager.  He liked playing video games and binge-watching
Star Wars and Lord of The Rings
, but as a kid, he wasn’t very big on reading novels or comic books.  Most of the customers who came into the store would have called him a fraud, but Benji was certain that nerds came in all shapes and forms.

     Some of them were even inked up and pierced, like him. 

     Some of them had wild hair that couldn’t make up its mind, like him.

     And maybe…hopefully…there were some of them that had been born into the wrong body and were working tirelessly to change how the world perceived them, just like him.

     Raking his upper teeth over the cold metal of his lip ring, he began scanning each isle for all the items Ed had missed.

     “Fucking lazy piece of shit.” He murmured beneath his breath, fingers quickly flitting over the tops of various gaming cards.  “Give the man one job and he can’t fucking do it.  Damn.”

     “Language, Benjamin.  We have customers here!”

     Glancing over the top of one shelf, Benji spotted Arial Calhoun, his neighbor in the apartment complex he’d once shared with Ags and Lydia.  Rolling his eyes, he lifted his index finger and made a small ‘x’ over his heart, as if he’d really keep such a ridiculous promise of censoring himself.

    
Ah, Lydia.

     Damn, how he missed having Lydia as a roommate.  She always made the best treats to surprise him with, bringing them in a cute little basket with an ice-cold coke to share.