by Amelia Shea
Impatiently Patient
Garrison Brothers, Book 3
Amelia Shea
Published: 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62210-357-7
Published by Liquid Silver Books. Copyright © 2016, Amelia Shea.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Manufactured in the USA
Email [email protected] with questions, or inquiries about Liquid Silver Books.
Blurb
How long would you be willing to wait for love?
Emory Kern has been in love with Ethan Barrett her entire life. From her childhood crush, to a teenage obsession, she fell in love with him. She waited patiently for him to see her, notice her, and in turn, fall in love with her. When she is forced to put her heart on the line, she professed her love, sealing it with an explosive kiss. Then, he broke her heart. Fleeing from everything she knows, she puts time and distance between them in hopes of forgetting the man she’ll never have.
Ethan Barrett is smart, strong, sophisticated, and can have any woman he wants. Except one. He has spent a long time denying his feelings for Emory, thinking they could never be anything more. Until one night, when her surprising confession and the always smooth Ethan froze. He broke her heart and then she was gone. Time and distance has only intensified his feelings and desire for Emory.
After eight months, Emory is back home. Her goal is simple, get in and get out, without any further damage to her heart. Ethan’s goal is a little different. Second chances don’t come often and he’s not about to let her get away this time.
Falling in love with her was easy, making her believe it will be the challenge…
Dedication
For Ann-Marie, my fellow superhero
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my readers for all your kind words, awesome reviews, and reading my books!
Thanks so much to everyone at Liquid Silver Books and the talented artist for my amazing cover. Special thanks to my editor, Ansley Blackstock, for going above and beyond, helping me every step of the way with these edits. I am so thankful to have you as my editor. You rock, girl!
Thank you to my family and friends, especially Dan, Scarlet and Maddison for embracing the insanity and your unconditional support. A huge thanks to Tonya, my brutal beta, for your honesty, positivity, encouragement, and your acceptance of my improper use of a comma. To my farm girls, Kristen and Molly, for insisting on “raising a glass” for every book I write—y’all are the best!
My heartfelt thanks to Ann-Marie, for inspiring Emory, with your smart mouth, badass attitude, and the biggest of heart of anyone I know. Our fate was sealed in the seventh grade, best friends for life. For every Roxanne, there is an Emory, thank you for being mine!
Prologue
18 years ago
“ARE you sure you’re a pick-up today, Emory?”
Six-year-old Emory Kern squeezed her lips together, looking up at her first grade teacher from the bench she was sitting on in front of Maddison Hills Elementary. They had been waiting for what seemed like a long time. As usual, Emory was the last kid waiting for her ride.
She nodded her head and brushed her curly red hair away from her eyes. “My mom said Meghan was picking me up.” Meghan, her babysitter, was always late.
She watched as her teacher, Ms. Carson, gave her an awkward smile and scanned the parking lot. There were only a few cars left, mostly teachers. Emory swung her feet and looked down at her black shoes. She hated those shoes. She scrunched her face in disgust. Not only were they ugly, shiny, and clicked when she walked but they left cuts on the back of her heels. Her mother insisted she wear them. She was only allowed to wear sneakers on gym days. She sighed, her shoulders slumping. She loved gym days.
“Well, we’ll give Meghan a few more minutes, then we’ll call your mom.”
“She won’t answer.” Emory continued to stare out into the lot.
“She won’t answer?”
She looked up to her teacher and shook her head. “Nope, she’s really busy. She’s a lawyer,” Emory said matter-of-factly, and continued swinging her feet.
“I’m sure, as busy as she is, she’d want to know that you don’t have a ride home, sweetheart.”
Emory just shrugged. Ms. Carson was new this year. She was young and really nice, but she was clueless when it came to the Kern family. Emory’s parents became notorious for pawning her off on other parents last year. So much so, that Emory lost friends because of it. Helping out other parents was one thing, taking on someone else’s child was completely different.
Emory perked up at the sound of a car. She saw the big green SUV pull up in front of the school and park. She knew it wasn’t her sitter. Meghan had a tiny red car.
The back door opened and a small smile spread across Emory’s face gleaming at the little girl who hopped out.
Roxanne Barrett, her new best friend.
“Hi, Em!” Roxanne slammed the door behind her and rushed over to Emory.
“Hi, Rox! What are doing here?” Emory got up front the bench and met her halfway. A woman followed behind Roxanne and smiled down at Emory. She was shorter than Emory’s mom with dark hair and a pretty face. She came to stand behind Roxanne and put her hands on her shoulders.
“Forgot my workbook.” She turned to the woman standing behind her. “Mom, this is Emory.” Her voice was full of excitement.
“Isn’t this a treat? I finally get to meet the famous Emory.”
A huge grin spread across Emory’s face. She liked being called famous, it made her sound important, special. The woman held out her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Emory. Roxanne talks about you all the time. I’m Mrs. Garrison.”
Emory beamed up at Roxanne’s mom and shook her hand. “Hi!”
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Garrison,” Ms. Carson greeted.
“Hi, Ms. Carson. Would it be okay if Roxanne went back to the classroom? She forgot her workbook.”
