Covering the Carolinas (49 page)

As Emmett tackles Jace from behind, I scream in
horror as Jace tosses him over his back and begins to make contact
with Emmett’s body. When Jace feels he’s had enough, he backs away
from Emmett, then turns to walk away. As soon as his back is
turned, Emmett stands slowly and eggs Jace on once again. After
another round of blows, several guys pull them off of each other,
and we finally make our way to Ridge’s truck.

Ridge turns to me. “Get his keys and get him the
hell outta here. Who knows what Jace will do next?”

“
I’m fine to drive, Rae!” Emmett
shouts.

“
I’m driving.
Do
not
argue with me,” I say as I shove my hand into his pocket and
take the keys from him
.

Emmett

Damn! When Raegan took control like that, it
snapped me back to reality.
Why the
hell
did I do something so stupid? Jace
isn’t worth my time. Must be the shine talkin’. Who am I kidding?
No one’s gonna talk about my girl like that.

Once we are in the truck and
halfway down the hill toward the main road, I finally decide to
speak
.

“
Rae, I’m sorry ’bout back there.”

“
It’s fine.” She says flatly.

“
Hell no, it’s not. I shouldn’t have let him
get to me like that, but no one is going to talk about you like
that… ever!”

She slams on the breaks, and I lunge forward. “Look,
the question is, how does he know? It’s not like I’ve told anyone
but Grandaddy. I’m pretty sure Cole knows, too. That’s what pisses
me off. Please, tell me you didn’t try to one-up him or
something.”

What the hell? Pain.
That’s what I feel straight to my heart. I would
never hurt her. “Rae, I haven’t said a word to him, I promise.” I
take my hand and try to touch her, but she moves it.

“
Stop. I don’t want to hear it right now,” she
says as she brings her hand up to swat mine away.

“
Let me drive. I’m good,” I say.

“
No,” she states, continuing toward the main
road.

“
Rae, let me drive. I don’t
want you to get a ticket. We drank a lot quickly tonight.” She
looks at me and gives me an eye roll, but not before she throws it
into park
and opens the driver’s side
door.

I open mine, hop out, and meet her in front of the
headlights. She tries her best to get around me, but I snag an arm
around her waist and pull her to me, kicking and screaming. I give
her no choice but to look me in the eyes.

“
Raegan, look at me,
please,” I try to say without getting upset. “Please, I love you.
I’ve never told anyone about us or you or your grandaddy.” And, in
that moment, I know I’ve
slipped
up, and all hell is about to break loose. She tries to push back
from me, and there is fear in her eyes.

“
What do you mean about Grandaddy?” Tears
begin to fill her eyes. I have to decide to be upfront about
everything or act like I’m clueless. I can’t lie to her now that
I’ve messed up.

“
Rae, I know he’s sick. You don’t have to lie
to me anymore,” I answer as I try to embrace her, but she goes into
a full-out storm of emotions just as Cole had predicted.

Chapter 30

Raegan

When Emmett slipped up, I was
hurt, pissed, and wanted to scream to the top of my lungs.
What gives him the right to know? Cole better not
have told him! I’m gonna beat his ass, I swear!

“
Who told you?” I seethe.

He shakes his head. “Tell me!” I say, beating his
chest with my fists. “Tell me!” He continues to refuse.

Speaking softly, he replies, “I promised not to
tell.” I continue to hit him harder until I have no fight left in
me. He pulls me so close to his chest I can’t move my arms. With my
arms feeling like they are in a straightjacket, I give up moving,
but I beg one more time. “Pleassseee, tell me, Em. Who told you?”
My fear, anger, and hurt are replaced by an overwhelming wave of
hopelessness.

“
Rae, I love you. I will
never leave you, and you can count on me for
anything
. It doesn’t
matter who told me. It only matters that I can be here for you
now.” My body gives in, and I crumble in his arms. Without another
word, he lifts me from the ground, embraces me in his steady arms,
and places me into the passenger side before taking me
home.

As Emmett drives down the road, I
don’t speak. Instead, I stare out the window and replay the events
of the night and try to see into the future. The hardest part about
the future is the unknown, and right now, I’d give
my
life to be able to see what our future holds.

Emmett doesn’t take me directly back to the farm; he
takes me down to the side road by the creek.

“
Em, what are you doin’?” I
whisper.

“
Rae, I’m not taking you home like this. We’re
gonna figure it out after you tell me what exactly is goin’ on,” he
says with compassion in his voice. I nod in agreement as tears fill
my eyes and begin to flow down my face. Emmett puts the truck into
park and turns to look at me. Almost as if I’m taken back in time,
I remove my seatbelt and crawl into his arms, as a child would do
to their parents. In the seat of the truck, I let down my guard
completely and all the pent-up emotions from the past couple of
months come flooding through. I let Emmett see the real me—the girl
who has lost her parents, who is losing the most important person
in her life and is uncertain of what her future holds.

He rubs his hands in my hair and continues to try to
calm me, and when I can no longer cry, I begin to speak as my body
begins to shake.

“
Em, I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I’ve lost
everyone important to me, and I can’t lose him. Not now or ever.
I’m so thankful you walked back into my life.” I wipe the tears
from
my face and wait for
him
to respond.

“
Rae, he’s a fighter. He doesn’t give up
easily. He’s worked for everything he has, and I know he’s gonna
give this his best shot. He needs you to live your life.
Regardless, you have me, and I’m never leaving.”

“
How can I live my life?
He
is
my
life!”

“
I understand that, but you
remember what Mufasa told Simba, don’t ya?”
What the heck? Did he just reference The Lion
King?

