Unravel(87)

“You ready?”

I look over at Lachlan Maximilian Halstead. “I’m ready.”

“We need to hurry up,” he says, his breath appearing in the air like puffs of smoke. “My fingers are going to freeze.”

He kneels down and drags a match across the coarse matchbox surface. The flame comes alive. He looks over at me and smiles before he places the flame against the tip of the rocket.

There are times I catch him watching me and before he can recover, I see the concern and sadness in his eyes. My past still weighs on him… on us. But it’s getting better. Every day the wounds are less painful and noticeable.

The fuse glows ember and we instantly back away. I curl my hand around Lachlan’s arm and lean into him and think about everything I’ve been through in the past year.

I was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. It’s also called multiple personality disorder and better known as split personality. In most cases there is more than one personality.

But Lana was my only personality.

My only alter.

My only part.

And creating Max? Well, that was a whole other twist that baffled Dr. Rutledge and the rest of the doctors. I know I can’t go back and change what I thought and who I created. I just know that I did it to survive.

I direct my attention at the array of colors in the sky. For the next twenty minutes we light off rocket after rocket. Soon, I forget about the bitter wind hitting my cheeks. I just live in the moment and enjoy the show.

Everything that we’ve been through makes me realize that love is about finding the right person in this cold, oppressive world that loves all the wrong things about you. Everything you try to hide, they accept. And I know he accepts me.

He puts the matches in his back pocket and looks over at me. “Did you like the show?”

“It was beautiful.”

Lachlan stands up and holds out his hand. “You ready to go home?”

I nod and take his hand.





A huge thanks to a group of amazing ladies that read through Unravel when it was in its roughest form: Tosha, Melissa, Vanessa, Jessica, Nina, Claribel, and Darla. I can’t think you enough!

Thank you to Natasha for the beautiful graphics.

Christine, thank you for everything. For supporting me and believing in this story.

Thanks to Sheena for being one of the first to read those first few chapters.

Regina Wamba, my cover designer. Thank you for creating one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen. I still get chills when I look at it.

Angela, my formatter. Thank you for making my book all pretty!

Lori Sabin, my wonderful editor. Thank you for everything you do. I could never go through the publishing process without you!

Thank you to my husband, Joshua. For your unwavering support. For every single thing you do.





College seemed like too much stress for me. Traveling across the world, getting married, and having four kids seemed much more relaxing.

Yeah, I’m still waiting for the relaxing part to kick in…

I change addresses every other year. It’s not by choice but it is my reality.

While the crazies of life kept me busy, the stories in my head decided to bubble to the surface. They were dying to be told and I was dying to tell them.

I hope you’ll enjoy escaping to the crazy world of these characters with me!