“Hi everyone,” Bracken says, waving. “Thank you for allowing me to interrupt, and thank you to the dance team for helping me make this perfect.” He clears his throat, and his eyes search the crowd until he finds me. “There’s something important that I need to do, and I feel like now is the perfect time. Nautica, can you come up here, please?”
“You go girl!” Macy whispers, slapping my arm.
I can’t move. I’m in shock. She gives me a helping push and I rise up from my chair. My steps are slow on my way to the stage.
I’m dreaming. I have to be dreaming.
He comes towards me, grabbing my hand to help me up the steps, and leads me to the center of the stage. I let out a breath of relief when I hear the ear-piercing sound of the microphone falling to the ground.
The crowd goes wild when he hands me the roses and drops down to one knee. My heart runs rampant. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a black box.
This is happening. This is really happening.
“Marry me,” he says, looking up at me with eager eyes.
I’m growing lightheaded. Please, don’t let me pass out.
“Marry me,” he goes on. “Let me show you I’m not going anywhere.” I gasp, my hand going to my mouth when he opens the lid. A gorgeous diamond ring sparkles underneath the bright lights. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I can faintly make out the crowd yelling behind us, but my attention is set on him.
I stand there, speechless, and he keeps going. “Marry me, and I’ll always be at your side. You and me.” He grins arrogantly. “Marry me, and we’ll find the perfect house, create an amazing family, and have a great life. So what do you say, Nautica Evans? Are you ready to keep me forever and make me the luckiest man alive? I promise you I’ll make sure you’re happy every single day.”
I nod violently as tears fall down my face. “Yes. Yes!”
He pulls the ring out before grabbing my hand. “Be prepared to deal with my ass every morning, and to give me a kiss every night.”
“And possibly more,” I say, around a giggle. My voice is practically a squeak. I can’t believe I’m making sexual innuendos during his marriage proposal. Thank God he dropped the mic.
“And possibly more, especially in my truck.”
“This can’t be real life,” I whisper.”
“It’s our real life. It’s our love, and it’s perfect.”
The ring feels cold as he slips it on my finger. It fits perfectly.
Bracken Casey.
My brother’s best friend.
My obsession.
My fiancé.
* * *
I’m laying in bed, relishing in the feel of the soft sheets against my back and Bracken’s arm around my waist.
He proposed four hours ago, and I feel like I’m a princess in a dream. I finally slip the ring off my finger and take a good look at it. The princess cut diamond sparkles even in the dim light, and I eye the smaller cut diamonds wrapped around the band.
My heart flutters when I see it.
Engraved in the inside is: The final step.
dear reader
Thank you for reading, and thank you for your reviews.
All of the support, the feedback, and your messages make my day brighter.
I’m forever grateful.
Stay in touch for new releases, discounts, or to join my ARC team here.
Keep reading for the first three chapters of Beneath Our Faults, and Stepbrother Aflame.
Join my mailing list here.
Facebook
Instagram: @charityferrell
Twitter: @charity_ferrell
Other Books by Charity Ferrell:
Beneath Our Faults
Karma
Revive Me
Pretty & Reckless
Stepbrother Aflame
Excerpt from Beneath Our Faults
Prologue
I jumped at the sound of the second gunshot and smacked my head on top of the wooden desk above me. Covering my head with trembling hands, I tried to block out the noise, but the shots grew more erratic. They were close. I knew it because the screams were so clear. How was this happening? Things like this didn’t happen in our small town.
My heart thumped against my chest so hard I was waiting for it to burst out and land on the dingy linoleum floor in front of me. I glanced to the girl next to me crawled into a ball with tears streaming down her face while her body rocked back and forth. Were we going to be next?
Holding in a deep breath, I slowly stretched my arms above me and reached around until I felt the rough leather of my purse strap. I dragged it down and ignored the items flying out as it bounced on the floor. My hands frantically searched through the contents for my phone. I kept hitting his name on the screen when I found it until I heard ringing come alive on the other end. I had to talk to him. I needed to hear his voice and be sure the screams weren’t his.
Chapter One – Daisy
High School Shooting Kills Twenty Students and Teacher.
Those words were on the headline of every news channel, website, and newspaper until the shock value wore off and some celebrity got busted banging his nanny.
Those eight life-ruining words.
My brain processed them over and over again, but my heart tossed them out to the birds. That one sentence signified the dead end to my road of happiness. It shattered every ounce of hope built in my heart and then stabbed it a few more times for good measure.
The most important person in my life had been ripped away from me by selfishness and pride. Rodney Avila. I’d remember that name until I took my last breath. He was upset that his girlfriend broke up with him. Out of spite and pure insanity, he decided to take his dad’s pistol with him to school. Heading directly to her first period class, he shot her and everyone else in the classroom. His homicidal spree ended with him turning the gun on himself, which was smart on his part, because if the spineless bastard were still alive I would’ve taken it upon myself to kill him.
