Begin Again
Authors: Evan Grace
Begin Again
Book 3 of Starting Over Series
By Evan Grace
Begin Again
Copyright © 2014
by Evan Grace. All rights reserved.
First Print Edition:
June 2014
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
Formatting: Limitless Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-
1499299199
ISBN-10:
1499299192
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
Dedication
To Cheryl
- You’re a fighter, so brave and you’re about to make cancer your bitch! This is for you and all the other fighters out there!
Table of Contents
He left without saying goodbye
. Journey kept thinking that over and over as she walked out into the humid afternoon Florida air. She and Dylan were supposed to have lunch before he had to get to the airport. Did she miss the signs? Had he been trying to give her the brush-off and she didn’t notice? The tears in her eyes were starting to blur her vision, but she wasn’t going to break down on the sidewalk. No, she was going to wait until she reached the privacy of her car. Wrenching open the door, she climbed inside, immediately starting it so the air conditioning would start cooling her overheated skin.
The pain in her chest started to build.
As soon as the door closed beside her the tears fell in earnest as sobs wracked her body. How could she be so stupid? She knew he had a problem with their age difference, but she thought they’d gotten past that. Maybe all she was to him was an easy lay, because let’s face it, she didn’t play hard to get at all. Sure she didn’t sleep with him that first night, but they did sleep in the same bed together. That had been the best night in her entire life. They talked and talked in the dark, holding hands while they lay facing each other.
Journey tried to tell herself not to fall in love with him, but every second she spent with him she fell
further and further. The way he seemed to worship her body was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. After last night she was sure he felt the same way about her, but it was obvious he didn’t if he could leave her so easily without even a goodbye.
Wiping her eyes, she blew out a breath and
started to head towards Cabana’s, the restaurant where she worked. She wasn’t going to stick around here any longer. It was time to head home to Alabama and check on her brother, Cash. He may be older than her, but he was so messed up that Journey felt she needed to keep a close eye on him. Of course he’d come to her for money, harassing her until she gave in. Hell, he was part of the reason she left Alabama in the first place.
She pulled into the parking lot, checking herself in the rearview mirror
. Her eyes were rimmed in red and puffy. Normally she’d care what they thought, but she was leaving, so it really didn’t matter. Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of her car, heading for the doors so she could quit and get the fuck out of there.
2 years later
“Mamama! Ma!” Journey smiled, rolling over to shut off the baby monitor. Her little man was up early. Looking at her alarm clock, she still had a half hour before it went off, but Joey waited for no one when he wanted out of his crib. She grabbed her robe off of the end of her bed, slipping it on. She went across the hall to his room. She turned the lamp on that sat on his dresser. His whole face lit up when he saw her and started bouncing in place, shaking the crib. At fifteen months old he was already her little linebacker. He was all thick, chubby deliciousness.
She scooped him up in her arms, kissing his puckered lips.
He grabbed her hair in both fists as he drooled all over her cheeks and nose. She carried him blindly over to the changing table, laying him down once he let go of her hair. Quickly she removed the wet diaper and replaced it with a dry one. Taking him into her room, she sat in the middle of her bed. She grabbed a pillow and put it in her lap. Joey knew immediately what that meant and started reaching for her camisole she wore to bed.
He was pretty much weaned from her breast except for
some mornings and right before bed. She doubted that he got much milk from her these days, but it was their bonding time and she loved it. While he nursed she looked over the lesson plans for her English classes this year. She was only a substitute, so she took whatever jobs she could get. Luckily for her, one of the English teachers at Washington Senior High School was on bed rest for the rest of her pregnancy, as well as whatever maternity afterward. That left Journey with several months of solid work and with the school year just beginning, she was looking forward to it.
After Joey was done
, she took him out to the dining room of her three bedroom condo and sat him in his highchair. She placed sliced up bananas and cheerios on his tray and went to start the coffee. She was thankful for the trust fund and insurance her parents had set up for her and her brother before they passed away. The financial security was important to her since she was a single mother. With all she had, she’d give it all back to have her parents alive again. They died right before she turned 21. Her daddy had a heart attack while driving. He died instantly. From the police reports, it looked like her mom had tried to get control of the car, but it slammed into a semi before she could.
Wiping the tears from her eyes
, Journey grabbed a cup of coffee for herself and Nan. Like she could sense it, Nan came in through the front door.
“I’m in the kitchen
,” Journey hollered.
Nan Jensen came in with her usual flair that caused Journey to smile.
