Saving Rain

Saving Rain A Novel By Kelsey Kingsley Copyright Copyright © 2023 by Kelsey Kingsley All rights reserved. Visit my website at http://kelseykingsley.com Cover Designer: Murphy Rae Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Contents Title. 1 Copyright 2 Dedication. 5 A Letter from the Author 5 PROLOGUE. 6 CHAPTER ONE. 9 CHAPTER TWO.. 22 CHAPTER THREE. 31 CHAPTER FOUR.. 43 CHAPTER FIVE. 53 CHAPTER SIX. 56 CHAPTER SEVEN.. 63 CHAPTER EIGHT. 67 CHAPTER NINE. 74 CHAPTER TEN.. 81 CHAPTER ELEVEN.. 90 CHAPTER TWELVE. 96 CHAPTER THIRTEEN.. 105 CHAPTER FOURTEEN.. 112 CHAPTER FIFTEEN.. 119 CHAPTER SIXTEEN.. 130 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.. 142 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.. 155 CHAPTER NINETEEN.. 167 CHAPTER TWENTY. 181 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. 187 CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.. 196 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE. 206 CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.. 213 CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE. 225 CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX. 230 CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.. 241 CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT. 259 CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE. 265 CHAPTER THIRTY. 275 CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE. 281 EPILOGUE. 286 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 294 About the Author. 296 Books by Kelsey Kingsley. 297 For Daddy & Mike— Because above all else, You are good men. Two of the best. A Letter from the Author Dear Reader, This is my favorite book I’ve ever written—at this point, anyway. I’m jealous of you—genuinely and horribly jealous. Because you get to meet Soldier for the first time. And let me tell you, I have read through this story time and time again, and unlike every other book I’ve written, I still haven’t reached a point of being tired of it. I think maybe that says a lot—or at least, it should. I do have to give you a bit of warning, though. This isn’t an easy story. It’ll likely bring a tear or a thousand to your eye. Some topics addressed within these pages might be difficult to handle, and if heavy angst isn’t your thing, you might want to turn around. But if none of this has scared you off, I strongly urge you to continue. Because his name is Soldier, and he was never meant to be a hero. But … Want to listen to the Spotify playlist while you read? https://spoti.fi/46jlBtK PROLOGUE A BOY NAMED SOLDIER “All right, Diane,” the obstetrician said to the young woman in the bed as she moved to stand between her parted knees. “I’m gonna need you to push.” Diane—barely eighteen—exhausted and dripping with sweat, lolled her head from side to side in protest. “I can’t,” she wheezed between sobs. “I can’t do it. I can’t. I don’t want to.” God, what the hell had she been thinking? She wasn’t in any position to have a baby. She could barely take care of herself, let alone a brand-new little life. One that would depend on her and only her. “Come on, honey. Just one more push,” the doctor encouraged with a kind, sympathetic smile. “Your baby is almost here.” My baby, Diane thought, hardly believing that someone like her could—or should—have a baby at all. What the fuck was she going to do with a baby? She didn’t have a job; she had no money. For fuck’s sake, she couldn’t even get through those first few contractions without knocking back the bottle of Grey Goose she had snatched out of her dad’s liquor cabinet—the one he had kept locked ever since she had moved back home, as if she didn’t know how to pick it. Come to think of it now, she should’ve just gotten rid of the damn thing growing inside of her while she had the chance months and months ago. Her mother had been the first to suggest an abortion. Even she knew Diane would never have it in her to be a mother, let alone a passable, decent one. I can prove them wrong, she thought, staring up at the bright light overhead. Maybe I can even prove myself wrong. Maybe it’s not too late for me, and this baby is what’s gonna save me. She nodded to the light, like it was some kind of heavenly being looking down at her from the ceiling of this cold and sterile hospital room. With a deep breath and the resolution to get that damn kid out into the world, she lifted onto her elbows and squeezed her eyes shut, and with every drop of determination left in her tired body, she pushed and pushed and pushed until she heard the frantic squawking of something tiny and new. Diane fell back against the pillow, gasping for the same stale air her baby was desperate for. “What’s the time?” someone asked. “Eleven eleven p.m.,” someone replied. “We have a boy!” someone called out. So many voices, but all Diane could focus on was the shrill sound of a tiny, innocent newborn, rising above everyone else in the room. Her mother squeezed her hand. “Diane, open your eyes and meet your son,” she instructed in a voice so full of astonishment and pride that Diane couldn’t help but do as she’d asked. There, in the hands of a nurse she couldn’t remember the name of, was an angry, shaking, crying, red-faced baby. He was the ugliest, noisiest, dirtiest thing she had ever seen in her life, and yet her heart reached for something she still wasn’t sure she was capable of feeling. “Can I hold him?” she asked the nurse. The older lady smiled and nodded. Coming to stand beside the sweaty girl, who was barely an adult, she passed the little bundle down to her. “Just for a minute. He still needs to be cleaned up.” Diane had