Beyond Dreams: The Hutton Family Book 5 Read online

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  “A masterful blend of joy and angst.

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  “Abby Brooks writes books that draw readers right into the story. When you read about her characters, you want them to be your friends.”

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  Beyond Dreams

  The Hutton Family Book 5

  Abby Brooks

  Copyright © 2020 by Abby Brooks

  All 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.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Epilogue

  Finding Bliss Sneak Peek

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Abby Brooks

  Connect With Abby Brooks

  Chapter One

  Harlow

  Water lapped against the dock, a rhythmic reminder of who and where I was. Sun glittered across the water and I squinted, then shaded my eyes, brushing back the tendrils of hair curling in the sweat at my temples. I’d grown up in that very spot, standing at the edge of the world, listening to the secrets the sea whispered whenever my thoughts got too loud.

  Tomorrow, my brother Eli would marry the woman who finally tamed his heart and our family business, The Hutton Hotel—affectionately called The Hut—was hosting the reception. Behind me, a flurry of activity crawled over the grounds as my family and friends put the finishing touches on the party that would welcome Hope Maxwell into the Hutton clan. I was supposed to be up there, arranging lights and flowers while laughing and joking with the rest of them.

  And I would be.

  In a minute.

  I just needed a chance to breathe.

  A chance to throw a handful of worry into the ocean before it consumed me.

  When my dad passed away, I vowed to leave the days of needless stress and anxiety behind me. I’d made good on that promise—for the most part. I was a new and improved Harlow. Stronger. More stable. Less reliant on other people’s opinions to feel good about myself.

  My opinion was the only one that mattered…

  For the most part.

  I still had room to grow, but I was growing.

  I counted each wave, timing them with my breath. Instead of focusing on reasons to worry, I aimed my thoughts on all the good that had come into my life as a gull soared overhead. It circled, then landed a few feet away, its flat feet slapping the wood as its beady eye stared.

  I smiled and waved at the new arrival. “Hey, there.”

  The bird cocked its head and strutted closer, probably hoping for the snacks I sometimes kept in my pockets.

  “I don’t have anything for you today,” I murmured, then turned my attention back to the water.

  Footsteps thumped across the dock, followed by the flap of wings as my feathered friend took to the sky. I let out a long breath, flexed my shaking hands, and turned, smiling brightly.

  “Hey, Lolo.” Eli approached with a grin on his face and a swagger in his step. “Whatcha doin’?”

  “Just needed a minute,” I said, then followed the truth with a lie. “Lucas started barking orders, so I chose to remove myself. It was that or shock Mom by kicking our oldest brother in the balls.”

  “Solid choice.” Eli ran a hand through his dark hair. “Not sure anyone would blame you, though. Lucas earned himself at least one swift kick to the goods over the years.” As the second youngest Hutton and the only one sporting a rebellious streak, Eli had survived his fair share of encounters with our Marine brother’s black and white version of right and wrong.

  The wind blew my hair into my face and I drew my fingers through the blonde locks, then gathered them in a fist over my shoulder. “You excited about tomorrow?”

  “Definitely.” He crossed his arms over his chest, cocked his head, and cleared his throat. “You coming back?” He indicated our family with a jerk of his chin. “Or do you need more minutes?”

  “I’ll be there in just a sec.”

  With an understanding smile, Eli nodded and turned to go. My brothers knew me better than anyone. They knew my moods. Knew that sometimes, when the world was too big for me to handle, the water could wash it all away.

  I reached out to touch his wrist before he left. “I hope you know how happy I am for you,” I said and meant it with all my heart. Watching Eli fall in love with his roommate had been a wonderful thing. I hoped to find something like what they had someday. “The wedding is going to be beautiful and you and Hope are great together.”

  “Of course we’re great together. She’s great. I’m great.” He shrugged and dropped me a playful wink. “See ya up there, Lolo.” Eli trudged through the sand toward our family, breaking into a jog when he noticed his fiancée coming his way. He swooped her up and spun her around, then set her down to deposit a passionate kiss on her lips.

  There was a time, not long ago, when I thought I’d never see my family again. My brothers and I had scattered to the wind, each of us running as far from our alcoholic father as we possibly could. In the years before his death, happiness seemed out of reach for all of us, but one by one, my brothers proved that wasn’t true.

