by Casey Peeler
Trailing kisses up and down her neck, her head falls back and it’s the most beautiful scene I’ve ever witnessed. Taking her hands, she slides them under my shirt and as I pause to look at her, she bites the side of her lip and smiles.
“Beckett, let’s make all the bad memories disappear. What do you say?” she says and I can’t help but smile. Standing from the swing, she wraps her legs around my body as we walk inside and we give each room a new memory.
Dallas
The moment that I come back down from the best high of my life, I look to Beckett and see him smile. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen him do.
“Beckett, what are you thinking?”
“That I don’t want you and Lettie to ever leave my sight.”
Smiling, I look up to him, “I completely understand the feeling.” It catches him off guard, and I might be crazy as hell for going all in. "We aren’t going anywhere. Well…” I say and his eyes get the size of Texas. “Unless you help me buy this house.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because it's the place that saved us both.”
Chapter 12
1 Year Later
Beckett
One year to the day, I stand on the front porch of my original childhood home as I watch the two most beautiful girls walk toward me, both in white.
As Lettie gets to the top of the steps, she smiles and stands beside the preacher. Dallas is a few steps behind her and she’s absolutely breathtaking. She has on a smile and a white dress, but it’s the look in her eyes that says everything.
She hands Lettie the bouquet of flowers, and I take her hands in mine. Looking at my bride-to-be, I silently cuss the preacher for taking too much time as he welcomes everyone. She smiles at me and I know she’s reading my mind as she gives me a wink.
Glancing into the front yard, my brothers are each standing with their significant others, along with my niece. Each of them have finally found the one that completes them, and today I get to do the same.
Dallas and I recite our vowels, exchange rings, and when the preacher announces us as husband and wife, I kiss her deeply. Walking off the porch, I scoop Lettie into my arms as we walk as a family for the first time. The moment she walked into Barger’s I knew she would break me, but I had no idea that in breaking into my heart, how much better life would be.
I look to Lettie as I get ready to place her on the ground. “Beckett, is it okay if I call you Daddy now?” she says with the cutest smile I’ve ever seen.
“You bet, sweet girl.”
An Exclusive look into Everett (Drake Brother #1)
Chapter 1
Everett
Taking my duffle bag and what little bit I own, I walk off the aircraft and look at the world around me. It’s quiet, peaceful, the skies are Carolina blue, but everything inside me tells me that this isn’t the life for me. My life belongs on a base, floating out in the water, keeping this country safe, but there’s no hope. My time is done and now it’s time to find some piss ass job that will pay the bills and kill the time.
Looking to my left, I see Beckett standing there in Carhartts and a Ridge Volunteer Firefighter t-shirt. Damn, some things never change.
“What’s up, bro?” he says as I approach him.
“Hell, you didn’t have to dress up to come and get me,” I laugh as he gives me a firm pat on my shoulder. Beckett is my oldest brother, but if you were to see us out, you’d never guess it. We’re both over six feet tall, dark hair and emerald eyes. However, there’s one major difference—our fathers. Let’s just say he’s the bastard out of the four of us. He’s got skin that looks black as the ace of spades and his hair is coarse and kinky. I know why he keeps it cut short. That shit used to be as wild as we were back in the day. “Couldn’t talk the other shitheads into coming to get me?”
“You know. Colby’s got to run that damn hardware store and Jeremiah is working overtime while Mr. Mayes is in the hospital. He’s in real bad shape. Guess you’re stuck with me.”
“Yeah, guess nothin’s changed. So, what’s been going on at the station?”
“Nothing too exciting. I’ve had to go over to Molly Simpson’s once a week to rescue her damn cat. I swear I really think she just likes to look at my ass when I climb that ladder up the tree.”
“Dude, don’t count on it.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it. She’s hot as hell and have you seen those tits?”
