Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Leaving Lottawatah
    Leaving Lottawatah
    Leaving Lottawatah
    Ebook110 pages1 hour

    Leaving Lottawatah

    By Evelyn David

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Leaving Lottawatah by Evelyn David is the eleventh book in the Brianna Sullivan Mysteries series. A novella-length story, Leaving Lottawatah continues the spooky, yet funny saga of reluctant psychic Brianna Sullivan who planned to travel the country in her motor home looking for adventure, but unexpectedly ended up in a small town in Oklahoma.Things are messy in Paradise. The happily engaged couple of Brianna Sullivan and Cooper Jackson are anything but. Angry words set Brianna and Leon, her bulldog companion, off on a road trip, but it's hard to run away from home if everyone wants to come with you. Before she can leave town, Brianna is unexpectedly joined on her travels by Sassy Jackson, her maybe ex-future mother-in-law, plus Beverly Heyman and daughter Sophia, both still grieving over a death in the family. Destination: A Psychic convention in America's most haunted hotel. But they haven't reached their destination before Brianna is confronted by two ghosts demanding help in capturing the serial killer who murdered them decades earlier. Even more worrisome, another young woman has gone missing. It's up to Brianna and her road crew to stop the serial killer from striking again. Brianna has hard questions for the spirits surrounding her, and for herself. Does she want to marry Cooper? Is it time to hit the open road again and leave Lottawatah behind? Or will the ghosts of her past continue to haunt her wherever she goes?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEvelyn David
    Release dateMar 5, 2014
    ISBN9781310000157
    Leaving Lottawatah
    Author

    Evelyn David

    The author of Murder Off the Books and Murder Takes the Cake, Evelyn David is the pseudonym for Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett. Marian lives in New York and is the author of ten nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics ranging from veterans benefits to playgroups for toddlers! Rhonda lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is the director of the coal program for the state, and in her spare time enjoys imagining and writing funny, scary mysteries. Marian and Rhonda write their mystery series via the internet. While many fans who attend mystery conventions have now chatted with both halves of Evelyn David, Marian and Rhonda have yet to meet in person.

    Read more from Evelyn David

    Related to Leaving Lottawatah

    Titles in the series (11)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Caught Out

      Oct 2, 2022

      Caught Out
      9 min read

    • Article

      Kings

      Jun 5, 2023

      1.Kings lie down to zip up their jeans,buy Cetaphil, candy, magazinesat Walgreens because they canwalk there unsupervised, describeblowjobs they’ve given to seniorsin cars, spend what they think of astheir own money. Home sick from school,they learn

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Shape Of A Person

      Oct 20, 2022

      The Shape Of A Person
      25 min read

    • Article

      Australia Reads At Home

      May 18, 2020

      Australia Reads At Home
      7 min read

    • Article

      I’ll Not Risk Myself

      Feb 10, 2024

      My phone reception is better outside the laundromat, so I spend most of my time waiting for laundry on the bench near the door. I don’t talk with my friends, but I surf the news. I like to know what’s going on. I don’t like people to know about me, t

      13 min read

    • Article

      Falling In Love Again – In M&S

      Mar 6, 2024

      Jem Clarke is in his very, very early fifties, is five foot zero inches tall and has never left the family home in Cleethorpes, which he shares with his parents… Mother has revealed she was once engaged to the East Coast's most prolific housebreaker.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Taste For Murder

      Mar 21, 2024

      Taste For Murder
      5 min read

    • Article

      Truly Evil

      Jun 1, 2023

      Truly Evil
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Courage To Be Happy

      Feb 1, 2023

      MARRIAGE and columns have this in common: you tend to repeat yourself. More than once in these pages, I have quoted the New Yorker’s legendary film critic Pauline Kael. After President Nixon’s landslide victory in 1972 she wrote: ‘I live in a rather

      3 min read

    • Article

      Identity Crisis

      Feb 2, 2019

      Identity Crisis
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Sound And Smell Of Poison

      Nov 1, 2019

      The Sound And Smell Of Poison
      10 min read

    • Article

      Anthony Veasna So

      Mar 9, 2021

      Always they find us inappropriate, but today especially so. Here we are with nowhere to go and nothing to do, sitting in a rusty pickup truck, the one leaking oil, the one with the busted transmission that sounds like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Her