I blinked, fixing my eyes on the daunting building looming just yards away from me. My body shivered as the frigid raindrops showered down, soaking my dress and causing it to cling to me like a second skin. The weather matched my mood impeccably: gloomy, cold, and depressed. My hair I’d spent hours on earlier was now a sopping mess plastered to each side of my face. I couldn’t see it, but I was certain the black mascara my trembling hands had applied earlier was now running down my face alongside the never-ending tears and leaving streaks down my stinging cheeks.
Bodies veiled in black passed by my stationary body, heading towards the very place I was trying to avoid. A few bumped into me, but I was too numb to be affected. My body didn’t belong to me at the moment. The scrawny legs connected to my torso felt like they were glued to the slippery pavement beneath me.
Out of habit, I reached up and caressed the tiny pendant dangling around my neck for what seemed like the millionth time that day. My icy hands moved back and forth around the chain sluggishly, letting the noise of the storm drown out the faint voices passing by.
I knew what everyone wanted, and it wasn’t going to happen.
I couldn’t do it, and I wouldn’t do it.
They wanted me to come in from the downpour and see him. My eyes fluttered shut, deflecting the heavy raindrops as I inhaled the strong scent of rain surrounding me. If I did what they wanted, if I stepped through those brooding doors, I’d have to say goodbye to the person who still owned my heart.
I swiped a tear from my face. This wasn’t supposed to happen until we were old and grey. It wasn’t his time, and I damn sure wasn’t ready to let him go.
Chilly fingers wrapped around my arm and broke me away from my trance. My entire body flinched as I pulled away from the source and looked at the culprit standing in front of me. She was gripping a bright red umbrella in one hand, and her mouth was open wide, screaming at me.
“Please listen to me!” she shouted, begging. “Go see him,” my best
friend, Tessa, screamed at me. “You’ll regret it the rest of your life if you don’t do this, Daisy. Please, just do it!”
Her lanky hand kept reaching for me, but I did a childish game of pulling away. Being dragged across the pavement face down sounded better than coming to terms with the fact that I’d never be waking up from the nightmare that had now become my real life.
My lips parted, but my mouth was incapable of forming words. I stood there; staring at her while her begging grew more frantic in an effort to gain my attention. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a larger pair of hands grabbed me by my waist firmly and hoisted me into their strong set of arms.
"Let go of me!" I wailed, kicking my feet against him, but gaining no advantage. The rain poured down on us faster, and my eyes widened at the realization of where we were headed.
No.
Hell no.
Hell to the fucking no.
I screamed, kicked, and punched with all my will. Nothing. The more I fought back, the faster his pace picked up, until finally my body quit producing the energy to fight. Whimpering, I laid limp in his arms, ready to give in to the inevitable. Warm air hit my face, and I twisted around, burying it into the crook of his neck to hide from the curious looks coming our way. I didn’t look up until I heard the loud creak of a door opening, and suddenly I was being tossed onto a cold couch in the corner of a dusty room.
“Get your head out of your fucking ass,” a dripping, wet Dawson sneered over my shaking body. His black suit was wrinkled and soaked to his body.
I winced at his words, but it helped loosen the tongue that had been tied for days. Sure, the person standing in front of me might’ve been my dead boyfriend’s best friend, but his hurt could’ve never matched mine.
“Screw you, Dawson!” I cried out, struggling to control the shakiness in my voice. “Don’t you dare try to tell me what the hell I should do!” I tugged on my frizzy locks, pulled them together, and slid my hands down them roughly to wring out the water.
“Well, shit, Daisy,” he yelled back, bringing out both hands and gesturing towards me. “Someone needs to say something. You’re about to miss the entire funeral because you’re being fucking selfish!” He paced back and forth in front of me. “How do you think Tanner would feel about how you’re acting?”
He stopped mid-stride and narrowed his eyes at me. My heart dropped at his name, but I knew Tanner would understand my reluctance. The man I was in love with would’ve grasped my hesitation, aware of how hard it would be for me to see him like that.
Dead.
In a casket.
That wasn’t the last image I wanted to remember of him. I wanted to treasure our last goodbye – when he kissed me in the hallway and told me how much he loved me.
I snapped, jumping to my feet, and leaving a wet spot on the couch behind me. “Don’t try to tell me how Tanner would feel,” I replied, my voice harsh. “I’ve known him my entire life. Since the day I was born!” I paused, swiping away the soggy hair falling in my eyes. “You’ve known him for what?” I stopped, waiting for him to answer my question, but he stayed silent. “Four years! So you can shut the hell up!” A shaky finger stabbed him in the chest at my last word.
My emotions had been on overdrive since everything had happened. Not one word I said processed through my brain before I allowed it to leap straight out of my mouth and into the open. It was a low blow. Everyone, myself included, knew that Tanner loved Dawson like a brother. They were best friends, and I was a shitty person to devalue their friendship.
My chest heaved in and out, my breathing growing shallow. Dawson and I stood face-to-face, having a stare down, neither one of us making a move or spewing out a word in our defense.
He was the first to give up at the exact moment his eyes began to glaze over. Shaking his head, he threw up his hands in defeat and shuffled backwards, away from me.
