Folding Hearts

Check out the other books by Jennifer Foor

Letting Go - A Mitchell Family Series Book One (Contemporary Romance)

Hope’s Chance (Contemporary Romance)

The Somnian Series (YA Paranormal)

Book One Ascension

Book Two Absum

Book Three Attero

Book Four Aduro

Book Five Abeo

Coming Soon

Tommy Ford Zombie Chronicles

I would like to thank everyone that continues to support me.

Without you, I would never stay so determined.

Thanks to all of my new friends on my FB, Twitter and Goodreads pages.

Thanks to all of my Independent Author Friends. (you know who you are)

Thank you to all the book bloggers out there spreading the word for me and others who write.

Special Thanks to:

Shannon Murphy, Jennifer Lafon, Jennifer Harried, Erica Willis, Karrie Stewart, Kim
Eckley
, Lesley
Ark,

Robin Harper, Heather Gunter, Angie
Cowgill
and Heather Collins

And everyone who has made this series the success that it is. I am forever grateful.

Thanks to my family and my faith

With them, all things are possible

Chapter 1

Tyler

Losing my girl to my cousin was bad enough, but sticking around while they tr
ied
to figure things out was probably the worst decision I could have made.

My uncle had just passed away and my cousin Colt wasn’t taking i
t well. His girlfriend, my ex Van
, had come all the way to Kentucky, courtesy of me, to support him in his time of need.
Colt wasn’t the type of guy to talk about his feelings. He would rather shut everyone out and drink himself numb. So
,
besides the fa
ct that I came along with V
a
n
to navigate, now I was being her shoulder to cry on while she m
ade th
e decision to stick by him
or not.

If I could have changed the past, I would have. I lost her because I
couldn’t keep my dick in my pants
. They were
actually the exact words Van
had us
ed on the night
I found out she was leaving me for Colt.

Last year I had been in
an
accident that left me in a coma for seven and a half month
s. During that time, Savanna had
been abused by my ignorant friends and non-understanding parents. She stuck by my side
,
mostly because they made her feel like my accident was her fault. Unfortunately, my cousin Colt came to town, to help my parents get through a desperate summer of farming, and through the time they spent together, ended up falling in love with each other.

I probably deserved it, but my own cousin being the reason was pretty fucked up.
I knew that she had been involved with someone while I was in the hospital, she had admitted that, but after her being
so
secretive, I started noticing things. They claimed that they tried to stay away from each other once I woke up, but obviously it didn’t happen. I caught them the night after I asked her to marry me.

She only said yes because I put her on the spot.
It was like a kick in the gut. When I say that I caught them, I really mean it literally. I left them alone at a bar and watched as they pawed all over each other on the dance floor. After a short amount of time
,
and some skin on skin touching, they took their little private party to my father’s truck
outside
and fucked.

I don’t know why I waited and let them finish.  Maybe it was because I wanted
a good reason
to fucking kill Colt. He knew how long she had been mine. He saw her say yes to me the night before. I had just got out of the fucking hospital for Christ sakes. I just stood there leaning against a nearby dumpster as the windows of that truck began to fog up. I saw a hand pressing against the glass and watched as the truck rocked back and forth.
I was even close enough that I could hear their panting.
Even though I was watching it all unfold, I was in shock. Van wasn’t the cheating kind, in fact neither of them were.
I hoped that it was
a bad dream? An effect of the pain medication I was taking, mixed with the alcohol?
Maybe
I deserve this
for everyone I had slept with behind her back?

They were all of the questions that I was asking myself while I watched my heart breaking before my eyes. Sure, I had been a shitty boyfriend, but this was fucked up.

Five years of being together was over
.
The truth came out that night.
Once
she f
ound out about my cheating
in our relationship
, I knew I didn’t have a chance in getting her back
.
She had already made her choice. I wasn’t sure about it that night, but she later confessed it to me, after I calmed down of course.

My cousin Colt was like a brother to me. We spent every summer together when we were kids. He couldn’t help falling in love with Van. Anyone that didn’t would be a fool.
She was perfect
in every way
.

It hurt like Hell.

I may not have been faithful, but damn, I didn’t expect my own cousin to take the only girl I ever cared about away from me.

