Hopes and Dreams Read online

  Hopes and Dreams

  Synopsis

  Riley Warren has spent her entire life in the same small town in Upstate New York. There aren’t many prospects for true love, but she keeps hoping she’ll find it somehow. She dreams of owning the small movie theater she manages, but that takes money, which is hard to get when you live paycheck to paycheck.

  Victoria Thayer has fallen for a woman more interested in her money than her heart for the last time. When she runs into Riley, the first girl she ever had a crush on, at their high school reunion, she’s hoping there might just be a chance for the kind of relationship she’s always wanted. But Victoria can’t help wondering if Riley too is only after her money, and Riley can’t seem to forgive the fact that Victoria was part of a group of kids who used to bully her.

  When hopes and dreams are on the line, will true love find a way?

  What Reviewers Say About PJ Trebelhorn’s Work

  On the Fly

  “This was such an easy book to love. The story flowed beautifully, characters were really well developed, and I couldn’t put it down from the minute I started it. I also think it was really excellent how engaged I was in the sections that concentrated on ice hockey even though it is not a sport I know well.”—Les Rêveur

  Twice in a Lifetime

  “Twice in a Lifetime is a sweet and easy read with two likable characters whom readers will root for. Featuring a widow and a police officer who share the same tragedy, the book deals with their intertwining backstory tenderly and thoughtfully. Twice in a Lifetime also features a compelling antagonist, a welcome dash of action and great explorations of power dynamics within lesbian relationships.”—RT Book Reviews

  The Right Kind of Wrong

  “[A] nice, gentle read with some great secondary characters, easy pacing, and a pleasant writing style. Something you could happily read on a lazy Sunday afternoon.”—Rainbow Book Reviews

  “PJ Trebelhorn has written a romantic, sexy story with just the right amount of angst.”—Kitty Kat’s Book Review Blog

  “Quinn has had her heart broken in the past and to avoid it happening again decides to enjoy life as a player. She’s always had feelings for her best friend Grace but when they met they decided to be friends and Quinn will always honor that commitment. Grace however is only now realizing twenty years later that she has maybe had feelings for Quinn all along…but can she take a chance on them losing their very close friendship? The love story between these two characters is well formed and you can understand their feelings for one another as well as knowing the inner turmoil of potentially losing your best friend…”—Les Rêveur

  Taking a Gamble

  “This is a truly superb feel-good novel. Ms Trebelhorn is obviously an accomplished writer of engaging and riveting tales. Not only is this a very readable novel but it is full of humour and convincing, beautifully written and conceived realities about falling in love for the first time.”—Inked Rainbow Reads

  Desperate Measures

  “I love kick-ass police detectives especially when they’re women. This book contains a superior specimen of the breed.”—Rainbow Book Reviews

  From This Moment On

  “From This Moment On is a fine read for coping with loss as well as being a touching lesbian romance tale.”—Midwest Book Review

  “…Trebelhorn created characters for From This Moment On that are flawed, faulted and wholly realistic: While many of the characters are struggling with loss, their unique approaches to dealing with it reveal their weaknesses and give the reader a deeper appreciation of the characters…From This Moment On…tells a gripping, emotional story about love, loss and the fusion of the two.”—Philadelphia Gay News

  Hopes and Dreams

  Brought to you by

  eBooks from Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  http://www.boldstrokesbooks.com

  eBooks are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared or given away as it is an infringement on the copyright of this work.

  Please respect the rights of the author and do not file share.

  Hopes and Dreams

  © 2020 By PJ Trebelhorn. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-63555-671-1

  This Electronic Original Is Published By

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, NY 12185

  First Edition: August 2020

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editor: Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Susan Ramundo

  Cover Design By Tammy Seidick

  eBook Design by Toni Whitaker

  By the Author

  From This Moment On

  True Confessions

  Missing

  Trusting Tomorrow

  Desperate Measures

  Up the Ante

  Taking a Gamble

  The Right Kind of Wrong

  Twice in a Lifetime

  On the Fly

  Face Off

  Hopes and Dreams

  Acknowledgments

  My eternal thanks to Radclyffe, Sandy Lowe, and everyone at Bold Strokes Books who make this such an incredible family to be a part of. You’re all amazing!

  To my editor, Cindy Cresap, thank you doesn’t seem to be enough for all you do. The notes you send with my edits always make me smile.

  To my wife, Cheryl, I can’t put into words how much your support means to me. You are my rock, and I’m incredibly blessed to have you in my life.

  A special thank you to all the women and men on the front lines fighting the battle that is Covid-19. You are all appreciated and loved.

  And last but not least, a huge thank you to you, the readers. You all keep me on my toes and every note of encouragement serves to remind me why I love to write.

