All Chapters of Dream a Little Dream of Me: The Thorntons Book 4: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.Dream a Little Dream of Me (The Thorntons Book 4)Published by Blue Violet Press LLCSeattle, WashingtonCopyright © 2017 by Iris MorlandCover design by Resplendent MediaAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Gazing out at the cloudless blue sky, Lizzie tried to find the musical notes that were just outside of her grasp. They teased at the edges of her mind, and when she felt like she was close to capturing one, they fluttered away like butterflies.She sighed. Setting her guitar down beside the bench, she rubbed her neck. Now it was late July, and Lizzie hadn’t written anything in four months. It had been her longest dry spell to date, and a part of her was terrified that she’d never get over it.Her producer, Terry, had called her yesterday to remind her that he needed something, anything. “I can’t keep putting the label off, Lizzie,” he’d said exasperatedly. “They don’t care if you have writer’s block or whatever. Either they get a product or they don’t.”Lizzie knew she should push through whatever this was, but no music came to her. No lyrics, no notes, nothing. She was as dry as the desert.She’d told herself it was because she was distracted, but it had been over a month since sh

A few weeks later, in mid-August, Trent sat in his car, not getting out for a long moment. The house looked even more dilapidated than usual, the paint peeling, the shutters falling from the windows. Junk of all sorts lined the porch—from furniture to tools to bags of God only knew what—and weeds had sprung up all over the yard. Trent had sent someone to mow the lawn to keep the neighbors from complaining, but he’d quit after mowing the lawn all of three times.Trent couldn’t blame the guy. He didn’t want to be around his father, either.Edward Younger had once been a prosperous man. He’d started in manufacturing in the 1970s, and he’d moved up the ranks until he’d made a good salary that could support his wife and five children. As the oldest son, Trent had looked up to Edward and had wanted to emulate his father when he grew up. Trent would get a good job and take care of his family just like Edward.But when Trent’s mother, Beatrice, had begun to sink further into mental illness

Lizzie didn’t know why she’d agreed to come to The Fainting Goat. She’d told herself she didn’t care if she ran into Trent, and at any rate, she needed to tell him her news. She’d told Seth that she wasn’t going to avoid all of Trent’s restaurants like she needed to be ashamed of herself. Seth had grumbled but, to her surprise, hadn’t protested anymore and had agreed to meet her at the bar that evening.Now, standing in the hallway and staring at Trent, who wasn’t saying anything, Lizzie felt the edges of her vision blacken. Dizziness swamped her, and then her knees gave out. She vaguely remembered hearing Trent call her name before she lost consciousness.She woke up on the floor. Trent was kneeling over her on one side, Seth on the other. Groaning, she took a deep breath to stave off the nausea. Her head pounded, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to faint again or just puke.“Lizzie, can you hear me?” Trent asked. He touched her face with gentle fingers before pulling out his p

Lizzie awoke to rain. It pattered against the roof, and she rose from her bed with a wide yawn. She watched the rain fall, a little surprised to see it raining in late August. Tracing patterns on the glass of the window, she tried to order her thoughts, but mostly, she was just tired.“Do you hear the rain?” she murmured, touching her belly. She wasn’t showing much, but when she looked in the mirror, she could see a little bump beginning to form.Her heart squeezed with so much love it threatened to overwhelm her. Oh, baby, I want you so much. Do you know that?The circumstances weren’t ideal, to say the least, but Lizzie couldn’t help but feel joyous that this new life would join her. This child would never fill the hole in her heart where her first baby lay, but this felt like a chance to make things right.It was a chance to be the mother that she hadn’t gotten to be.She found Seth sitting on the couch in the living room, his feet propped up on the coffee table. He didn’t