Silver Back (Wild Ones Book 1) Read online

  Silver Back

  A Single Mother & Fireman Romance (with a little Mountain Man thrown in)

  By Robin Edwards

  © Copyright 2018-2019 by Second Chances Press

  and Robin Edwards

  All rights reserved.

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher. Names and persons in this eBook are entirely fictional. They bear no resemblance to anyone living or dead. To protect the privacy of certain individuals the names and identifying details have been changed. This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  About the Author

  More Books by the Author

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  Prologue

  WILL SILVER

  Silverback (sil·ver·back /ˈsilvərˌbak/) n. a mature, dominant mountain gorilla, distinguished by a streak of silvery hair across the back and the top member of its social group.

  It would later be called one of the greatest football games in Roosevelt University’s history. The infamous game took place on October 22nd, 1999 and because it happened a little over a month before the supposed end of the world, winning the last game of the season was more important to all of us than any other game we’ve imagined playing our entire lives.

  Everyone in the town was riding on this game as much as our team was and those that weren’t able to get a ticket because our dilapidated stadium couldn’t hold everyone without falling apart, had to catch the game on the radio. That wouldn’t stop them from tuning in at 8:00 pm sharp.

  What made the game so famous wasn’t so much the time period but it was also because we were in the middle of a drought and on that particular night, the biggest rain storm of the decade hit, we took it as a sign that when 11:59 pm came on December 31st, we were going to go out in a blaze of glory. We were determined to win what was supposed to be the final football game of our lives because it felt like the apocalypse was going to come. The four horseman would ride in and incinerate all of us in one fell swoop but I’ll be damned if we were going to die losers of the State Championship.

  The storm landed in the middle of the first touchdown of the game, my touchdown in the second quarter. The field was flooded by halftime but we didn’t care. Both teams played on and by the time Roosevelt was deemed the victor, we had to shorten our celebration and pull out of there quickly. Experts believed that the levy bordering the county line eighty miles away, would likely break if the storm didn’t let up and flood our town before sunrise.

  The players and coaches along with those from the opposing team under my suggestion, assisted the deputies with escorting the crowd to their cars once the rain reached a dangerous level and was knee high in certain parts of the school.

  Normally, I’d take it upon myself to take over whenever I noticed those around me weren’t doing enough. I always believed there was an opportunity to do more than what others believed could be done and should be done.

  I guess that’s why I was named co-captain of the football team at the beginning of this season and was given the nickname: Silverback. Silverback was a partial amalgamation of my last name and the fact that the silverback was the one gorilla in its troop that made all of the decisions and pretty much took the responsibility for the safety and well-being of others.

  In the end, the storm slowed in such dramatic fashion an hour after the game ended and with the school emptied out. Tree branches and telephone poles were knocked down, blocking main roads. Anything that wasn’t cemented to the ground was blown from where it was rooted and landed miles away in another part of town.

  It was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life and I was forever changed that night. Prior to October 22nd, I was nothing more than a cocky asshole in college and co-captain of the Roosevelt Raiders. Twenty four hours later, because of the storm, I lost my mother forever.

  ****

  MADISON GREY

  2018 – 19 years later

  It happened too quickly, one minute the sun was out as it hung high overhead, blinding me the entire time as I drove side by side with the ocean along California State Route 1 – Pacific Coast Highway. During the next minute, the sun disappeared and the sky grew eerily ominous. By the way the clouds had a dark grey color to them, I knew a storm was brewing. If I didn’t know it now, I definitely knew it earlier because of the news broadcast I watched early this morning.

  We were due Category one wind speeds and although that was the least harmful type on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, at top speeds of at least 75 miles per hour or more, it was enough to rip roof shingles off homes and cause other major types of property damage. If some idiot messed around outside, it could potentially cause the loss of some lives out there.

  I knew better than to be outside and it didn’t matter if the wind’s speed picked up to sixty miles an hour along the coast line just now, I had no business being out here but I had nowhere else to drive to. My cell phone started to screech loudly with a message from the Wireless Emergency Alert system announcing a flash flood warning for the next forty-eight hours.

  The stop and go movement of traffic started to let up and picked up speed as I passed the line of beach front properties. Residents were starting their way inside after nailing plywood to their windows. Those out on the street still like me were stuck without anything they could really do unless they decided to take an alternate route or knew how to fly right on out of there.

  It didn’t matter if I stayed where I was in these line of cars or took a different route, it was going to take forever to get home because everyone was doing the exact same thing as I was. It was going to be hell out here and it wasn’t just because of the storm.