“
Ummm, I think so, but I don’t want to talk
about the dang Circle of Life. I want Grandaddy to live forever
because that’s what he’s supposed to do. He’s always met everything
head-on, lived life to the fullest, and he’s gonna outlive me.
That’s how it’s supposed to be. Not like this.”

Emmett
must know not
to push me further. He places his hand on my cheek. “Rae, I know
this is tough, and I know you like to be in control, but sometimes
life tests us, and this is a test for you, your grandaddy, and the
rest of us. Let’s make a deal?”

“
What kinda deal?” I ask.

“
Let’s try not to worry
about the future. Instead, let’s focus on the present. I don’t know
what’s gonna happen, but I do know that as long as we all have each
other, it will work out like it should. Who knows? This could work,
and he’ll be back to his normal self. He’s healthy as a dang horse
other than
this
.”

“
You can say it, ya know? Leukemia. I’m not
scared of what it is, but I’m petrified of what it will do to him,”
I state.

“
Like I said, let’s see how
this goes, and Cole
and I will be with y’all
every step of the way.”

I nod in agreement. “Do I have to go home tonight?”
I ask him.

“
Well, unless I have a death wish, yes, you
do. Why?”

“
Got any of that shine left? I wanna get drunk
and take advantage of you,” I say with a small smile. Even though I
know that’s not how I should handle this situation.

“
Raegan Lowery! I’d love to take you up on
that offer, but I’m not gonna let you use my body to push your
feelings to the side. I will let you get sloppy drunk and take you
home, where I can lay you in the bed and make sure you’re okay. I
will help you forget that way, but I will not let you tarnish what
we have between us. I love you too much.”

Those words sting, but I know he
is speaking from the heart. I will thank him for it in the morning,
as long as I’m not hugging a toilet. “Get me the jar.” Emmett
shakes his head as he goes to get the remainder of the moonshine,
but before we make our way to the creek bank, I see the screen
light up on his phone.
Wonder whom he’s
texting?

“
Who was that?” I ask him as we sit
down.

“
Cole. I wanted him to know where we were and
to let your grandaddy know you might be late for
curfew.”

“
Are you kiddin’ me?” I ask.

“
Nope, I didn’t want him to worry. Plus, I
wanted Cole to know what happened tonight.”

“
Thanks, I guess. Are you okay? I mean, I know
you won the fight, but you’re gonna have one hell of a shiner in
the morning.”

“
Yeah, I’ll be fine. As long as I have you,
there’s no need to worry.”

I look at the water as I say the next words. “I’ve
just never had anyone besides Grandaddy and Cole care so much about
me.”

“
Rae, from this day forward, you will never
have to worry about how I feel about you. I’m never leaving you.
I’m your present and your future.”

“
How do you know that?”

“
I know I’ve never felt what I do for anyone
else, and I can’t picture my life without you. It’s almost like I
feel complete.”

He’s just explained how I feel
about him. He’s the other half to my whole, and if I had pushed him
away tonight, I would have never recovered. I begin to smile
inside, because as another mountain in my life is
created
, an angel has appeared to guide me
through.

Emmett

After the bottle of shine is empty, Raegan and I sit
and stare across the water without saying a word. The night sky is
clear, and the smell of fresh hay bales permeates the air. Just as
I’m about to break the silence, Raegan beats me to it.

“
I miss them, ya know,” she
slurs as she hugs her knees. “People think I don’t remember, but I
do. Just because I was five doesn’t mean I didn’t understand. I
did. I remember the look on my grandaddy’s face, going to the
hospital, and the men in suits. That’s what I can’t shake from my
mind. The men in suits. They were so distinct and almost
untouchable. That’s what scares me the most about Grandaddy being
sick. I remember every move they made at the funeral,
and I don’t want to relive that again. They were like the
constant reminder that it was
real
. I mean, I don’t want Grandaddy to suffer,
and I know he’s lived a good life, but I can’t face the men in
suits. For me, that will make it
real
.”

I turn to look at her as tears
begin to stream down her face as well as mine. In this moment, I
feel her pain. I want nothing more than to take it away from her
mind, body, and soul and insert it into
mine
.

“
Rae, I still remember. The
men in suits, that is, but what I remember the most is the look on
your face when you were at the front of the church. You stood down
there with a smile on your face, but when I looked you in the eyes,
I saw how sad you were. It’s never left me, and as a child, I felt
your fear. On that day, I knew I had to do something to make you
feel better. That’s why I brought the bunny. I knew you loved
Thumper. I thought it might
make you
smile.”

She turns to look at me while wiping her tears, and
I have no idea what she is about to say. “Em, you don’t understand.
When my world came crashing down, I didn’t know what to do.
Grandaddy’s house had always been a fun place to visit, but on the
way home from the funeral I realized it was no longer a fun place
to visit. It was now my home. Em, I can still remember wanting my
mama to tuck me in that night and having to remind myself that she
couldn’t.” She takes a minute to collect her thoughts and then
begins to speak again.

“
Then, you showed up with
that stuffed
bunny. It was almost as if my mama
sent you to
me. The day you brought it, it
was like I found a little bit of hope in this world. I realized
people do love me, and that life would get better. You know what’s
funny about all of this?” she says as she looks for an
answer.

“
What?” I reply.

“
When things get hard and I want to give up, I
hold on to that bunny and remember the moment you gave it to me.
It’s almost as if I was trying to hold on to you even when you
weren’t here. Like it was my guardian when you weren’t around. Does
that sound crazy?”

Taking my arm and
wrapping it around her shoulder, I pull her close. “No, Rae,
it doesn’t sound crazy, but I never knew it meant that
much to you.”