Looking at him, I’m completely lost. I’ve been gone for six years. The day that I could enlist and quit being his responsibility, I did. I haven’t been back and hadn’t planned on it this soon, except for a damn honorable discharge that I believe is a complete crock of shit. Taking his phone, he punches a few keys and then flashes a picture of her to me. Damn is right. She’s no longer a mousy girl with a chest flat as a brick wall. She’s a fucking bombshell.
“She had to have bought those,” I say, stating the obvious.
“Probably, but I’m not ashamed to look.” Climbing in the truck, we roll the windows down and drive toward Ridge. It’s a town so small that if you blink you’ll miss it, but it’s home, or it has been since we were adopted by our parents, Carol and Paul Drake, when I was five years old. “There’s an opening with Bell Distribution and it’s got your name on it. All you gotta do is tell Jason you want it.”
“Sounds good.”
“Go see him tomorrow. I know the route near the house is open and hell, maybe that will score us some free beer.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Arriving in town, it doesn’t take long for us to arrive at the old farm house. It looks like it did the day I left, but it’s got a new paint job.
Stepping out of the truck, I grab my bag off the back and walk toward the front porch. Looking around, it’s like going back in time and right now, I’d give anything for my mom to meet me inside with a smile. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about them and wish it had been me instead of them in that accident. It was my fault they were on the road that day. I was the one that started the fight at the basketball game, and if it weren’t for that they’d have never had that head-on collision. That day changed all of our lives forever.
“Dude, you all right?” Beckett asks.
“Yeah, so what’s the deal? The other shitheads coming by or what?” He starts to laugh. “Somethin’ funny?”
“Oh, they’ll be by. In fact, we’re hitting up Barger’s tonight.”
“You mean they still let y’all in there?”
“Hell yeah, they do. Actually, James has been getting Colby to fix shit around there. He’s getting old and not able to keep the place up. He’s got a grandson, Seth, that helps, but he’s lazy as hell and on the first train outta here when given the chance. It wouldn’t surprise me if Seth put a for sale sign on it the moment he got a green light from his granddad.”
“Damn, that sucks. Wonder what will happen to it?”
“Word on the street is that there’s a new owner, or prospective owner in the works. Someone not from here.”
“Well, what in the hell would make them want to come to this piece of shit town?”
“Who knows.”
Walking to my old room, it looks exactly the same. I toss my bag on the bed and begin to unpack when I hear the door open and the hooting and hollering begins. Looks like it’s closing time at the store and shop. Leaving everything on the bed, I walk down the stairs and into the kitchen to see the other rascals. Jeremiah is standing there covered in greasy jeans and a Mayes Auto Body Shop shirt and Colby looks like he stepped out of a Field and Stream magazine.
“Colby, what the fuck happened? You look like a damn boy scout,” we all burst out laughing, including him.
“Gotta look the part, asshole. Plus, the ladies dig it.”
“Oh, I bet they do. Let’s see who gets the most play tonight,” I challenge them.
“Shit. You know you’re scared shitless when it comes to women. Always have been,” Colby sho
ots back.
Shaking it off, I grab a beer, twist off the top and take a long pull. “You keep tellin’ yourself that.”
“So what’s the plan?” Jeremiah changes the subject.
“Barger’s.”
“Sounds good. Let me get cleaned up and let’s roll.”
Looking at my watch, I realize that it’s time to forget about what brought me here and pick up where we left off because not one thing has changed between the four of us.
For more of Everett and Stella’s story, go here: http://amzn.to/2hPzE3F
Discover the entire Drake Brothers Series
Everett (Drake Brothers #1)
Jeremiah (Drake Brother #2)
Colby (Drake Brothers #3)
Beckett (Drake Brothers #4)
About the Author
Casey Peeler grew up in North Carolina and still lives there with her husband and daughter.
Growing up Casey wasn't an avid reader or writer, but after reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston during her senior year of high school, and multiple Nicholas Sparks' novels, she found a hidden love and appreciation for reading. That love ignited the passion for writing several years later, and her writing style combines real life scenarios with morals and values teenagers need in their daily lives.
When Casey isn't writing, you can find her near a body of water listening to country music with a cold beverage and a great book.
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