A Reason to Breathe

A Reason to Breathe COPYRIGHT © Lorhainne Ekelund, 2019, All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Contact Information: lorhainneeckhart.le@gmail.com

A Reason to Breathe

The Friessens

Lorhainne Eckhart

Contents

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The Friessen Family Series Reading order:

A Reason to Breathe

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

A Reason to Be Together

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

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What’s coming next in The Friessens

You Are My Everything

Other works available

About the Author

Links to Lorhainne Eckhart’s Booklist

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The Friessen Family Series Reading order:

Click here to download the complete Friessen Legacy Series checklist and series reading order

The Outsider Series

The Forgotten Child (Brad and Emily)

A Baby And A Wedding

Fallen Hero (Andy, Jed, and Diana)

The Search

The Awakening (Andy and Laura)

Secrets (Jed and Diana)

Runaway (Andy and Laura)

Overdue

The Unexpected Storm (Neil and Candy)

The Wedding (Neil and Candy)

The Friessens: A New Beginning

The Deadline (Andy and Laura)

The Price to Love (Neil and Candy)

A Different Kind of Love (Brad and Emily)

A Vow of Love, A Friessen Family Christmas

The Friessens

The Reunion

The Bloodline (Andy & Laura)

The Promise (Diana & Jed)

The Business Plan (Neil & Candy)

The Decision (Brad & Emily)

First Love (Katy)

Family First

Leave the Light On

In the Moment

In the Family: A Friessen Family Christmas

In the Silence

In the Stars

In the Charm

Unexpected Consequences

It Was Always You

The First Time I Saw You

Welcome to My Arms

Welcome to Boston

I’ll Always Love You

Ground Rules

A Reason to Breathe

You Are My Everything

Want to know how all the series are linked? Stop by my blog for all the details: http://www.lorhainneeckhart.com/what-is-the-reading-order-of-your-books/

A Reason to Breathe

Everyone knows the first time you meet that special someone: Your eyes connect from across the room, and you smile and work up the courage to say hello. It’s a simple feat for most people, but not for Trevor Friessen, who struggles to fit into this world and thinks he always will—that is, until he meets a girl who is as different from him as she is the same.

Our families and everyone around us, what they don’t understand is that we too feel love.

1

His sister Katy wore an odd expression, sitting at the kitchen table alone, staring at seven papers. She’d ripped the staple out of them, and it now lay on the table beside an almost empty bowl with a spoon sticking out. There was milk spilled beside it. How could she not see that? It was so close to her arm that if she moved, it would be in the milk, and that wouldn’t be good because then she’d have to change her shirt, which was already wrinkled.

Why are you standing behind me, Trevor? She didn’t look up right away, but he watched as she put down the papers, scattering them on the table in a mess instead of straightening them in a pile. He could see the milk still there. She was about to put her arm in it as she rested it on the table and turned to face him.

Aren’t you going to clean that up? he said. He had on his favorite jeans, black ones, and his favorite black superhero shirt, Captain America. Katy was wearing a faded orange shirt with lines and squiggles. He didn’t like the lines and squiggles, and the color orange was annoying. It was the one shirt he wished she’d put in the garbage. Maybe he’d do it for her.

Trevor, seriously, dude, you need to get a life. Aren’t you supposed to be out helping Dad today with the cows or something?

Katy pushed the papers aside and scraped back her chair, then picked up her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. She left the spilled milk and the papers, and he cleared his throat before he felt her hand on his shoulder. He had to force himself to look her way, knowing she’d stay there until he did. His mom and dad, Katy, Steven, and his sister Becky always said over and over for him to look at them, and it was frankly annoying. Right now there was a thread hanging off her shirt sleeve that she also needed to take care of.

Trevor, you didn’t answer me, and you’re doing that throat-clearing thing again that’s really annoying. Did you eat breakfast yet? What are you doing today?

Her shirt collar was folded correctly on one side but sticking up on the other. He reached over and grabbed the edge of her collar and unfolded it so it sat perfectly just like the other side. I’m working today, he said.

He realized Katy was frowning now. Why? Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. At least she wasn’t sad anymore.

Did you seriously just fix my collar? she said. She didn’t say thank you. She really should say thank you.

You look better now, but I don’t like your shirt. You should change. It’s ugly.

She just shook her head. Seriously, Trevor. Tell me how you really feel.

Well, he didn’t like it. He’d just told her that. Maybe she hadn’t heard him. Then she reached over and rustled his dark hair, which was short and neatly combed.

Hey, he said, and all she did was laugh as if it was funny before she walked around him and picked up the papers in one hand so they were crumpled, not even taking the time to tidy them up so they were neat and together. He reached up and tidied his hair, but he was going to have to go back upstairs to fix it properly.

Where are you working? Katy said. Is this the job Mom and Dad were talking about? She wasn’t looking at him anymore but at those papers again. He wished she’d straighten them instead of holding them in the mess they were in. Trevor, I asked you a question.

About what again?

Huh? he said, smoothing his hand over his hair.

She tapped her fingers on the counter. The job, Trevor. Tell me where you’re working today and what you’re doing.

The grocery store. I’m working in the bakery department. I get to package cookies, make boxes… And the broken ones he got to put aside and eat later, but he wasn’t going to share that part. That was enough sharing—especially since she was ignoring the mess on the table. He walked to the sink, picked up the sponge, and strode to the table to wipe the spot of milk, and then there were the crumbs.

Mister OCD, she said. Seriously, Trevor?

He took in his sister and his mom, who appeared distracted as she walked into the kitchen, poured a coffee, and looked from him to Katy.

What’s going on? Emily asked. She was looking at Katy, so maybe he could leave now and fix his hair and then read the new Adventures of Tintin book he’d picked up at the library yesterday.

Just Trevor being Trevor, the neat freak, Katy said.

No, I’m not, he said. He couldn’t figure out why she was smiling and what the exchange was between her and their mom.

Don’t worry about it, Trevor. I’m just teasing you. What time do you have to leave for work? Katy folded the papers, and his eyes went right there, seeing how uneven they were.

He glanced to the clock on the stove, seeing it was eight thirty-three.

You start at nine, Trevor, his mom said. Are you ready to go? I’ll drive you to work, and don’t forget Uncle Neil is picking you up today. You and him are going to…

He knew his mom was still talking, but he didn’t hear her as he took in the coffee she’d poured and the fridge she’d opened to pull out leftover ribs. Ah…that was what he should’ve packed. Ribs would be a great lunch instead of the tuna salad he’d made.

He heard the back door slap closed and saw his dad, who went right to his mom and leaned down and kissed her. She smiled and was happy. His dad always made her happy. He turned away, seeing that Katy was watching him again, and it made him twitchy when she looked at him that way. She was doing that a lot as of late. He took a step to the side, then turned and started walking to the stairs to fix his hair, read, and then…

Trevor, answer me. Did you not hear me? Emily said.

He took in his mom and dad watching him, and Katy too, who was giving him that annoyed big sister look she often did. He hadn’t heard a word they’d said.

Good, I’m good, he said, knowing it was likely they’d asked him how he was. If not, their faces would give him a clue in about a minute, and he’d use his other answer, which was Time to go.

You were off in your head, so try again, Emily said. What are you supposed to be doing at work today? Are you allowed to be slow and take your time?

His dad was giving him that hard gaze, but at least his dad didn’t talk as much as his mom and sister did, and then there was Becky. Jack was even better, as he said even less, just things like Move over, my turn with the remote. Yeah, Jack was better than all of them. He and his brother could share space, enjoy a game, and…

Nope, I’ll be fast, he