Covering the Carolinas (43 page)

“
Hey, Raegan, you got a minute?” he asks as he
stands propped against the wall.

“
I’ve got like five. So,
let’s walk and talk ’cause I know you’ve got practice,
too.”
Can’t he just get over
it?
“Talk.”

He takes a minute to look around, almost as if he’s
looking to see if anyone is watching. “Look, I don’t know what he’s
got, but if he makes you happy, then I’m happy for you.”

I stop mid-stride. “OMG! Is Jace admitting he is
wrong?” I say smartly.

“
Not funny. I’m trying to be nice here,” he
says.

“
Sorry. Go on.”

“
I just wanted you to know I’m calling a
truce. Not to say I like it, but I do want you to be happy.
Of
all the girls in this school, you
deserve it.”

I’ve never seen this side of Jace,
and honestly, I don’t believe it’s genuine. “Thanks, that means a
lot,” I say as I give him a hug. He vanishes as quickly as he
showed up.
Maybe I was wrong about him.
Maybe he’s not a total jackass, but regardless, he’s not the guy
for me.

Practice goes off without a hitch,
and I’m on
my way home before I know it. When I get
home, Grandaddy and Joe are sitting on the front porch sipping
sweet tea and shooting the breeze.

“
Hey, Sunshine,” Grandaddy says as I meet him
with a hug.

“
Looks like y’all did all right today,” I say
to both of them.

“
For two old buzzards, we still got it,” Joe
says, and we all laugh.

“
I’m gonna fix us some supper. Have you heard
any more about Cole today?” I ask Grandaddy.

“
If things go well, he’ll be
home Wednesday. He’s already tryin’ to figure out how to get back
to work. Bless him. He’s
gotta learn to take it
easy.”

“
And you’re one to talk,” I say as I enter the
house and start supper.

Emmett

I fall in love the minute Raegan steals my bag of
chips. Most girls wouldn’t be that bold as to steal their man’s
food within the first week of seeing each other, but when she eats
each one slowly, I am fully aware that she knows exactly what she
is doing to me.

When my mouth falls to the floor, she helps pick it
up by placing her, salty with a hint of strawberry lip-gloss, lips
onto mine. I try to keep her lips on mine a moment longer, but she
pulls away and puts me back in our reality inside the school
cafeteria, and I’m close to tardy number three today.

After school, I start to make my
way to my truck, but decide to surprise her before practice. I’m
caught off guard when I see her and Jace embracing in the
gym.
I can’t stand him! Why can’t he get
it through that dumb skull of his?
I shake
it off and drive to the hospital. I mention to Cole what I saw, and
he tells me not to worry, because he knows exactly how Raegan feels
about Jace. That is much easier said than done.

After I get home, I take a quick run before supper
and then see what Raegan’s up to.

Me: Hope practice went okay. I can’t wait to

see you 2morrow.

Raegan: It did! Fixin’ supper now and then I

have a ton of homework. I can’t wait to see you

either.

Me: Try 2 come in on 4 wheels 2morrow. LOL

Raegan: HAHA I’ll try! ;)

Tomorrow morning can’t get here fast enough.

Chapter 20

Raegan

The next two days are near perfect. When I’m not
working on the farm, I’m at school or practice. Every moment I can
spend with Emmett, I do. Cole got discharged from the hospital on
Wednesday morning, and as soon as practice is over, I make my way
to visit.

As I pull into the driveway, I see
Emmett’s truck and smile.
This is kinda
weird. I never thought the guy I’m head over heels for would live
in this house.
Walking up to the door, I
see Jace pulling in the driveway.
Dang.
I toss up my hand and wave
before I ring the doorbell and wait for someone to answer. When the
door opens, it’s Emmett.

“
Come in,” he says
a
s he takes my hand in his. “He’s in his
room.”

“
Okay.” I say as I give him a brief kiss on
the lips.

“
Just give him a knock and go in. I’ll give
y’all some time.”

A questioning look flashes in his
eyes.
What’s
up
with this giving us a minute? Whatever.
I shake it
off. I give Cole’s room a light knock and peek inside.

“
Hey there, Rae,” he says as he starts to sit
up in the bed.

“
Hey, how are ya feelin’?” I ask.

“
I’m all right. Better than
a few days ago. The question is, how are
you?
” I know exactly what he’s
referring to.

“
I don’t wanna talk about it,” I say as I feel
tears creeping up. I’ve fought them away all week, and I know the
bewitching hour is upon us.

“
Look, I know you don’t, but
just
remember I’m here.”

“
I know.”

“
Has Uncle Dover said any more about it?” I
shake my head no.

“
Cole, I’ve got a really bad
feelin’ ’bout it. You know, the kind deep down in your gut that’s
never
wrong.”

He pats the bed beside him, and I take a seat. He
moves my hair behind my ear. “Rae, it’s gonna be okay. If he said
the doctors aren’t worried, then we shouldn’t be either.”

“
I know, but…” is all I can manage before the
waterworks flow.

“
Listen to me, Rae. Don’t do
this. We don’t know what’s gonna happen tomorrow, but you’re the
strongest person I know. Have
you said anything
to Emmett?”

“
No!
Grandaddy said
not to. I won’t break that promise to him.” He understands where I
stand on that thought and drops it. He changes the subject, and I
dry my eyes just in time for the blotchiness to evaporate from my
face, as Grandaddy knocks on the door with Emmett right behind
him.

“
Hey, y’all,” I say as they
make their way into the room. We all visit, and then Emmett and I
give
Grandaddy and Cole some time alone. I can
only imagine what is being said between those walls.

Emmett walks outside with me toward my truck. As I
stand there with my back against the driver’s side, he moves in
closer and brings his lips to mine.