      22 min read

    • Article

      That Particular Sunday

      Jul 6, 2023

      That Particular Sunday
      26 min read

    • Article

      You Exist Too Much

      Jun 5, 2020

      You Exist Too Much
      9 min read

    • Article

      Book Extract

      Jan 20, 2020

      My year off was also interesting, in that I didn’t feel any less loved, or cherished, or wanted. Why? Because my life is already rich with soulmates, and I got the chance to behold that. You don’t have to shag someone for them to be a soulmate. We do

      7 min read

    • Article

      Now The Leaves Are Falling Fast

      Apr 10, 2021

      I watched my wife leave our neighbor’s house, her empty hands shoved deep in the pockets of her red anorak. She came inside through our carport. I met her in our kitchen. “Beverly was really happy for the soup,” she said. “Honestly, it was a little s

      8 min read

    • Article

      Notes on Etiquette

      Mar 1, 2019

      Notes on Etiquette
      10 min read

    • Article

      Honestly

      Jan 8, 2024

      Honestly
      5 min read

    • Article

      Emily

      Jul 28, 2017

      Emily
      3 min read

    • Article

      Nineteen And Pregnant In 1969

      Nov 1, 2022

      I hadn’t been religious for some time, but I prayed, God, please don’t let me die. The post Nineteen and Pregnant in 1969 appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Now The Leaves Are Falling Fast

      Nov 10, 2023

      I watched my wife leave our neighbor’s house, her empty hands shoved deep in the pockets of her red anorak. She came inside through our carport. I met her in our kitchen. “Beverly was really happy for the soup,” she said. “Honestly, it was a little s

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Man I Should Have Married

      Dec 29, 2019

      The Man I Should Have Married
      11 min read

    • Article

      I’m So Glad To Be Gay

      Oct 20, 2021

      Even in so blessed an era of sexual- preference enlightenment, coming out to a parent isn’t easy. One might imagine it were otherwise. One may, in one’s smugly hetero way, assume that any ‘stigma’ perished too long ago to make such a confession one i

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Leaving Lottawatah

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Leaving Lottawatah - Evelyn David

      Brianna Sullivan Mysteries

      vol. 11

      LEAVING LOTTAWATAH

      EVELYN DAVID

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2014 Evelyn David

      Discover other titles by Evelyn David at http://www.evelyndavid.com

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Thank you.

      cover photo © Bonita Cheshier | Dreamstime.com

      Bulldog photo by Jill Harmon Smith

      Chapter 1

      Leaving Lottawatah was harder than I ever imagined. Even harder than running away from home as a child.

      When I was nine years old, indignant over my grandmother's refusal to allow me to keep a stray puppy, I packed a bag, handed her a goodbye forever note, and headed out the door of our small apartment. My grandmother, unruffled about my imminent departure, asked me to take the trash out before I left. She also reminded me that Mrs. Olman, still using a walker after her recent hip surgery, was depending on me to bring in her mail.

      It never occurred to me to skip out on my responsibilities. I set my suitcase down by the door, hurriedly gathered up the trash and disposed of it down the hallway chute. I walked down five flights of stairs and got Mrs. Olman's magazines, advertising circulars, and a letter from her son. The letter really set her off. From what I remember she was angry at her son for trying to move her to an assisted living center. I was angry about my grandmother's obstinacy about no pets. We commiserated with each other about the unfairness of our loved ones over multiple glasses of Grape Kool-Aid and freshly baked sugar cookies. By the time I bounced home on a sugar high, it was early afternoon. My intent was to pick up my suitcase and make my escape to greener pastures. But it was time for my Grandmother's stories. Ironing board set up in the living room and dampened clothes in a pile, she needed me to adjust the antennas to bring in a clear picture. I was the only one who could get the tinfoil and empty Pepsi cans just right so the Young and the Restless didn't have ghosts. The TV kind, not the real kind.

      I never got around to leaving that day. Looking back on it, I realized that no matter how unhappy I was at my circumstances, my nine-year-old self stayed because I felt needed by those around me. Many years later I understood that being needed was a trap in itself.

