by Allie Able
Broken Pieces
A Cape Isle Novel
Allie Able
Broken Pieces
Copyright © 2016 Allie Able.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
May violators be pooped on by a flock of angry pigeons.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Formatting: Champagne Formats
Cover Design: Perfect Pear Creative Covers
Editing: Schmidt’s Author Services
First Edition: July 2016
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Broken Pieces
Quote
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Epilogue
Note from the Author
Other Books
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Dedication
This one is dedicated to anyone who has ever been broken. I know your pain and I’m here to tell you that it does get better. Your pieces will mend. It may not be tomorrow or next year, but one day you will smile again. Just keep on keeping on, and know that I’m standing in your corner cheering you on.
Broken Pieces
“If you feel like you’re falling apart, fall into my arms. I promise I will catch every little piece of you and I promise I will always love your brokenness.”
Prologue
Zack
I WATCH THE PRETTY LITTLE girl run across the playground. Her blonde hair is pulled back into pig-tails and she is wearing the biggest smile I have ever seen. It is my first day at a new school and my mom has promised me that we are going to stay at this one.
We've moved a lot since my dad went to heaven last year, but so far, I like this town the best. I get to swim in the ocean and make sand castles almost every day. My mom doesn't cry as much here either. Maybe she likes to build sand castles too.
The little girl runs towards the slide again and her pigtails flap in the wind as she slides down the slide. It looks like fun, but I'm scared to be up high and the slide looks really big from where I'm sitting.
Her eyes move to me—almost like she knows I am watching her the whole time—and her smile gets even wider as she runs towards me. I shift nervously the closer she gets to the bench I'm sitting on.
“Hey, you're new,” she says, as she plops down beside me.
I nod my head and move over so she has more room to sit down, but instead, she scoots closer to me.
“My name is Alexis, but everyone calls me Lexie.”
Her smile is so bright that it looks like the sun. “Hi, I'm Zack,” I mumble.
“When did you move here?”
I shrug my shoulders and look around. “A few weeks ago.”
“Really? Where did you move from?”
I shrug my shoulders again and kick a small rock on the ground. “We've moved a lot.”
“Why?” She looks at me closely.
“Why do you want to know?” I begin to get frustrated with her questions.
“I'm sorry. My brother always tells me I talk too much,” she whispers. Her pretty smile dies as she looks away from me and I feel bad that I made it go away.
“My dad went to heaven and my mom said we needed to find a new place,” I answer, hoping that will make it come back, but it doesn't. She turns to look at me again and her frown deepens.
“Your daddy went to heaven?”
I nod my head. I don't like talking about my dad because whenever I do my mom cries. I hope Lexie doesn't start crying. She surprises me when she reaches across the bench and grabs my hand. Her hand is so tiny and her nails are painted a bright pink. She squeezes my fingers and I look back up at her as she speaks.
“Your daddy must have been really special. My momma says that God only picks the special people to go to heaven early.”
I think about that for a second and nod my head. My dad was pretty awesome. I bet that's why God picked him. I need to tell my mom that. Maybe that will make her feel better.
“Yeah,” I finally respond.
“Do you want to be my best friend? I only have one friend and she's not very nice.”
“Then why are you friends with her?” I ask. It's Lexie's turn to shrug her shoulders.
“Momma said I needed to be nice to everyone, even when they are mean to me and Emily is mean to me a lot.”
I look down at her hand still holding mine and I can't imagine anyone ever being mean to her. She looks like an angel to me and you can't be mean to angels. I nod my head firmly. “I'll be your friend, and I promise I won't be mean.”
She smiles brightly at me again, revealing two dimples on her cheeks, and I feel my own my mouth pull into a matching one. I feel like I haven’t smiled in a long time. Mom tells me I’m shy, but I don't feel shy around Lexie.
“I won't let anyone else be mean to you either,” I promise her.
“Really?” Her eyes grow wide.
“Really.” I nod my head so that she believes me.
“My brother says that too, but sometimes he's mean to me. Do you have a brother or sister?”
I shake my head. “No. What does your brother do that's so mean?”
“Sometimes he won't let me play with him and his friends,” she pouts.
I give her hand a squeeze this time, and she scoots closer to me.
“Well, we are best friends now. You can play with me.”
She smiles and lays her head on my shoulder.
I've never really had a friend that was a girl. Before my dad went to heaven and we started moving around a lot, all of my friends were boys. I'm not sure how you're suppose to treat a girl friend. I hope she doesn't want to play with barbies.
