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PART I
The beginning . . .
(2006 - 2016)
CHAPTER ONE
ELLA
FALL 2006 - WALKINS GLEN, ALABAMA
Are we really going in there? I stared at the huge sign that said: Under 21 & You Get the Boot. Well, there was a picture of a cowboy boot instead of the word. Walking into a local bar was a bit more brazen than simply stealing my brother’s secret Tennessee moonshine on a cold Alabama night. “You sure about this?”
“No one is going to card us, and we don’t have to order a drink, but everyone is in there. Why should we miss all the fun because we’re not old enough?” Rory turned off her car.
Decision made, I supposed. We’re going in.
The Drunk Gator was jam-packed based on the cars and trucks in the parking lot. Our small town, Walkins Glen, only had two real places to go and hang out for the over-twenty-one crowd. And all four of my brothers were currently throwing back whiskey inside this bar. Well, that was the mental image I had in my head. They weren’t exactly tea drinkers.
“What’s really got you nervous?” Rory probed.
I swallowed back a little bit of the fear and the nerves and deflected, “Jesse’s home, right? Drove in for the party?”
“Saw him this afternoon, yeah. Why?”
I’d been mentally preparing myself to see him at the ranch tomorrow ever since Mom sent out invites for my brother’s “Going Away to the Navy” party. A.J. had recently graduated from the University of Alabama and surprised us all with plans to join the military and become a SEAL one day.
I’d already been a hot mess since the day Jesse left for the Army the second he graduated high school. Now, I had A.J. to worry about, too. Overthinking, not my most endearing quality. But at eighteen, I was pretty sure that was a requirement—a skill we honed in high school as a survival mechanism. If you plot out every possible outcome of what might happen, you’re prepared for the best- and worst-case scenarios.
“Ella, you ever going to stop sweating and respond?”
Rory broke my nervous train of thoughts, and when I flicked the front of my shirt, a bead of sweat trickled down my cleavage.
My nerves had nothing to do with going into the bar and violating the “boot” sign; I was terrified of going inside and seeing Jesse. What if he was flirting with some girl? An ex-someone. Or a new-someone. Hell any-someone.
Oh God. I’m already a mess. “It’s just been a minute since I’ve seen him.” I peeled my focus back her way.
“My brother?” She arched a blonde brow.
“Yeah.”
“That’s one reason why we’re going in there. Yeah, we’ll see everyone at the party tomorrow, but I want to spend as much time with them all as possible.”
“Me too.” My shoulders fell. “Okay, let’s go in. Try and not get booted.”
She chuckled. “We’ll be fine. No bouncer.”
Before I could change my mind, I got out and hesitantly followed her to the front door.
Not even two seconds inside, and we were blocked by a wall of muscles. Of course my police officer brother would be the one to try and stop us from having fun.
Beckett tipped the brim of his Stetson before crossing his arms and staring at us like we were two little kids in trouble on the playground. “What in the blazes are you two doing in here?”
Rory grabbed hold of his big bicep and gave him her signature pouty look. “You’re all only in town one weekend. We just want to spend time with everyone. We won’t drink. Promise.”
“Come on, Mr. LAPD, Big-City Guy,” I teased him. “Don’t be a grump.” I pushed up on my toes to try and see over his shoulder. To find the man that had me all out of sorts right now.
“Who are you straining your neck trying to see?” my brother asked. The guy didn’t miss a thing. Not a bad quality to have if he planned to make detective one day.