  Dedication

  For Cheryl, Always

  Prologue

  Riley Warren stared, transfixed by the aftermath of the horrific crash she’d just witnessed. The brand-new Mercedes she’d been admiring from directly behind it was broadsided as it pulled away from the stop sign. The pickup that hit it hadn’t had its headlights on, and it never even slowed down for its stop sign. The Mercedes was off the road after being pushed quite a few feet, and the driver of the pickup had been thrown through his windshield, obviously having not been wearing his seat belt. He wasn’t moving from where he landed about twenty feet from the Mercedes, and Riley guessed he was probably dead.

  She could hear absolutely nothing but the pounding of her own heart, but she realized she wasn’t breathing and forced herself to start. She fumbled for the phone in her pocket but never took her eyes off the scene. It was dark and there were no other cars on the road. Not surprising since Riley was on her way home from work and it was almost one o’clock in the morning. She quickly gave the information to the 911 operator but dropped her phone when she saw what looked like the beginning of a fire inside the Mercedes.

  Without giving much thought to what she was doing, she jumped out of her car and ran toward the accident. There was no way an ambulance was going to make it here in time to rescue the driver if those were indeed flames she was seeing. She was pretty sure cars didn’t really explode after an accident like they did in the movies, but just in case, she knew she needed to get the driver out.

  The window was shattered, but there was no way she was going to get the door open since that was where the pickup had hit it, so she pulled o
ut the pocketknife she always carried with her and quickly sliced through the seat belt.

  “Can you hear me?” she asked, ignoring the heat coming from the flames which hadn’t yet overtaken everything. Maybe she could get this person out before it got too bad if she was lucky. It was a woman and she was groaning, but she didn’t seem to be fully aware of her surroundings. Riley took a deep breath and maneuvered herself so she could get her arms under the woman’s and tried to pull her out. She wasn’t budging. “Ma’am, you have to wake up. You need to get out of the car now!”

  “What?” the woman said, looking around in a daze before apparently realizing she was in grave danger. She looked up at Riley, but Riley couldn’t see her face very well because it was covered in blood from a cut somewhere on her head.

  “Can you move?” Riley asked, wondering how in the world she was able to remain so calm in the midst of the chaos surrounding her. She took a moment to wipe the blood from the woman’s eyes. They looked familiar somehow, but she didn’t know of anyone in town who had enough money to afford a Mercedes, new or not. Well, except for the Thayers, but she didn’t want to think about that as a possibility. She shook her head. None of it mattered. She needed to get this woman out now.

  “Yes,” she said and nodded her head. Her eyes were wild and full of fear, and before Riley could even try to pull her once more, she started screaming and kicking her legs. The fire had finally reached her.

  Riley tugged again, and probably because the woman was now kicking her legs, was able to pull her out. She used her jacket to put out the flames on her legs before dragging her about twenty feet away in case the whole thing did actually go up. She finally let her go and fell back onto her ass, completely out of breath.

  The woman was passed out now, but whether it was from pain or exhaustion Riley couldn’t say. She maneuvered herself so she sat with the woman’s head in her lap, not wanting to leave her in case she woke up again. Riley knew she wouldn’t want to be alone had their roles been reversed. She spared a glance at the man who had been driving the pickup, but she was now sure he was dead. No doubt drunk, too. He hadn’t moved, and his body was at an unnatural angle. She looked down at the woman again and wiped away more of the blood from her face.

  Riley’s heart lurched, and her breath caught as she finally recognized the face. It was one of the Thayers. But was it Victoria or Vanessa? They were identical twins, and Riley hadn’t seen either of them in nearly twenty years. Not since their high school graduation. If it was Vanessa, and had she known beforehand, she might have thought twice about reaching into a burning car to save her. She looked at her own arm and saw it was pretty badly burned. Probably from when she was putting the fire out on the woman since the flames hadn’t reached where her arms were before she got her out of the car.

  She glanced over her shoulder when she heard sirens approaching but still didn’t move until one of the paramedics, Megan Wilson, her best friend, came running over to where she was sitting in the middle of the road.

  “Jesus Christ, what the hell happened here?” she asked, dropping to her knees and seeing the condition of whichever Thayer sister was in Riley’s arms. She met Riley’s eyes. “You’re burned too. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Riley answered, waving her off. She knew when her adrenaline high wore off she’d be in a world of hurt, but until then she was okay playing the hero. “She needs a lot of help though.”

  “Don’t move,” Megan said with a quick nod before she ran over to check on the other driver. Riley saw her shake her head, then Megan ran back to her rig to get what she needed to help, stopping briefly to give directions to her partner. Riley had never been more grateful her best friend and roommate was an EMT. Unless this was Vanessa. Riley chuckled and shook her head because she knew it wouldn’t have mattered. It wasn’t in her nature to not help someone in need.