She was a tall woman, almost six feet. She had the curves of a centerfold and the most naturally beautiful face she’d ever seen. Nan looked younger than her 55 years.
She watched Nan walk over to Joey and kiss the top of his dark brown locks.
He gave her a toothy, banana-filled grin and proceeded to beat on his high-chair.
“Are you excited about your first day?”
Nan asked, accepting the cup of coffee Journey handed her.
“I am. E
nglish is what I wanted to teach. Plus I get the freshmen, so they’ll all be eager to please.” Journey talked while she threw together her lunch. “I hope they like me.” She wasn’t going to be a pushover, but she wanted the kids to enjoy and look forward to her class.
“Oh
, honey, please. Look at you: the boys will be fighting hard-ons and the girls will wish they looked like you. You’re beautiful, funny and sweet. The kids are going to eat that shit up.”
She rolled her eyes at Nan
. “Language,” she warned, looking in Joey’s direction.
With a sheepish smile Nan asked, “So where’s the princess?”
“She’s still in bed. I’m going to go wake her up, then I’m jumping in the shower.”
“Well
, send her out and I’ll feed her and get Joey ready for daycare. Isn’t that right, handsome? Nana’s going to get you all handsome to spend a day with your new girlfriends.”
The sound of her son giggling was music to
Journey’s ears, but it also caused the ache in her chest to gnaw at her. She still was having no luck finding his dad. She shook her head; she wasn’t going to think of the disappearing man right now. She was stupid and fell in love with someone she knew practically nothing about, and now, over two years later, she still couldn’t find him and he had no idea he was a father.
When she reached Ab
by’s door, she turned the doorknob and poked her head in. Abby was sideways on her daybed with her little butt up in the air. On silent feet, Journey made her way over to the bed and sat down next to her five year old niece. She ran her hand through the golden honey colored locks that were so much like her own. Abby had her thumb in her mouth and her other arm around her baby, Lucy, who was dressed in the same nightgown Abby was.
Abby had come to live with her when she was five months pregnant with Joey and had just moved
to Port Royal, South Carolina. Her idiot brother and his girlfriend—or whatever she was to him—had left Abby home alone and asleep one night while they went out. The police had been called when one of their neighbors had seen them leave and a short while later Abby had wandered outside in a nightshirt in 40-degree weather by herself. Child Protective Services called Journey and she immediately started working on arrangements to get temporary custody of her niece. Luckily her brother and his “friend” agreed to her taking Abby.
The courts tried to stall at first due to her young
age, but she did everything that they asked of her and now Abby was hers.
“Wake up, sleepy girl. Someone’s starting Kindergarten today
. I wonder who it could be?” Abby’s tiny giggle was muffled by her pillow.
“MEEEEE!!!”
Abby jumped up and threw her little arms around her neck. “Aunt JoJo, I get to go to big kid school. I’m a big girl now.”
“You sure are
, sweetheart. Nana’s in the kitchen with Joey and she said she was making you breakfast. I bet if you go out there she’s got something really special for you.”
Kissing Abby one more time, she sat the girl down on the floor and watched her run whole hog out of the room.
“Abby, no running.”
She heard Abby shout “sorry” as Journey made it into the bathroom to shower.
Forty minutes later
, Journey was putting the finishing touches to her makeup on. It was supposed to be hot and humid, so she opted for light makeup to give her that sun-kissed glow, since she never had time to lounge in the sun most days. She put on the salmon-colored sleeveless sheath dress that Nan had bought as a congratulatory gift on the job. It had a classic cut that she loved. It was flattering to her figure and hit right above her knees. She paired it with a pair of tan wedges. Pulling her hair into a low ponytail, she finished the look she was going for.
Making her way
out into the living room, she could hear Abby’s excited chatter. Rounding the corner, she found Joey and Abby playing on the floor together while Nan cleaned up the breakfast mess.
“I knew that dress would look great on you.
Turn around and let me see all of it.” She did as Nan asked and spun slowly in a circle. The dress did make her feel good. She’d certainly admit that.
“Nan
, I can’t thank you enough for this. I love it.” Journey hugged her. “Seriously, I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you.”
Nan was a lifesaver.
Journey had been scared out of her mind when she first moved there. She was pregnant, single and was also getting custody of her niece. She met Nan and they hit it off. She knew her whole story and even tried to help find Dylan. Her mom she wasn’t, but she was pretty damn close—and her best friend too.
“Honey, I love you and I love those kids like they were my own.