  As they made peace with themselves and healed from the mistakes in our past, they’d fallen in love with perfect women. Happiness bloomed in The Hut, chasing away the ugliness our father left behind. Light overcoming dark. Love overcoming hate. The cracks tracing through our hearts and souls repaired with gold, transforming the scars and the stories that came with them into something beautiful.

  And for a moment…

  One infinitesimally small moment…

  I thought I’d found my fairy tale, too. A dream come true.

  Through a twist of fate, I’d started talking to Collin West, a singer-songwriter with lyrics so deep, they sent chills racing across my skin. Melodies so haunting, I’d hum them for days. His music was everywhere, proving he earned every drop of fame he found.

  And I thought, somehow, the man capable of capturing the world and condensing it into poetry was interested in me.

  The youngest Hutton.

  The only daughter of a man who ran out of patience for children.

  A woman who took a risk on big dreams that fizzled in her hands.

  A shooting star that burned out before it hit the ground.

  Only…I wasn’t supposed to think stuff like that any longer. The new and improved Harlow Hutton didn’t wallow in self-destruction. She rose above it, soaring like the gulls swooping over the sea. Her self-worth was born of her own opinions. Hers, and no one else’s. I took a moment to rewrite those negative thoughts because my past didn’t define me. My present did. And my present was beautiful, with or without Collin Freaking West.

  He was on tour, which meant our conversations mostly happened through text, with hours or days of silence in between. That was fine with me. It gave me time to figure out what to say when he called me beautiful. Intriguing. Talented. When he told me he wanted to know everything about me. One night, after a particularly long stretch of silence, he asked me to finish the tour with him, to hop on a plane and travel the world with a superstar, and even though everything about him scared me to death…

  Even though the last risk I’d taken landed me in a situation I was too ashamed to admit…

  I decided to say yes.

  I forced down all my fears that I wasn’t good enough or strong enough or worthy enough, the very programming I’d decided no longer worked for
me, and asked him to come to Eli’s wedding as my date. I planned to accept his offer then, when we were finally face-to-face.

  I gathered my courage.

  Typed out a quick text.

  Then hit send on the invitation and hadn’t heard from Collin since.

  The wind blew through my hair again and I inhaled the scent of the ocean air. Closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun on my skin. Heard the laughter and conversation from my family, hard at work behind me. I smoothed my hands down my shirt and focused on the happy sounds coming from near The Hut.

  So, I didn’t have a torrid affair with a rock star. I had my brothers. And my mom. And four sisters-in-law who were quickly becoming my closest friends. I was an aunt to the cutest little babies I’d ever seen. Our family was stronger than it’d been for my entire life.

  I could not…I would not…feel sorry for myself when so much good was happening around me. My time would come. Maybe I just had to love myself a little more, first.

  With one last glance at the water, I headed back to help my family, my feet slipping through the sand as the sound of laughter grew louder with each step.

  Lucas glowered as I approached. “What the hell, Harlow? You want to kick me in the balls?”

  “Don’t we all?” quipped Wyatt, the second oldest. “I mean, you just have that look about you.”

  “Yup.” Caleb, the chillest of all Huttons, drawled the word with a grin. “A look that says ‘please take your frustrations out on my tender bits. I’m tough enough to handle it.’”

  Luc shook his head, doing his best to hide a smile. “What about the lives of my future children? Did you ever stop to wonder about that?” With an exaggerated sigh, he turned to his wife, Cat. “Be thankful you’re an only child, Katycat.”

  With a gentle laugh and list of last-minute wedding details a mile long, I wrapped myself in the love of my family and promised not to let Collin West ruin this day—or any of the others that followed.

  I had all that mattered right there. Who needed fairy tales and dreams come true when I had people like that surrounding me? Certainly not the new and improved Harlow Hutton, a woman strong enough to handle being ghosted by a superstar without batting an eye.

  With that thought spurring me on, I mentally flexed my arms, kissed my biceps, and got to work.

  Chapter Two

  Collin

  “Harlow isn’t a publicity stunt.” I glared at Athena Wetherstone—my manager, my fiercest advocate, and the devil on my shoulder. She was good at her job, probably because she didn’t have a soul. Keeping her around put me at risk of losing mine, but I couldn’t argue with what she did for my career.

  Athena settled deeper into her seat with an air of exasperation. “I didn’t say she’d be a publicity stunt. I said she’d be good for your image. The publicity would just be a bonus.”