“Of course. Emory, why don’t you go with Roxanne, and I’ll keep an eye out for Meghan.”
“Okay!”
Emory and Roxanne rushed into the school, taking the steps two at a time.
“Who’s Meghan?” Roxanne asked.
“My babysitter. She’s late.” Emory giggled. “She’s always late. She’s in high school so she forgets a lot. Once, she took me to the ice cream shop and she left me there.
“Really?” Roxanne’s eye grew big with shock.
Emory nodded. “Yep. She said she thought I was sitting in the backseat.” Emory shrugged her shoulders. That wasn’t even the first time Meghan had forgotten her. She was used to it. She turned to Roxanne with a mischievous grin. “Let’s run!”
They raced down the hall, Emory’s ugly shoes echoing, and stopped at their classroom. Roxanne retrieved her notebook while Emory waited by the door. With her book in hand, they headed down the hall making their way back to the front door.
“Maybe you can come over and play? I can ask my mom,” Roxanne said, taking hold of Emory’s hand. Roxanne was always holding her hand or hugging her. Emory wasn’t used to it but she liked it. In Emory’s house, the hugs were few and far between. Her mom said that coddling a child didn’t set them up for the real world.
They made their way back to Roxanne’s mom, who was s
tanding on the walkway near the truck. There were two boys standing next to her. They were older than Emory. Mrs. Garrison looked down at the girls’ clasped hands and smiled.
“So, Emory, Ms. Carson went to the office. She’s going to call your mom and see if maybe you can come home with us today. Would you like that?”
“That would be great!” Emory screeched.
“Yay! This is going to be so much fun, I can’t wait to show you my room and we can play with my dollhouse and on the swings. Do you like cookies ’cause my mom made some yesterday, and they’re really good and we can have chocolate milk too.” Emory didn’t have a chance to answer because Roxanne kept talking. Roxanne pulled Emory closer to her big car.
“And these are my brothers, Stone and Bogs. Don’t they have cool names?” She pointed to the boys next to her mom, who chuckled.
The boy with the dark hair and green eyes, Stone, smirked and rolled his eyes. His eyes were really cool, reminding Emory of a cat. He was taller than the other boy. His chin jerked at Emory and she waved.
The other boy was a little shorter with messy dirty blond hair and light brown eyes. When he smiled at her, she saw his faint dimples. “Hey, Emory!”
“Hi!”
Emory looked up to Mrs. Garrison, who winked at her, giving her a soft smile. She could hear footsteps behind and watched Mrs. Garrison look over her head. Emory turned around to see Ms. Carson coming out of the school.
She smiled and nodded at Mrs. Garrison. “Emory, I just got off the phone with your mom. It seems, your sitter is,” her lips tightened and she cleared her throat, “unavailable. But Mrs. Garrison said you can go home with her. And your mom said that would be fine and she will pick you up,” she glanced up at Mrs. Garrison, “at eight o’clock?”
Emory looked over at Roxanne’s mom. Her eyebrows raised. Her face instantly changed when she looked down at Emory. She smiled and nodded. “That sounds wonderful. You can have dinner with us, Emory. Would you like that?”
Emory started to bounce on the balls of her feet with excitement. “Yes!”
“Ethan is grabbing the extra booster from my room,” Ms. Carson said.
Emory looked over to Roxanne and whispered, “Who’s Ethan?”
“My brother.”
“Wow, how many brothers do you have?”
The boys snickered.
“Three for now, but I’m getting another, hopefully soon!”
Emory was confused and her eyes widened. “Oh.”
Roxanne pulled on Emory’s hand and followed her brothers back to the truck. The boys got in and climbed into the backseat. Roxanne let go of her hand, and got in her seat. Emory moved to hop in the truck when she felt a soft hand rest on her shoulder.
“Hold on, Emory. Here comes Ethan with a booster for you.”
Emory turned her head and saw a boy walking toward the truck. He was tall and thin. His hair was really dark, almost black and he had pretty blue eyes, just like Roxanne’s. His smile spread across his face as he got closer.
Mrs. Garrison gently pulled Emory aside and the boy put the booster on the backseat. Emory stared at him with wide eyes.
He looked down at Emory. “Hi, Emory, I’m Ethan, Roxanne’s brother.”
“Hi, Ethan.” Her words were slightly stuttered and she gulped.
Mrs. Garrison nudged her forward to the open door. “Hop in, sweetheart.”
Her gaze looked up to Roxanne’s mom and back down to Ethan, who gestured for her to get in the car. Emory stepped up into the backseat and sat down on the booster seat. She hadn’t had one of these for a couple of years.
Emory wiggled into the seat and grabbed the seatbelt, pulling it over her chest. She struggled a little, trying to get the buckle in. She released it and pulled again, leaning over trying to see the buckle. A hand came over hers and she looked up to see Ethan’s face a few inches from her.
“Here, let me help you.” He took the seatbelt, leaned over Emory and clicked the buckle in place. His smile spread across his face.
“There you go, you’re all set.”
Emory stared at him. He was so nice.
“Thank you.” She smiled back at him.
He winked at her and closed the door before climbing into the front seat.