“Do you play with barbies?”
She giggles, but keeps her head on my shoulder. “No. Why?”
“I've never had a girl for a best friend before,” I admit.
“Well, now you have me,” she responds.
* * *
And that day, I promised myself that I would protect her. Every angel needs protection and that's exactly what Lexie was to me, an angel. I had no idea about the amount of trouble this sweet looking angel would get me into throughout the years. I didn't know that I would fall in love with my best friend either, but that's exactly what happened… and she never noticed because to her, I was just her best friend.
Chapter One
Lexie
18
years later
I TAKE A LARGE DRINK of my wine and look around. One of my best friends got married today and I couldn't be happier for her, but I am beyond tired. I shift uncomfortably as my shoes squeeze my toes. I consider taking them off but decide to wait until everyone has had a few more drinks. No sense in making an ass out of myself in front of a bunch of sober people, and on that thought, I take another gulp of my wine.
“Woah, I thought we were past our chugging days,” Zack says as he walks up next to me at the bar.
I snort and shake my head. “Nope, haven't grown up yet.” I look over at him and see that he is smiling down at me. His cute little dimple on his left cheek is so deep that I always want to stick my finger in it, but my long time best friend does not appreciate that. I laugh to myself and shake my head.
“What are you laughing about, Crazy? How many drinks have you had?”
“This is only my second glass tonight. Thank you very much. I was laughing thinking about that time we were at that senior party and I kept sticking my finger in your dimple. You got so pissed.”
He shakes his head and laughs. “You did it all fucking night, Lexie. Every time I was in the middle of a conversation with someone, your drunk ass would wander over and start poking my face. And don't think that was even the first or last time that happened. You have boundary issues,” he jokes.
I roll my eyes again and shake my head. “Boundary issues? We have boundaries?” I ask.
He laughs and turns towards the bartender to order another beer.
When he looks back down at me, I study his face for any sadness that might still be lingering. He was recently trying to date one of my friends, Katie, but she just left the wedding with my brother and I'm pretty sure they are getting back together as we speak.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, with a tilt of his head.
“I'm trying to make sure you’re not sad, so shut up and let me finish looking at you.”
It's his turn to roll his eyes, as he takes a drink of his beer. “You could just ask, Lex.”
“What would be the fun in that?” I respond with a wink.
He smiles, showing off his dimple, and my fingers actually twitch with a need to poke it. He takes one look at my face and throws his head back laughing.
“Don't even fucking think about it,” he says, once his laughter has died down.
My lips turn up into a smile and I take a drink of my wine. “So, seriously, are you okay?” I ask.
“Why would I not be okay?”
I give him a ‘duh’ look as I shake my head. “Well, the girl that you brought to the wedding just left with my brother.”
“Lexie, I didn't know she was involved with Nick when I asked her out, but the first time I saw them in a room together I knew it would never work out between me and her. They are still very much in love with each other, whether she wants to admit it or not.”
I nod my head and briefly look away before focusing back on him. “Why did you ask her to come to the wedding with you?” I don't know why, but for some reason seeing Zack with Katie made my stomach hurt. I know I'm not jealous, because I've seen him with women before and he's my best friend, but I do know that for some reason I didn't like it. He searches my face and shrugs his shoulders.
“I don't know. She seemed lonely and I knew it would only be a matter of time before they got back together. I like to think that I just helped them get there a little faster.”
I snort into my drink and he gives me a look that I don't like one bit.
“What?” I ask, as he keeps staring at me.
“Are you jealous, Alexis Sinclaire?” he asks with a smirk.
“Don't call me that, and no, I'm not jealous. Why would I be jealous?” I scoff.
He shrugs his shoulders again and looks around. “They had a beautiful wedding,” he says looking around Summer’s and Grant's backyard.
I nod my head and smile. “Yeah. I'm so happy for them.”
“Do you ever think you'll do this?”
“Get married?”
“Yeah.” He looks down at me with an unreadable expression.
“I don't know. Maybe if I find someone that can handle me,” I laugh. I'm joking, but it's true. I cannot find a man that can handle my crazy, so I just stopped trying.
“Don’t settle for someone who will handle you, Angel. You weren’t meant to be tamed. You are supposed to run wild until you find that someone who loves you because of your crazy,” he responds quietly.