  But damn, it was just nice to fantasize for a moment.

  Chapter One

  One Year Later

  Victoria Thayer looked at the time on the laptop she was using to answer her email. She was not looking forward to going back to the house she’d grown up in, a place she hadn’t visited since graduating college sixteen years ago. Her mother, Vera, had made it perfectly clear she wasn’t welcome there after coming out to her and her father. And now, at Vanessa’s request, she was going there for a three-week stay leading up to Vanessa’s wedding.

  Vanessa had been her best friend as well as her identical twin sister while they were growing up, and she’d never been able to deny her anything. Even if it meant dealing with Vera again for an entire three weeks it seemed. She’d taken to calling her mother Vera when she’d made it clear she no longer saw Vic as her daughter.

  Her father, on the other hand, had been nothing but supportive of Vic, always. She loved him, and she’d loved his parents as well. Her grandfather had started the Thayer Group when he’d been twenty-two years old, and he’d grown it into a multi-billion-dollar company by the time he’d passed away. They’d started with luxury hotels, but spread out to restaurants and, more recently, day spas. As a result, they now had more money than they knew what to do with.

  Vic had always loved when they’d visited her grandparents. Their house was always so full of positive feelings, unlike the house she’d grown up in. She closed her laptop and stood to look out at the view of New York City through the floor to ceiling windows in her office. She sighed heavily and rested her forehead against the glass. She was so tired of this life. She knew a lot of people would give anything to have her position and wealth, but she’d never truly been happy working as the head of marketing for the Thayer Group. Her passion was in her painting, even if she never sold another piece. She often thought she’d be perfectly happy living somewhere secluded spending her days doing nothing but painting.

  “Daydreaming again?” Vanessa asked as she walked into the office without knocking. Vic turned to face her and gave her a weary smile. Vanessa walked over to her and placed a hand on her arm. “Or are you just dreading going back to Wolf Bay?”

  “Not Wolf Bay, per se,” she said with a shrug. “But home. To Vera’s home. I don’t know how you managed to talk me into spending three weeks there.”

  “I want you there with me, you know that.” Vanessa moved to sit on the couch along the far wall and crossed her legs.

  Vic smiled and wondered at the fact they were identical twins, but so different in how they presented themselves. Vanessa got most of the feminine traits, and Vic was definitely more on the butch side. Vanessa’s blond hair was long and stylish, and Vic’s was short and stylishly messy. Before her accident, Vanessa had worn dresses and skirts as often as she could, and Vic hadn’t worn one since her high school graduation. She was much more comfortable in tailored suits, and if she wasn’t at work, she was wearing sweatpants or cargo shorts and T-shirts.

  “But why for so long?” she asked as she joined Vanessa on the couch. “You know as well as I do that Vera’s planning everything the way she wants it to be, so I don’t understand why you even need to be there other than for the ceremony.”

  “I need to give my opinion on things.”

  “Even if she won’t listen to anything you say? This is going to be an event for her and her social circle. How many people have you actually invited that you really want to be there?”

  “I don’t have a lot of friends, you know that. And neither do you since you brought it up.” Vanessa smiled to show she didn’t mean anything negative by her words, but even if she did, it wouldn’t have mattered to Vic. She was fine without any more than a couple of close friends. Vanessa leaned forward to look her in the eye. “I love you for agreeing to be there with me. It means more than you know. But can we put the animosity for Mother away for the next three weeks? Please?”

  Vic shook her head and gave a small smile. “I’ll try, but if she pushes me, you know I’ll push back.”

  “Understood, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Vanessa got
to her feet and headed for the door. She stopped when she reached it and looked over her shoulder. “We’re going in your car, right?”

  “Yeah,” Vic said as she stood and faced her. Vanessa had come a long way since the accident, but she was still wary about driving. Vic really couldn’t blame her. No doubt she’d be reluctant to get behind the wheel too if it had happened to her. “Just be ready to leave first thing in the morning.”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  Vic went back to the window and stared at the skyline. Truth be told, facing Vera again didn’t worry her in the least. The possibility of running into Riley Warren was what had her stomach all tied up in knots. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Riley was her greatest regret in life. She’d played a part in making Riley’s life a living hell their senior year, and it had torn her apart for the past twenty years.

  She let out a breath and shook her head. If only she’d had the guts back then to admit she’d been in love with Riley, her life might have turned out completely different. Then again, maybe things had turned out exactly as they were meant to. Living a life devoid of true feelings for another human being must have been her penance for being an asshole in high school.

  “Knock, knock,” her father said as he stuck his head into her office. “I really did knock, but you must not have heard me.”

  “Sorry, I was lost in thought.” She smiled and motioned for him to come in. She took a seat behind her desk as he sat across from her. “What’s up?”