From that day forward, Emory Kern vowed to marry a nice boy like, Ethan Barrett.
*
Ethan smiled at the sound of his sister and her friend giggling from the back seat. He had heard a lot about Emory Kern from Roxanne. She had gone on and on, talking nonstop about her new friend. Most of their dinner topics had centered around “what Emory said” or “what Emory did.” He could tell that it was annoying his brothers, they were constantly rolling their eyes. But he liked it. Emory served as a distraction, almost a way of healing for Roxanne.
It had been almost a year since his parents died and the Garrison’s had adopted them. The pain of losing his mom and dad was still so raw for him. Most nights he spent missing them in the solitude of his room. He rarely spoke of them, not wanting to burden anyone with the pain and sadness he was dealing with. He was especially careful with Roxanne, making sure she never saw him upset. He was all she had left and he needed to be strong for her. He had to grow up quickly in the last year, making him feel much older than the average twelve-year-old.
“Then we can go on the tire swing.” Roxanne squealed.
“You have a tire swing?” Emory excitedly shouted from the back.
“Yup. Ethan, can you push us? Ethan pushes the highest.”
Ethan laughed, turning in the front seat, smiling back at Roxanne. “Sure.”
“Me too?”
Ethan glanced over at Emory. She was leaning forward, bouncing in her seat. Ethan’s lips curled up and he nodded. “You too, Emory.”
Turning back to the front, he heard a soft whisper from Emory, “Your brother’s really nice.” The corner of his mouth cocked up as he stared out the window.
* * * *
13 years ago
“Stop being a butthead, Nate,” eleven-year-old Emory spewed out and took a stance in front of Roxanne.
Nate, their classmate, had made it his life’s mission to make Roxanne cry. He used to be nice until he asked Roxanne to be his girlfriend and she said no. From that day forth, he was as mean as a snake. He took every opportunity to pick on her, usually when Emory wasn’t around.
His cruel laughed echoed through the halls as they made their way outside.
“What are you gonna do, Emory? Kick my ass? Oooooo…I’m so scared.”
“You should be, turd!” She turned around and smirked. “You’re just mad that Roxanne wouldn’t date a loser like you. Back off or I will kick your butt.”
His face turned angry and red. “I’d like to see your ugly ass face try it.”
“Ugly ass face? Wow, aren’t you original? And you wonder why girls won’t date you.”
“Oh yeah, well, I know why guys won’t date you, Emory. No one wants an ugly bitch like you.”
That stung, more than she wanted to admit. In a time when girls were starting to discover boys, Emory quickly discovered that being a redhead with unruly curly hair and freckles didn’t make her top choice for the cute boys.
The girls ignored him and walked outside to the front of the school. He trailed behind. They walked over to the side lawn where they usually waited for Roxanne’s brothers to pick them up. Since the first day Emory went home with Roxanne five years ago, she’d been doing it ever since.
Her brothers, now all in high school, met them at their middle school. Ethan had gotten his driver’s license and picked them up every day.
“Where are they?” Roxanne whispered nervously.
Roxanne had made Emory pinkie swear she wouldn’t tell her brothers about Nate and his teasing. Emory didn’t like it but she promised. If it didn’t stop she was seriously considering breaking her promise.
Emory glanced down at her phone, they were la
te. Damn! She surveyed the lot. There were kids and cars everywhere but no sight of the Garrison’s truck.
“Hey, Roxanne, where’s your brothers? Hope they didn’t get into a car accident!” He sneered.
Emory’s heart sank to her stomach and she slowly gazed over at Roxanne. Her face turned red and her nostrils flared while staring straight ahead into the lot. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Emory felt the anger build inside her. Everyone knew Roxanne’s biological parents had died in a car accident.
The Garrisons’ had adopted her and Ethan shortly after. Roxanne handled it really well but hearing his cruel words were too much.
Emory threw her shoulders back and her backpack dropped to the ground. She stalked over to Nate who wore a cruel smile. He laughed as Emory got closer.
“Em, no, he’s not worth it.” She heard Roxanne’s voice of reason pleading with her but she motored on, coming to stand a foot away from Nate.
“What are you going to do?” He held out his arms to his sides, daring her to take a shot at him. He was challenging her.
Challenge accepted, jerk off!
Emory clamped her hand to a fist and swung hard and fast, landing a swift blow to his stomach. Her hand smashed into his gut and knocked him back, stumbling over his feet and tripping down to his butt. His breath gasped. It was obvious he was not expecting it.
Nate started to cough, holding his stomach and curled into a ball on the grass. A few students gathered around and Roxanne whispered from behind her, “Holy hell, Em!”
Emory leered down at him. She knew violence wasn’t the answer but sometimes, it was called for. She was pretty sure that Nate would be leaving her best friend alone now. Feeling quite proud of herself, she held her head high.
Glancing over the heads of the other kids, her smile faltered. “Uh oh!” she muttered.
“What is going on here?” The vice principal was rushing over to where the small crowd of kids had gathered. The group parted and she looked down at Nate, who was still heaving and hugging his stomach. She looked up at Emory and her concerned face became angry.