  “Doesn’t matter what you call it. The answer’s still no.”

  I stared out the window of my private jet. Miles of water sparkled beneath us as we traveled from one city I’d already forgotten to another I’d forget just as quickly. Stella—a one-of-a-kind Martin acoustic guitar—sat at my feet, leaning against my thigh. I ran a finger along a string, the rough edge humming across my skin. The sensation soothed a part of me that felt naked without music.

  “Come on, Collin. You like this girl.”

  “I do.” I plucked the string, a single note of agreement. “She fucking flabbergasts me.” The day my old agent Maisie Brown quit her job to marry Harlow’s brother, she made me promise to keep my head on my shoulders and not let fame devour my soul.

  “You take care of yourself,” she said. “You’re on a wild ride. Let it shock you each and every day. Promise me you’ll stay flabbergasted.”

  I nodded, shoving my hands into my back pockets. “Each and every day.”

  Athena sucked her teeth, chasing away the memory. She narrowed a set of eyes so dark you couldn’t tell where the iris stopped and the pupil began. “You and that stupid word.”

  I frowned. “Which word? Fuck? I thought you were a fan, considering your liberal use.”

  “I love everything about the word fuck. So much emotion jammed into four little letters. No, I mean flabbergasted. You sound like you’re a from a different century.” She rolled her demon eyes and conjured an angel’s smile. “It’s a good move though, bringing this girl with you to finish the tour.”

  I picked up Stella and settled her into my lap. “I feel so much better now that I have your approval.” The sarcasm was so thick, it dripped to the floor and pooled at my feet.

  “I’m glad you see it my way.” Athena was smart enough to know I didn’t see it her way, and ballsy enough to pretend I did. I, however, didn’t care. She could pretend all she wanted. It wouldn’t change the truth. However loud she barked, my voice was the one that mattered.

  I scowled as I plucked a few chords. I’d met Harlow while visiting Maisie before her wedding, walking into the Hutton Hotel with Stella on my back and a smile on my face, unaware that everything was about to change.

  A melody filtered in from another room and I paused, tilting my head in the hopes I could hear more. It was sweet and soulful, grabbing my muse by the throat and forcing me to pay attention.

  Maisie bounded my way, calling out an excited greeting and obliterating the music.

  I waved her off before saying hello, closing my eyes and deepening the angle of my head. “What is that?” I asked, just as the melody stopped. “Damn it, Brown. You scared it away.”

  A woman emerged from the back, guitar in hand, shock spreading across her features. She was small, with hair so blonde it was white, and eyes so deep I could drown.

  She tried to apologize but I shook my head and stepped toward her. “No. No way. Don’t ever apologize for that.” I turned to Maisie. “Does she sing? Come on, Brown. You gotta tell me she sings.”

  “I’ll let you find that out for yourself.” Maisie wrapped me in a hug. “How you doing?” she asked. “Still flabbergasted?”

  My gaze went right back to the woman in the doorway. “So fucking flabbergasted.”

  Harlow Hutton.

  I hadn’t stopped thinking about her since that day and used every spare moment to talk with her. (Which wasn’t easy. My time was scheduled down to the second while on tour.)

  While it was her music that caught my attention, and her beauty that transfixed me, it was the woman I found in our conversations that captivated me. Sweet and kind, with thoughts that ran deep…I couldn’t shake the feeling she was made just for me and I intended to find out how good a match we really were.

  Harlow had invited me to come as her date to her brother’s wedding. I decided to surprise her, and with Eli and Maisie’s help, set that ball in motion. Not trusting myself to keep the secret, I never responded to her text. I hoped Harlow thought my silence had more to do with my busy schedule than me not wanting to come. I hoped her feelings weren’t hurt. But I also knew she’d get over it as soon as she understood why I ‘disappeared.’

  At least I hoped I knew…

  I tapped my fingers on the armrest, eager to be there already. Finally, I’d have her in front of me again. That luscious body in arm’s reach. Those fuck-me eyes blinking my way. That delightful mind shocking me with insight and intelligence.

  And maybe, just maybe, I’d find out if she could sing.

  I lifted an eyebrow at Athena. “For the record, I do not see it your way. You want Harlow on this tour because it’ll be good for sales. I’m bringing her because I like her and want to get to know her better. Not the same thing.” I gestured back and forth between us and shook my head. “Not at all.”