Book 2 - The Lost Series
Liz Lovelock
The Missing One
Book 2 - The Lost Series
Liz Lovelock
Copyright 2015 Liz Lovelock
All Rights Reserved
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, real people, and real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are products of the Author’s imagination and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, organisations or places is entirely coincidental.
All rights are reserved. This book is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the express written permission of the Author. All songs, song titles and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.
Cover design by Cover to Cover Designs
Formatting by Swish Design & Editing
Editing by Swish Design & Editing
Proofread by KMS Freelance Editing
Cover Image Copyright 2015
Dedication
To my 3 amazing sisters,
Melanie, Stephanie and Rachel.
I couldn’t ask for better sisters, you are my best friends.
~ A Sisters Bond Lasts Forever~
A Note for the Reader
This book has been written using UK English and contains euphemisms and slang words that form part of the Australian spoken word, which is the basis of this book’s writing style.
Please remember that the words are not misspelled, they are slang terms and are part of the everyday, Australian lifestyle. This book has been written using UK English.
If you would like further explanation, or to discuss the translation or meaning of a particular word, please do not hesitate to contact the author – contact details have been provided, for your convenience, at the end of this book.
I hope you enjoy a look into the Australian way of life.
Acknowledgements
I have so many people to thank, but I will try making it short yet sweet.
Firstly, I would love to thank my readers who have stuck by me, pushing and encouraging me to keep going with Melodi and Corban’s story. Falling pregnant and having baby number three arrive into the Lovelock homestead, threw me a curveball and writing became hard, but I’m so glad you all didn’t give up on me. It’s here now and I really hope you love it like I do. I love you all!
Thank you to Kaylene at Swish Design & Editing for the hard work put into helping make The Missing One perfect and my words magical. For the wonderful formatting, and for your reassurance in my work. Thank you to KMS Freelance Editing for proofreading and offering great advice where needed. To Kari at Cover to Cover Designs for another amazing cover and all the effort put into it.
Thank you to all the blogs that have helped me in my journey, and especially to the ladies at Give Me Books for running my release, I couldn’t have asked for anything better. You’re all amazing!
A special thanks to Linda and Melissa for assisting me with contacting blogs and helping me manage things while I was MIA with baby Finn. I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you to my beta girls Kristine from Glass Paper Ink Book Blog, Felicia Tatum, Belinda O’Brien, Cheryl, Karen Harper, TBird, and KE Osborn. I appreciate every single piece of advice offered. You have no idea how much I value your opinions. You’re wonderful friends who help and inspire me to be better and improve myself and believe in my writing.
To the girls in my Luscious Ladies group, thank you for always being there to support me and when I need to have a vent about something.
I wanted to keep this short and sweet, but I need to mention the following ladies who were there for me when I wanted to give it all up. (I blame the pregnancy hormones.) Felicia Tatum, TL Smith, KE Osborn, Stephanie Smith, Emma Fitzgerald, Lauren McKellar, Allyson Sinclair, Belinda O’Brien, Lila Rose, and Jemma Brown. All of you supported and cheered me through a hard time while not only writing this book but by being wonderful friends to lend an ear when I needed it. I love you all and appreciate every single bit of support you have shown and advice you have given, it has meant the world to me.
To my husband Mark and my three beautiful monsters, Amelia, Cale, and Finn. I love you all to the moon and back. I couldn’t have done this without you all. You’re my world.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Epilogue
Connect with Me Online
About the Author - Liz Lovelock
Chapter One
Melodi
Was last night a dream?
Did it actually happen? The broken wrist…yep that happened. Being told I’m gonna be a mum…of twins! Yep, that happened as well.
A new kind of joy pumps through my veins. A flash of Corban’s face after seeing the little peanuts on the screen enters my mind, his eyes lit up with new purpose and meaning.
He’s going to be a great dad.
My heart clenches with the thought of what else happened last night. This can’t be real. I must have passed out before I got home and Corban put me to bed. Please let it be that. Yes, that had to be a dream. It felt like one of those dreams that are so real it caused physical pain, to stab through my heart, with the visual of her standing there.
What would I do if she was here?
Laying here with my eyes closed I think through it all piece by piece. I’m not sure where my thoughts are right now and this frustrates me. Suddenly there’s movement near my arm making me bolt upright. My head’s a little dizzy from moving so quickly as my eyes fly open scanning my surroundings. I blink a few times to try and clear my blurry eyes and fuzzy head.
Sucking in a hard breath that quickly fills my lungs, I turn to look beside me, and a peaceful, sleeping little angel is there. A girl.
Who does she belong to? Am I still dreaming?
She has wavy black hair that falls just past her shoulders. Her pale skin instantly reminds me of Abby’s. I forcefully tear my eyes away from the sleeping angel to the much larger body beside her.
Abby…
The air in my lungs evaporates, as I clutch at my racing heart that threatens to explode from my chest.