  The rain fell harder and when the rain froze into blocks of hail it startled me. Drops of ice nailed my windshield as I drove and caused traffic to slow down to a crawl again which only aggravated my stress to new heights. I gripped the wheel tightly at the ten and two positions, my fingers turning into a pale white because of the tight grip.

  It was hard to see the car in front of me and if it weren’t for their brake lights flashing red off and on every few seconds, I wouldn’t have known they were there. You’d think that having the windshield wipers turn on full blast as they zoomed back and forth to clear my obscured vision, it still wasn’t enough to match the speed of the raining falling.

  It was bad enough I had to deal with the falling rain but because it fell so hard, I had to lean forward to close in on the space between my body and the dashboard, just to be able to see the dotted lines that separated each lane on the road. It was safe to say that no one should still be out in weather like this.

  There were long periods during the drive where I found myself daydreaming and getting lost in my own thoughts. I’d eventually wake up from i
t and find myself several miles down the road from what I remembered last and I wondered how I managed to drive on autopilot instead of finding myself in a dangerous car accident especially when I could barely see anything at all.

  Like a water fall, the storm blanketed my windshield, hindering my ability to drive well. My headlights didn’t improve matters and it didn’t help at all either. Under different circumstances, I’d have pulled over until the storm passed but I couldn’t, otherwise I’d get caught in the potential flooding we were all warned about on all media platforms.

  Nowhere was safe so it was important that I get to my destination as quickly as possible. Everyone on the road was driving semi-recklessly and were in the same situation as I was. I had to make an executive decision about whether I wanted to pull over and stop somewhere safe or keep driving. In the end, I chose to keep driving.

  I prayed to myself silently that I would get to my destination safely and I hoped that the driver in front of me didn’t do anything rash and that I didn’t do anything to hinder the driver behind me. As far as I saw it, we were all in this together and as long as we kept driving in a reasonable manner, we would make it out alive, together.

  A few minutes later, as quickly as it had begun, the hurricane weakened just a little and my windshield wipers managed to keep up with the rate at which the rain fell. The storm hadn’t passed, so the only logical explanation I could come up with was that I as in front of the storm or it had passed me.

  Despite not being out of the woods yet, the drivers took the weakened storm as a sign to speed up. I didn’t think it was necessarily a good idea but it wasn’t as if I could stop them myself and scream “Hey, slow down. It’s dangerous to drive fast in this weather!” I didn’t blame them, however, they were suffering through it as much as I was. They didn’t want to continue getting caught in the storm and neither did I.

  Trying to keep up with the speed of traffic, I decided to drive a little faster while the storm weakened further. I was in good spirits before my dashboard suddenly emitted a loud beep indicating that I was getting low on fuel and my heart dropped. Just when things were starting to lighten up temporarily, there was another obstacle taking its place. Just like my life.

  I swore the next time I went on a long road trip somewhere, I was going to do things in a more organized fashion even if it was a little bit tedious. No one grew up wanting to do anything difficult or the hard way, but we often did things as children that we didn’t want to do to make our parents happy so that we could get back to having fun too.

  I glanced at the dashboard again. The gas gauge needle was getting closer the letter ‘E’ the longer and faster I drove. Despite my anxiety about getting passed the storm, I turned on the ECO setting and slowed my speed a little, hoping to save what gas I had left in the tank to make it to the next station.

  Cars being to whiz by, the water from their tires sprayed my windows were making my windshield wipers work overtime. It didn’t matter, I was determined to make it to the next gas station, which I hoped would not be packed but considering what I was up against, and it only made sense to fill up during an oncoming natural disaster.

  Another fifteen minutes passed before I saw a rest stop sign. I blew out a sigh of relief knowing that it was a little over a mile away, according to the sign. I put on my right turn blinker, merged into the next lane on my right and exited the freeway before pulling into closest available gas pump.

  I made it to the gas station safely but I knew the storm was going to continue on its war path. We were due more high speed wins and pouring rain within the next ten to fifteen minutes, if not sooner than that because what can I say? I wasn’t exactly lucky. I had time, but not much.

  As quickly as I could, I filled my gas tank with unleaded gas that was far too pricey than what I was used to and they probably jacked up the price whenever there was a storm brewing. It would be several hours before I would reach my parent’s house so I thought it was best to grab some snacks to tide Billy and me over. It wasn’t ideal but it was the best option we had.

  I helped Billy get out of his car set and I held his hand as we went inside to grab what we could. I definitely had to get milk, he wouldn’t be able to nap in the car without it.