Emmett

As
Raegan disappears
behind Cole’s door, I make my way back downstairs, but not before I
hear her begin to cry. I know they are close, but he’s getting
better. What in this world would have her so upset? I begin to
think about us, seeing her with Jace today, Jace’s reaction at
lunch, and their relationship. Feeling the frustration beginning to
build, I walk out to my truck and clean out the Pop Tart wrappers
from the week.

“
Hey there, Emmett. How are you doin’?” I hear
as I glance over my shoulder to see Mr. Lowery.

“
I’m doing well, sir. How ’bout yourself?” I
ask.

“
A’ight, just thought I’d check on Cole.
Where’s Sunshine?”

“
She’s with Cole. I’m givin’ them some
time.”

He crosses his arms and stands
there. “Boy, let me tell ya somethin’. Don’t ever get jealous of
those two. Cole has been there for her as long as I can
remember.
They hit it off
the
day he started working in the summers when he w
as
barely old enough to pick up a bale of hay, but not like you’re
thinking. Raegan has always been the girl everyone wants her to be,
and you are the first guy to walk into her life that she’s let in.
Don’t be a fool and screw it up because of what you
think.”

I’m completely floored by his forwardness. “Yes,
sir. It’s just hard to think through. Can I ask you one thing?”

“
Go ’head.”

“
Well, you know my neighbor. Has she ever
given him a thought?”

Mr. Lowery belly laughs in my face. “Son, Jace McCoy
wants anything he can’t have, and my Sunshine has wanted nothin’,
and I mean nothin’, to do with him. You have no worries.”

“
Thanks for your honesty,” I say to
him.

“
Anytime,” he responds as he goes inside to
talk to George and my mom.

When I finish, I walk back inside, and Mr. Lowery
and I make our way to Cole’s room. As we enter, Raegan is sitting
beside Cole, and regardless of how much she’s trying to hide the
fact she has been crying, I can see pain in her eyes. All I want to
do is hold her in my arms and make everything better, even though I
have no clue what’s going on.

When Raegan makes the motion to
leave, I don’t hesitate. I follow her outside to her truck. She
turns when she gets to the driver’s seat, and I move as close to
her as possible. The fact we’ve been in the same house, and I have
barely been able to touch her has been driving me
crazy
.

“
Ummm,” escapes her lips as mine begin to move
from hers.

“‘
Ummm’ is right. Raegan, I don’t want you to
leave, but I’m sure this isn’t the best place for this.”

“
I think you might be right.” She
winks.

Taking every ounce of willpower I
have within me, I kiss the tip of her nose and tell her I’ll see
her before school
starts, but I’m shocked when she
tells me she won’t be there. I have a feeling she’s keeping
something from me, but only time will tell.

Chapter 21

Raegan

I drive slowly to the farm. Between my blurred
vision and the nausea growing in my stomach, I’m terrified of what
I’m going to face tomorrow. I know Grandaddy said it’s going to be
okay, but I’m scared to death I’m going to lose the most important
person in my life.

As I arrive back at the farm, I’m
greeted by Hank lying on the porch. I smile, but come to think of
it, he’s not been around the past couple of days.
I swear, if he’s knocked up that mutt down the
road
, Grandaddy is gonna shoot
him
. I call for him as I make my way to the
porch.

“
Hank, please
, tell
me you’ve not been up to what I think,” I say to him. As he begins
to wag his tail uncontrollably, I know I’m right. “He’s gonna kill
ya, ya know?” He barks. I just love him. I take a few minutes to
show him some
loving before I go inside to get ready
to call it a night. Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I’m a
mess.

Walking inside the house, I try to push
tomorrow away from my mind and go to bed, but I’m unable to shake
my worry. Instead, I decide a little ride around the farm is
exactly what I need. I leave
Grandaddy a
note and walk to the shed to crank up the four-wheeler and take a
ride around the beautiful farm.

As the semi-cool breeze hits my
face, the wind whips my hair. I push
everything to the
back of my mind. I focus on driving as fast as possible and cover
every inch of the farm.
Once I see the
creek approaching, memories of my time with Emmett replace the
hopeless feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I smile as happy
tears stream down my face.

The sun is well beyond setting when I make my way
back to the house, and I see that Grandaddy has returned. After I
park the four-wheeler, I go inside and join him in the kitchen for
a quick bite to eat.

“
Looks like you had a good ride tonight?” he
asks.

“
Yeah, I did. I think
I
covered every inch out there.”

Trying not to put it off any longer, I ask the
inevitable, “So, what time do we need to be there tomorrow?” I
attempt to hide the fear in my voice.

“
I’m supposed to be there at
nine for a little more blood work, and my appointment is at ten.
Now, Sunshine, you don’t have to go. I’m fine to go
by
myself.” He tries to insist.

“
I know what you’re tryin’ to do.
I know you
can
go
by yourself, but I’m
not
lettin’ you,” I say forcefully.

“
Easy, Sunshine. I know you well enough to
know you’re not lettin’ this go. What are you missin’ tomorrow
mornin’?” he asks.

“
Just physics and English. I’m good, though,”
I say.

“
Well, I just
wanted to make sure you weren’t missin’ anything too
important.”

I drop my food onto my plate. “Are you serious
right now?” He looks at me like I’ve completely lost it. “Nothing,
and I mean
nothing,
is more
important than you. Stop acting like this isn’t a big deal.
It’s
your
life. It’s precious
to me, and I’m gonna be there. I don’t care if it’s not a big deal
when we walk out of there tomorrow, but if it is, you aren’t going
to be there alone.”

He doesn’t say anything, but I see a glimmer of a
tear form in his eyes. “Grandaddy, I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.
How can you always be positive about everything?” I sincerely
question.