I made the decision to forgive them, against my better
judgment
of course. I even went as far as to help Van get to Kentucky. She needed a friend and for some reason I wasn’t ready to just let her go. Maybe I am weird like that, but I needed to be around them. I wasn’t okay leaving things unsettled.

I spent most of the time that first week with Van. Colt was busy at the hospital and then
later
making funeral arrangements, so Van and I just hung out a lot. Miranda was with us most of the time, not that I minded. She was fun to be around and it also made Van
more
comfortable being around me. I had made several attempts at getting kisses and trying to talk her out of being with my cousin. I knew all along it wouldn’t work, but damn I would miss those lips.

While Van and Colt struggled to work things out on what was in store for their future, I was left to hang out with a very pregnant Miranda
more and more
. She was Colt’s cousin, but not mine. Their mother’s were sisters, which meant we had no blood relation, although for years we had considered
ourselves family
. I visited a lot of
times
in the past
when she was around. Her and Conner, her brother, had moved to the ranch when their father passed away
around ten years ago
.
I wasn’t exactly sure what their mother did, but it had something to do with the cattle. The last time I had visited she was on a business trip looking to
acquire
some new steers.

When Van and I had originally arrive
d
at Colt’s ranch, I acted like I didn’t know her to get a rise out of Van. She overreacted, even more than I could have imagined
,
and almost left without an explanation from Colt. For the few minutes it lasted, I had to laugh. Of course, I was the only person there that thought it was a
damn
bit funny at all.

A few days later, right before my uncle’s funeral, Miranda went into labor. Van and I got her into the car and rushed to get her to a hospital in time. Regrettably, we didn’t
make it
. Miranda delivered a little girl in the backseat of Van’s car. I don’t know how
Van and I managed it, but we were able to get her through it
. Miranda and her little baby girl were later taken to the hospital by ambulance, where it was determined that both were healthy.

Being there for that birth was the most scary, disgusting, and perfect thing I had ever witnessed. Parts were so
fucking
gross
,
I had to close my eyes, but when that little baby belted her first cries, something happened inside of me. It took everything I had not to burst into tears
too
.
My heart started to race
and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

When the ambulance started to pull away with both Miranda and the baby, that she later named Isabelle, I found myself running after them. I don’t know what made me do it, in fact I think about it all the time. That little girl was so fragile a
nd perfect, it was sil
ly
,
but I felt like she needed someone there with her
.

I stuck around the hospital that night, at least until the father decided to show his face
, then I made a beeline to the outside of the room
.
His name was Tucker Chase and he was nothing to be proud of.
Miranda introduced me as her cousin, which I was totally fine with. I wasn’t there as some kind of love interest, or replacement boyfriend.

Her boyfriend appeared to be a real piece of shit. His arms were covered in tattoos,
and not
the kind that look remotely de
cent
. They seemed to be hand done, maybe by himself or a drunk friend. He had one of his ears pierced all the way up his ear with little studs throughout. He had a hoop between the
cartila
ge
of his nose that looked
like the ones the cattle have
and a tear tattooed under his left eye
.
He was a filthy looking punk.
His clothes were dirty
and he had made no effort to clean himself up to be
around a newborn. W
hen he got there, he paid more attention to his cell phone instead of his new baby girl.

It made me happy when Conner and my aunt finally showed up to give her the attention that she needed. They crowded in the room and I followed behind them, not really worrying about the creep. One thing I think I will never forget was how unresponsive he was to that baby. He held her for only a second and once the family came in, he made his exit promptly.
Not one person from his family even showed up with him.

I hated the fucker.
Miranda may not have been blood, but she was my family.

Due to the fact that we had to bury my uncle, I was able to stay in Kentucky for another two weeks. While Colt and Savanna swooned over each other
more and more
, I spent most of my time at the main house, which in turn enabled me to spend time with Izzy.
Miranda hated that nickname and decided she was going to call her Bella for short, but that never changed my mind.
I think I fell in love with Izzy
immediately, but when I finally held her for the first time, I knew how special she really was to me.

Of course she was tiny. Her fragile little body could fit in one of my hands. I found myself holding her for long periods of time, even taking turns feeding her. I liked how I could
put my finger against her hand and she would hold onto it. It was amazing she could respond like that.