      As I gassed up Matilda at Carmine's, the only station at the lake near where I'd had Matilda parked, I thought over my current situation. It wasn't as simple as a denied puppy this time and Cooper Jackson wasn't my grandmother taking in ironing to pay for my piano lessons. After all these months in Lottawatah and all the time Cooper and I had spent together, I finally realized that we didn't know each other at all. And what we did know, wasn't good. At the moment I didn't even like him, much less love him enough to marry him. Our latest argument replayed in my head.

      I can't believe you didn't even bother to register to vote.

      You don't need my vote. Everyone says if you want the job, it's yours.

      That's not true, and it's beside the point. Ever since you got here, you've had one foot half way out the door.

      What does that mean? I agreed to marry you. I'm wearing your damn school ring on a chain around my neck in lieu of a real engagement ring.

      You never said you wanted an engagement ring.

      I shouldn't have had to say it.

      Well, I shouldn't have to beg you to put down roots and get out of your damn camping trailer.

      It's a motorhome, not a camping trailer.

      Whatever! You missed our appointment to see the Chadwick house. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a family room, an office, two car garage, and a fenced yard for your damn dog.

      Sorry. I...

      You what?

      Maybe I don't want to live in town. You just assumed–

      No. That's not it. You didn't want to live on that property I purchased out near the ranch either.

      Why can't we–

      Live in your precious Matilda forever? No thank you. I want a home. Why don't you?

      This isn't about where we live. This about what I do; what I am. Admit it!

      Cooper wanted to be the permanent Lottawatah Chief of Police. It was clear to me that in his opinion, he needed a normal wife. During our argument the night before, he'd made himself quite clear that I needed to stop my foolishness and get with the plan. I didn't need to be a psychic to understand his plan. He could dress it up all he wanted with mumblings about my settling down already, maybe joining the Ladies' Guild at the Church, but his unsaid message was as loud and clear as Mighty Max Murphy, my tenth grade boyfriend. Max flat out told me I was crazy as a three dollar bill, when I told him that his Grandma, who'd died the night before, had a beef with him. He insisted I was lying, but was in a panic, checking up, down, and around for the spirit of his Grandma who was standing right next to him. I patiently, or maybe not so patiently, explained that Grandma Murphy wasn't going to her reward until Max coughed up the brooch she wanted on her dress when she met her maker. Turns out Mighty Max liked beer more than his Grandma, had snatched the pin and planned to hock it. Although he might have thought I was loony, I noticed that the brooch with fake rubies and diamonds was on Grandma Murphy's mighty bosom the next day at her funeral.

      Anyway, Cooper rambled on and on about my snooping around in things that didn't concern me; about my lack of patience with small-minded preachers who ranted every Sunday about evil forces that surrounded us, all the while looking straight at me; he might even have mentioned getting normal glasses instead of my favorite leopard-spotted cat eyes ones.

      Right. He didn't know me if he thought an ultimatum was going to get him what he wanted. No use repeating all the accusations and harsh words that were exchanged between us, but I got in the last word before he sped out to investigate a possible B & E at The Pig Palace.

      I shouted at him that I needed a break; that I was leaving.

      He never slowed down.

      Granted, he might not have heard me over Leon's barking and the squealing tires of his squad car, but still, that was one more indication that our relationship would always take a backseat to purloined pork.

      I left him a note nailed to the tree next to the spot where Matilda had been parked. He'd find it when he returned and discovered his stuff stacked under it.

      It wasn't quite a goodbye forever note, but close.

      My name is Brianna Sullivan and I'm a psychic. Ironic, because sometimes I can't see what's right in front of me.

      Chapter 2

      Carmine's carried diesel and regular gas, plus had a full-service bait shop. He also stocked beer, soft drinks, and a few grocery items. Carmine's was handy, but expensive. This time I just got the gas. I'd pick up in town whatever else Leon and I needed for the trip. Beef jerky for the bulldog and strawberry Twizzlers for me.

      I had two weeks to figure things out–or not. At least I didn't have to worry about my job at Doc Myers Funeral Home. Doc had gone fishing. Literally. He and Hank Strothers, his fishing buddy and retired Lottawatah Police Chief, had taken a long anticipated trip to Minnesota. They were camped out on a little island with others who shared their passion for putting a

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1