  As I walked inside the mini mart that was attached to the gas station, it was far more crowded than I expected it to be and the cashier had a line that was already going on six people deep. It looked like everyone on the road had the same idea – don’t be stubborn and take the time to get gas before you run out of it in a part of town you didn’t want to get stuck in.

  I grabbed a basket and several bottles of water before heading towards the refrigerators that encased other bottles of water, sodas, alcohol and milk. Mixed in with the juices, I grabbed a couple of bottles of plain old’ Vitamin D milk for Billy. It was already passed the time for his mid-day nap so he would definitely be asking for it soon. Hopefully, if I stayed ahead of the storm, he’d nap the rest of the way.

  By the time I headed towards the cashier to pay, the line hadn’t moved much so I was only the sixth person in line. It would have moved faster if it weren’t for the self-righteous couple at the counter arguing with the cashier. During times like this, whatever it was, wasn’t that important.

  Everyone waiting in line behind them including me were already anxious and impatient with very little tolerance for delays of any kind. They were all on edge and silent glared at the couple arguing with the cashier wanting them to hurry up and if they delayed all of us much longer, someone was bound to step up and say something. We all just wanted to get out of here.

  I could feel the tension in the store all over and I sighed but it didn’t help much. I closed my eyes, counted to five before exhaling and then opened them again. A few minutes later, the couple seemed to either have gotten their way or gave up because they stepped away from the counter and muttered furiously as they headed towards the exit.

  “Why are we leaving, I wanted to cash in my lottery ticket. It’s probably a winning ticket.” the woman whined.

  “Hon, the gentleman said the machine was down.” her companion reasoned.

  “Then let’s go somewhere else. I have to check and see if I’ve won.” she insisted.

  “Are you kidding me? It’s raining like cats and dogs out there and you want to check to see if you’ve won?”

  “I don’t care if a meteor hit the planet, I always check right away. You promised me!”

  What was taking them so long? The man at the register looked confused and helpless on what he should do about the woman. It made me wonder if this was his first day which only made me feel even sorrier for him. The couple eventually left a minute later and the line shortened in front of me, transaction after transaction.

  A couple of customers later, I finally reached the counter, opened up my purse and paid with cash thankfully. With weather link this, you never knew if your debit and credit cards would work and if you had no cash on you, you were stuck. I always kept a decent amount of cash on me for emergencies but rarely ever used it.

  After the cashier gave me the change that was owed to me, Billy and I walked outside towards where my vehicle was still parked. The couple from earlier got into the SUV at the pump in front of me still in the middle of their argument. Knowing how it the day must be frustrating for everyone for a variety of reasons, I couldn’t blame them. We all had our own gripes and sometimes those problems affected others around us and in turn affected more people until we all crashed and fell like dominoes.

  I pulled out of the gas station as quickly as I could while passing the bottle of milk to Billy who was safely buckled into his car seat behind me. As I turned into the far right lane to merge into traffic the last thing I heard as my vehicle was clipped on my side was the blare of a car horn before everything went black.

  Chapter One

  MADISON GREY

  Several Months Later…

  “Miss Grey?” the voice on the other end of the line was way too ch
ipper for seven o’clock in the morning and on a Monday.

  “Yes, this is Madison. Who may I have the pleasure of speaking to?” I asked, trying to hide the exhaustion in my voice.

  “Good morning! This is Esther from the Human Resources Department of JB West, Inc.” the woman answered with a slight accent that I couldn’t quite place.

  “Yes, yes of course,” I said sitting up in my bed. “How are you?”

  “I’m well, thank you. I wanted to give you a call and congratulate you. After a lengthy deliberation, we have chosen you as our Executive assistant to CEO Tony Brighton ,” she announced in a high pitched town as if she was telling me that I won the lottery.

  Technically I did, I had been looking for a new job for several months while I lived with my parents and for a while, being in the hospital and then physical therapy had prevented me from submitting applications. There was no way anyone would have hired me knowing that I would have to take time off to attend physical therapy three times a week and picking up my son, Billy from school but fortunately my retired parents were able to assist me with that while I was at my appointments.

  “Oh, that is so wonderful. I am so glad you called,” I replied. Yes, I did win the lottery.

  “Your first day on the job will be Monday at 8:00 a.m. unless you have to give your current employer some notice…”

  “No, no, no. I’m not working right now.”

  “Oh, great! As I’ve said, your first day will be this coming Monday at 8:00 a.m. Please bring two forms of identification and dress code is business attire and most of all, be ready to jump right in.” Esther explained.

  “I’m looking forward to it,” I replied, excitement bubbling up in my chest.