Somebody Worth It
Page 1
Somebody
Worth It
Author Message:
This book contains adult material. It may make you laugh, make you sad, make you happy, and may make you cry. Of course, the author isn’t responsible for these emotions!
This book is intended for a mature audience and not suitable for readers under 18. Language, sexual conduct, & adult situations take place.
Copyright © 2014 Nickie Nalley Seidler
All rights reserved.
Create Space Print ISBN-13: 978-1499117721
Create Space Print ISBN-10: 1499117728
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any other information storage and revival systems without prior consent from the author. Characters, places, and events that are portrayed in this book are all fictitious. I understand that if I share the author’s works, I will be in violation of the copyright and can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The author acknowledges the use of the following:
UNO, Malibu, Arizona, Wild Cats, Hilton, Ford, Explorer, Land Rover, Hallmark, Mustang, Katy Perry, Grand Canyon, Arizona, Wildcats
DEDICATION
To the marriages that struggle, not everyone has a happily ever after. You choose your destiny, so choose it wisely. You only live once.
Additional Books from
Author Nickie Nalley Seidler
A Lucky Second Chance
A Tattered Love
Love Burned Deep
Taking My Love
Coming Fall 2014 Book 2 in the "For Me" Series
Shamelessly Worth It
Nickie's social networking links:
www.facebook.com/authornns
https://www.goodreads.com/NickieNalleySeidler
https://twitter.com/NNalleySeidler
Somebody
Worth It Playlist:
Dierks Bentley- I Hold On
Randy Houser- Runnin’ Outta Moonlight
Rascal Flatts- What Hurts the Most
Pink- U+ Ur hand
Nelly Furtado- I’m like a Bird
Miranda Lambert- White Liar
Luke Bryan- Do I
LMFAO, Lil Jon- SHOTS
Enrique Iglesias- Be With You
Christina Aguilera- Fighter
Bruno Mars- When I was your Man
George Strait- Just Give it Away
Billy Currington- Hey Girl
Adele- Set Fire to the Rain
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book pulled and tugged at my heart strings. The characters we’re so emotional and it was difficult to get their emotions on paper just right. It kept me up several nights in deep thoughts and I had plenty of lovely people to turn to. I owe this book to all the people who never let me give up. There have been so many times I have wanted to throw my laptop out the window and call it a day. Sometimes, it gets that messy in my head that I just want to quit. Every writer I know comes to a point in time where they don’t like their own work, just to be reminded by our wonderful readers how amazing it is. I can’t even explain how much I appreciate my readers. You bring a smile to my face every time I hear compliments on my books. KEEP encouraging me and every author you love to keep going! I know there are so many people to thank that I know I will miss a few, but to start off these are the ones that pop up at the top of my head. Please forgive me if I haven’t mentioned you, I don’t always have the greatest memory.
Firstly, my wonderful husband. Thank you for letting me write and pursue my dream. So far it’s everything I’ve expected it to be. Thanks for occasionally understanding when I want to pop a pizza in the oven instead of cook. Or spend hours upon hours at the computer working. Thank you for being understanding and loving and supporting me through it. This is my job that I work at every day. To some who may not understand it, writing is a full time job in itself. Not only do I write, as a self-published author, I market myself, I create teasers, I interact with other authors and readers, I participate in release parties, I outline future books, I create my own swag, etc. There is so much to being a writer that I can at times put in 12 hour days. I bust my ass in hopes of reaching one more reader who will enjoy my work, spread the word, and stick by my side. It’s a hard task but I love every second of it. It’s my husband who keeps me motivated to kick ass and make the next best thing out there. Thanks babe for being there for me.
To my Mom, you will always be my rock and I love you for loving my books as much as I do. Love you, Mom. To grandma who’s also my biggest fan.
To my friends that see me almost every weekend to give my mind a break and a night out, thank you for promoting me without even questioning it. Word of mouth is key and I love ya’ll for it. To Rose, James, Ryan, and all my other friends, thanks for spreading the word.
