Thank you for having me! Please enjoy this exclusive excerpt from The Lost Year, book three in the Secrets of Neverwood trilogy. As the oldest foster brother to return to Neverwood, Devon had a difficult time finding his place in his new family. Things have since settled with Cal and Danny, but a new troubling mystery is unfolding…
In the corner of the lot, deep in the shadows of a towering spruce, sat a dark-colored SUV. While the sight was nothing extraordinary, he couldn’t help but flash back to several hours earlier, when, after their meeting, he’d walked Nicholas out to his car. A dark blue Ford Explorer with Nevada tags.
Half the bulbs in the lampposts were burned out, and the others dim with grime, so there wasn’t a chance of Devon seeing the license plate without getting closer. Wary, he crossed the lot, gaze skimming the tree line just beyond the SUV. He had little interest in getting involved in something that was none of his business. Twenty feet from the car, the blurry plate sharpened into a light blue rectangle topped by the snow-capped mountains of Nevada. Devon stopped, hands on his hips, heart racing for reasons that had nothing to do with his run.
What was Nicholas doing here?
He turned in a circle, squinting into the dark, before sidling toward the driver’s side window. Inside the car, a shadow shifted, and he dropped into a defensive stance, weight balanced on his toes. Adrenaline poured into his system, making his pulse pound in his ears. He stayed frozen for several seconds before daring to move again.
The shadow, he saw as he drew alongside the driver’s side window, was Nicholas. He’d reclined his seat against the boxes and bags filling the back, and was sleeping wedged between the headrest and the window, burrowed beneath a thin blanket. Forehead pressed to the glass, his face was two inches from Devon’s. Boldly, Devon bent down for a closer look. Without those hypnotic eyes to distract him, he was able to focus on Nicholas’s other features: the high cheekbones and square jaw, the nose that crooked slightly to the left, and the thick sable hair that looked even more disheveled than earlier. Unable to help the compulsion, he ran a finger over the glass, following the line of Nicholas’s jaw across to his parted lips.
Nicholas rolled his head, and Devon stumbled backward, berating himself. What the hell was he doing, fantasizing about a man who was almost certainly straight? Straight with a kid. Danny would have a field day. Devon walked in a tight circle, gulping cold night air, before stalking back to the SUV.
He’d owned beater cars tidier than this one. Reams of papers filled the passenger seat. Takeout food bags and stained foam coffee cups littered the floor. In the back, a plastic laundry basket filled with folded clothes battled for space with a half dozen file boxes. A pair of brown loafers, the ones Nicholas had been wearing earlier, were balanced precariously on the edge of the console, and beneath those sat a Seattle Times turned to the last installment of Devon’s series.
Devon tapped on the window.
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Secrets of Neverwood… Three foster brothers are called home to Neverwood, the stately Pacific Northwest mansion of their youth. They have nothing in common but a promise to Audrey, the woman they all called mother—that upon her death, they would restore the house and preserve it as a home for troubled boys.
But going home is never easy.
Cal struggles to recover from past heartbreak, while Danny fears his mistakes are too big to overcome. Devon believes he may never break down the barriers that separate him from honest emotion.
On the path to brotherhood, they discover the old mansion holds more than dusty furniture and secret passageways. Audrey’s spirit still walks its halls, intent on guiding “her boys” toward true love, and an old mystery stirs up a new danger—one that could cost the men far more than just the house.
Secrets of Neverwood #1—One Door Closes
Secrets of Neverwood #2—The Growing Season
Secrets of Neverwood #3—The Lost Year
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An avid supporter of gay rights, Libby donates her time to the Trevor Project and organizations that work to support marriage equality.
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