We stare at each other for a second, until I'm the first that looks away. He has called me Angel since we were kids. I'm not sure why and I have never asked. He usually only calls me it when we are alone, kind of like a secret nickname that only we know about. I sigh and continue looking around, before focusing back on Zack. “What about you? Think you'll ever get married?”
He stares at me for a long moment before shaking his head. “I'm not sure, Lexie.”
I find that odd. Zack is a sweet down to earth guy. He seems like someone who would want 2.5 kids and a white picket fence before the age of thirty.
“Why?” I ask with a tilt of my head.
“Why what?” he asks, mirroring my movements with a smirk on his face.
I roll my eyes again and shake my head. “Why are you not sure you will ever get married?”
He stares at me and his eyes get a weird look in them. He opens his mouth to respond right as Grant and Summer walk up to us.
“Hey, buddy,” Grant says, giving Zack a couple of slaps on the back.
Zack snaps his mouth closed and gives me a look that I can't understand, before turning to Grant.
“Beautiful wedding, man.”
“Summer takes all of the credit for that.”
“Umm… Lexie too,” I murmur, but Zack is the only one that hears me. He gives me a wink and goes back to talking to Grant. I turn to look at Summer and smile. “God, you're just so damn pretty in a wedding dress. I think you should wear it everyday.”
She laughs and her eyes sparkle. It’s amazing to see her so damn happy. Summer and Grant went through so much crap to get to where they are now, and I could not be happier for them. I pull her into a hug and squeeze her to me.
“What was that for?” she asks, patting my back.
“Because I can,” I wink.
She looks at Zack over my shoulder and smiles. “How much has she had to drink?”
They all laugh while I roll my eyes. Jesus! I'm going to get a fucking headache I've rolled my eyes so much in the past 30 minutes.
“She's fine. I think she's just happy,” Zack responds with a soft smile in my direction.
“Where did Katie go?” Summer glances around the room.
“Nick just sent me a text,” Grant responds holding out his phone. I pull my own phone out of my purse and see that he sent me one too saying that he is sorry for making a scene and that he and Katie wouldn't be back tonight, and I begin typing out a reply.
To Nick: About damn time.
I drop my phone back into my purse and return my focus to the group.
“Okay, we need to go mingle,” Summer says as Grant takes her hand and leads her away.
“Mingle my ass,” I mumble. “They will be gone in twenty minutes.”
Zack laughs and nods his head. “Well, I'm dateless again. Want to dance, Lex?”
I smile and take his hand as he leads me out onto the dance floor. “I was always the one you came to when we were in high school and college to fill in for your dates,” I say wrapping my arm around his shoulder.
One of his hands rests on my lower back and he pulls me closer. Zack and I have always had a touchy feely friendship. I've always felt at ease around him, so giving him hugs or dancing with him has always been a natural thing. It used to drive my boyfriends insane, but if they thought I would choose them over Zack, they were sadly mistaken. He was and still is one of the most important people in my life.
“Fill in for my dates?” he asks.
“You know, whenever you would dump the poor girls or they would dump you. I was always the fill in,” I clarify.
He looks down at me and we sway to the music in silence for a second before he shakes his head. “No, Angel, you were always my only date,” he says quietly.
“Such a smooth talker,” I tease.
He looks like he wants to say more, but instead he just smirks and shakes his head.
“What does your week look like?” he asks.
“Just work. Summer and Grant are leaving in the morning. So without her at the bakery, I'm sure we will be extra busy. What about you?”
“I start at the fire academy this week,” he replies with a smile.
I stop moving and stare up at him. “What? They hired you already? Why didn't you tell me?” I ask.
“I didn't think it was that big of a deal and you've been busy with Summer's wedding.”
“It is a big deal. Oh my God, I'm so happy for you,” I say throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him. His arms come around my back and he picks me up off of the ground and hugs me close to him. I bury my face in his neck and take in his smell. I've always loved the way he smells. Is that weird? Probably so, but he has always felt like home to me.
“Thank you, Angel,” he whispers.
I pull back and look at his face. “I bet your mom is so excited.”
He sets me back down on my feet and we start to sway to the music again.
“Yeah, she's happy for me, but she's a little nervous I think.”
“Well, I can understand that. So am I. You will be safe though right?” I ask. I haven't completely thought this through until now. He told me he was applying for the job a few months ago, but I didn't think about him having to run into burning buildings until right now.
“I promise I will be safe,” he responds, studying my face. I give him a nod and lay my head against his chest.
“I'm so tired. When do you think I can go home?” I mumble.
“You can go home now, Lexie. You don't have to stay.”