Felicity, you have been the greatest friend that I could have asked for being my little cheerleader alongside me every day. I appreciate your honesty, and your friendship greatly. It means a lot to me. To my second cheerleader, Austin, keep on being great little man! I love you both! One day, we will get together and have a great time!
Janelle, thank you for always texting me and calming me down about over thinking pretty much everything. I know it’s a bad habit and you’re always one to put things into perspective haha. Thank you for believing in me and my books and keeping me going because you love them and my characters just as much. <3 you hard. Can’t wait to get to meet you!
Brittany, my ABFF, I’m so glad we’re friends and we can talk about anything. Thank you for bringing your honesty to this book and talking for endless hours about ideas for book 2 as well. Thanks for being such a great friend to me.
Kim, where do I even start? Even though you’re listed as crazy cat lady in my phone book, you’re really a sweet genuine person I can talk to about anything. Our viber chats make my day sometimes and you’re constantly trying to make me smile. Thank you for being a friend, and a constant cheerleader as well. Another one I get to meet soon! <3 you!
Victoria, you my dear, are my sun on a gloomy day. As silly as that sounds, you make me laugh every time I get that text telling me you love me and hoping that I have a fan-fucking-tastic day. Seriously, you’ll never know how those small little conversations make my day. Thank you for also believing in me and chatting about my books. Can’t wait for our girl’s time when you’re here!
Karen, Karen, Karen, what do I even say about you? You get me on a level some don’t. I’m so glad that we’ve become friends and we can shoot the shit straight forward. Thanks for being there for me, <3 you.
To my BETAS: Ashley, Holly, Sue, Caiti, Felicity, Janelle, Karen, Kim, Amanda, Joanne, and Melanie, THANK YOU. You’ll never know how much I appreciate your honesty and kicking my ass to getting this book to be as perfect as it can be. Thanks for being my cheerleaders and giving me great feedback and advice. I love running ideas with you guys. You get my brain flowing when I’m stuck in a slump. I heart you all, thank you. To my new BETA reader Bev, welcome aboard and I can’t wait for you to help me with book 2.
To my awesome author friends who stand by my side through thick and thin and make sure that everything will be ok when I’m down, and kick my ass back in the writing cave each and every time, thank you. I’m glad I’ve found some lifelong friends. Thank you to Melissa you are my inspiration and author I look up to. I’m so glad I can call you my friend and can’t wait to share a table with you this year and get to meet your awesome self! Brandy, I’m so grateful we started talking and found a love for each other’s books. Thank you for being there for me and supporting me. Brooke, you are the girl I can message and something positive will always come out of it. It’s how your mind is wired
and I love that about you. Thanks for having faith in my work and talking about marketing strategies, can’t wait to meet you! Your Conklin books are high on my list of great ones! Annie-thank you for helping me so much with this book. You had the same vision as I did and kept me going when I was stuck. Thanks for being there for me. Glenna- you rock, thanks for always being there. I’m glad we are friends and I know I can come to you with anything. Thanks for the help with this book and I’m so happy you can see my work improving from book to book. Heart you hard. Sophie, always my go to girl. Thanks for all your texts, messages, and inspirational words along the way. I heart you. Thank you for your friendship and I can’t wait to meet some of you this year at some author events.
To the bloggers, I have several to name and I know I won’t get to naming them all, but a HUGE thank you to YOU. If it wasn’t for you spreading the word of all my books I wouldn’t have gotten very far. You took a chance on me and I’m so very thankful for your support! Big shout outs to Kellie, Chrissy, Megaen, Holly, Karen, Ena, Chauna, Author Stalkers, Ebony, Stephanie, Heather, and Jess! I know I am missing SO many people and I apologize. It’s hard to remember everyone but know that you’re not forgotten. Thank you for your endless support I truly do appreciate it. You ladies are wonderful.
Thank you to my wonderful cover designer you ROCKED this cover. I’m so in love with it! Thanks, Kelsey!
To my editor, Elizabeth, THANK YOU for your patience with what I threw at you called my “rough” draft. Ha.Ha.