“Wow,” was the only thing that came out of my mouth, but it was enough to let me know that I’d stepped over the line, and his patience with me had been extinguished. He whipped around, opened up the creaky door, and slammed it shut behind him.
Regret crashed through me as I belatedly took in what had just happened. My legs gave out and I collapsed onto the carpeted floor. My body tensed up at the feeling of a warm one falling down beside me and wrapping me in their arms. I shook my head in embarrassment, and she pulled me in tighter while we both attempted to let our hurt out together.
I cried for the person I lost. I cried for his family, and the best friend next to me who lost her twin brother. I cried for the other families who lost a child, a brother, or a friend, in the shooting. I was certain my tear ducts were close to falling out from excessive flooding.
“I miss him, too,” the girl I’d been inseparable from my entire life whispered into my ear gently. “We’ll get through this together.”
A soft knock came from the other side of the door, and the door crept open before I had the chance to tell the person to go away. My mom appeared in the doorway, and shut the door closed behind her. The first thing I noticed was how her red, puffy face fell when she took in the scene in front of her. Her knuckles flinched, clutching the tissues that were balled up in her hand, as she let out a light whimper.
Tessa was the first to get up, reaching her hand out for me to grab. Running my hands down the length of my dress, I tried to get rid of the ugly wrinkles, but it didn’t help. The dress was ruined. I didn’t care. It had a scheduled meeting with my fireplace as soon as I got home.
The sound of my mom clearing her throat broke through the uncomfortable silence. “Sweetie,” she said softly, looking straight at me. “They’re getting ready to start the service.”
My eyes immediately dropped to my shaking hands and studied the chipped, pink nail polish on my fingernails. I gave her a slow nod. Nodding, and shaking my head had become my regular form of communication since that day. I’d practically become a mute with the exception of the bitchy outburst I’d just given Dawson.
“Okay,” I mumbled, drawing the word out. “Can you two just give me a minute alone, please?”
“Of course,” my mom answered, squeezing out a fake smile. “But you only have a few minutes. Make it quick.”
Turning around, she left the room. Tessa briefly squeezed my hand and then followed my mom out, closing the door behind her.
With the room empty, I stumbled back towards the couch and dropped down onto the hard cushions. My fingers were still shaking as I fished out the now slightly damp, folded paper from the pocket of my blazer. I swallowed the nausea creeping its way up my throat and carefully unfolded the note.
Tanner,
This is the best way I knew to tell you goodbye. I hope that’s okay. I remember you always loved the letters and notes I’d write you during our free periods. I even decorated the corners with tiny hearts like I did when we were in middle school. I wanted you to be the only person to hear my goodbye, not all of those people sitting in the room. This is our goodbye, just for the two of us.
I’ve spent all of today missing you, and I know that’s how I’ll spend tomorrow, and the next, and the next. I don’t know how I’m going to get through everything without you by my side. I’ve never had to do anything without you, and I’m terrified. I’m scared. God, I’m so, so scared.
All of our plans, our dreams, have been ripped into shreds and thrown into a blazing fire. I can’t stop thinking about all of those talks we used to have planning our future. Our huge wedding in your parent’s backyard before our honeymoon in Tahiti, and the four kids we were supposed to have. You know they would’ve been a handful, but you would’ve been an amazing father. And husband. We were supposed to have a great life together.
Everyone keeps telling me I have to move on with my life, but I have no idea how to even start. I remember when I first told you I loved you, you told me, “there’s no taking it back.” I never really thought about how much those words meant to me until now. I’ll never take them back. You’ll alwa
ys have my heart.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. If I could take it back, I would. I can’t wait until I see your smiling face when we meet again.
Love always,
Daisy
The words grew blurry as I dragged my finger across the paper and then quickly folded it back into a square before securing it back into my pocket. The heels of my shoes sunk into the carpet as I lifted myself up and tried to mentally prepare myself for what was about to happen.
I was seventeen years old, and about to say goodbye to the love of my life. I’d been shattered to pieces, and I knew the shards would never fit back in the same mold. But me breaking wasn’t the hardest part. No, that wasn’t it. The worst part was that even though I didn’t pull the trigger, I could’ve stopped the bullet from hitting him.
Chapter Two – Daisy
5 Months Later
The voice blared through the speakers above my head and woke me up from my sleepy haze. My mouth opened wide in a yawn, and I wiped the dried-up slobber from the side of my face. Reaching my arm behind my back, I struggled to massage the heavy tension spreading from my neck down to my back. The pill I’d taken earlier to help me relax was beginning to wear off, causing my anxiety to resurface.
God, I loathed flying.
Admittedly, it was only my second time flying, but it was my first doing it alone. Last time, I had Tanner by my side, holding my hand, and distracting me from my crazy, paranoid thoughts. Let’s just say I’ve watched The Final Destination one too many times.
Quick fact: I absolutely, with every fiber in my tiresome body, hated heights. Memories rushed through my mind of the time Tanner had somehow convinced me into going cliff diving at Lake Monroe with him and our friends. The name alone sounded painful. I remembered how proud I was of myself when I’d made it to the top of the cliff.
Bad For You: (An Older Brother's Best Friend Romance) Page 18