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your lives.” Nan wiped at her eyes and gave her a watery smile. “Now let’s stop this before we’re both a couple of sloppy messes.”
She was just getting Joey’s diaper bag ready for daycare when she heard the front door open.
“Hello? Is there a Kindergartner here?” Unable to contain her grin, she made her way out to Zach in the living room just as Abby jumped up and ran to him.
Journey and Zach met during the summer when she attended some teaching workshops and meetings at the high school.
He taught pre-algebra and advanced algebra. They hit it off immediately, but were taking it slow as she hadn’t really been with anyone since Dylan. After he was done greeting Abby and Joey, who toddled over to him as well, he glanced up as she walked further into the room.
“Wow, you look incredible.
All of those fourteen year old boys aren’t going to know what to think when they get a load of you.” He could still make her blush. Once she reached him she stood up on her toes and planted what she hoped was a sweet, slow kiss on his lips.
“Thank you
. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at school already.”
“Well, I wanted to wish you luck
, and I knew I wouldn’t see you until after your morning classes. Plus I had to wish Miss Abby good luck too,” he said with his arm still wrapped around Journey’s waist.
“Well
, look who’s here. Come give me some sugar,” Nan said walking into the living room. She watched Zach walk across the room, scooping Nan up in his arms.
“How are you
, Nan?”
Journey was sure he’d get scared off by the chaos
that was her life these days. Most 23-year-olds were just starting their careers, not getting one child ready for school and another ready for daycare. She didn’t think she was a very good catch, but both Zach and Nan constantly proved to her otherwise.
After taking pictures and fanning her face to keep from crying, Journey watched Abby walk into the school with the rest of her class.
Joey hollered after her too as she walked away from them. “All right, little man, let’s get you to daycare so mommy can get to school on time.”
She had
signed him up at Little Wonders daycare because it was ten minutes from the high school where she was going to be teaching. The school was only twenty minutes away from where they were now, but she wanted him close in case he got sick and needed her.
She turned onto Main Street in Beaufort, passing bakeries, restaurants and even a dance studio as she headed towards the daycare.
It was a nice place and she figured Joey was going to love it once he got used to going somewhere. Nan had offered to keep him, but working third shift as a nurse at Mercer Hospital nearby, Journey thought that’d be too much for her to manage and still be able to function later.
“Come on
, little man. Let’s get you inside before mommy loses it again,” she said as she grabbed Joey and his diaper bag.
Once inside she carried him to the sign
-in sheet where a girl her age sat.
“Hi there, who do
we have here?” she asked, reaching out and tickling Joey’s foot.
“Hi, this is Joey Cummings.”
He clapped his hands at the mention of his name.
“Well
, isn’t he just the cutest. Follow me and I’ll take you down to the toddler’s room.” They walked past several rooms with children of various ages in them. The place was clean, bright, and looked like a great place for Joey to be.
The
beautiful African American woman by the name of Mia, whom she had met when she had signed up Joey, greeted them at the door.
“Hi
, Journey. This must be Joey.” Joey being a natural flirt already, smiled at Mia before burying his head in Journey’s neck, playing the shy boy.
“Hi
, Mia. Don’t let this little shy act fool you. He’s just trying to play on your sympathy. He’s my little rascal.”
It killed Journey, but she had to go.
She kissed the top of his dark locks and then his little nose. He looked at her with those blue eyes that were identical to his daddy’s. Dylan was missing everything, and it killed her that she couldn’t find him. She shook it off and handed him over to Mia. He smiled at Journey until he realized she was walking backwards out of the room. His little lip started quivering and then he reached for her, crying.
She went to take a step towards him
, but Mia stopped her. “He’ll be okay, Journey, I promise.” Mia carried him over to a couple of kids that looked to be his age.
Quickly turning
, she hustled out of there before she said “screw it” and pulled him out of there. By the time she made it to the door she couldn’t hear his cries anymore. Walking out and getting into her car, Journey took a deep breath—psyching herself up to the next challenge she was facing today.
***
Dylan pulled into his driveway, rolling his eyes when he found his brother sitting on his front steps. He didn’t need that shit this morning. He was slightly hung over and exhausted. Cassie had kept him up half the night. He was getting too old for that shit, but it was better than being alone. She wasn’t serious about him and he sure as fuck wasn’t serious about her, so their arrangement worked. He just didn’t want to date; it was too much of a commitment, and right now he was more concerned about helping his brother and their best friend run their construction company. Of course that was bullshit, but he wasn’t going to think about the real reason he didn’t want to date or commit to anyone.