To the entire minion group, you know who you are, thank you for being there for me and pushing me along the way to be the person I am today. We have great chats, some sad and some happy, but mostly hilarious pee your pants type stuff. It’s because of that group, that I’m able to call some of you my friends and family.
Lastly to my READERS. I wouldn’t be who I am today without you. I love hearing your feedback so feel free to message me at any time and tell me what you thought of my books! I love you all and I’m so grateful that you follow me in my writing career!
To Louise, Bev, Amber, Lori, Malinda, and Shona, thank you for showing me that you’re my greatest fans! I have so many but these ladies are always interacting with me and pushing me to be the best I can and encouraging me along the way. THANK you. I’m so happy I have such great readers, I love you all.
Cover Design by K. Keeton Designs
https://www.facebook.com/KKEETONDESIGNS
Editor: Elizabeth Aguilar
Book Peddler’s Editing
http://www.bookpeddlersediting.com/https://www.facebook.com/BookPeddlersEditing
Quotes from website:
http://www.brainyquote.com
Chapter 1
“Hard times make you bitter or make you more compassionate.” - Jewel
Millie
Every bill Brian and I had was scattered in no particular order across our worn, wooden dining room table. I knew at any moment the pressure in my head from the stress, would make my head explode. My gray matter would join the bills that were starting to look like giant pieces of confetti in shades of pink and greens on the table top. I wondered if Hallmark had an occasion card for this sort of thing. ‘Happy Clusterfuck Day.’ There was no need to have an order, they all needed to be paid, and they all had an unbearable balance. The words, overdue, past due, last notice kept flashing in my head in bold colored font. This was bad. The creditors were up our asses, calling daily, even hourly. They wanted our money desperately.
Brian’s expression sat like a heavy weight on my shoulders. His eyes were bloodshot, as if he was about to cry. His posture was sunken down in the chair and his hands tousled his thick, black hair. He faced the table just staring down, speechless, and in thought. I knew what he was thinking. I didn’t have to ask him. He was thinking how he could save his business from the bankruptcy road it was heading down. The silence was about to kill me if he didn’t say something soon. Although, somehow I knew the words that were about to come out of his mouth weren’t going to be pretty. We were seriously hurting, and hurting badly. His business had plummeted into a dark hole. Being a roofer in fall and winter had its hardships. Hardships we were used to every year, but this year was different. He hasn’t made enough money to pay the loans he had to take out on materials and things for the office. He loved his roofing job, but it was killing him financially these days. Job interview after job interview, I was still jobless.
“Millie.” He looked up at me with pain stricken eyes, “Just tell me how we got this bad? I’ve worked my ass off for fifteen years to give Kate and you the best life we could have, and from what I’m seeing that’s surrounding me here, I’m so far into debt that I can’t handle any more shit.” He shoved the eviction notice right in front of my face; our house, our precious house. We had to fix this. His hands flew up in defeat, then he pushed away from the table, kicking the chair in. My heartfelt a small pang, like I’d been stabbed in the chest with indescribable amount of pain. I hated seeing him so upset, but we didn’t know how to comfort one another. We were both so miserable. At this point in time, I don’t know what the future held for us anymore. He paced the dining room, running his hands through his hair then back down his face, like he wanted to hide and escape trouble.
My fingers traced my soft lips as I searched for the right answer to give him. I thought hard, but had nothing. It was life. I didn’t have an excuse to give. Kate being active in sports and dance and every club known to man was a bit pricey. We wanted the world for our daughter. We did renovations to the house that we didn’t think would be too much money, but ended up costing us a fortune. When I got sick with mono and was in the hospital, the bills added up hourly. I lost the only job I ever had as a secretary. Being out of work, I knew, killed us financially, too. It swiped whatever money we had from underneath us and left us flat on our ass with nothing.
“Baby, just come here. We’ll figure it out, like we always do.” I opened my arms, welcoming him to step into them. I needed his arms around me more than he knew. I knew we were in major trouble this time.
“Don’t fucking baby me, Millie. There is no getting out of this ‘like we always do’. We’re going to lose this house if a damn miracle doesn’t happen!” His look shot flaming daggers tipped with poison into my soul as he turned on his heel and fled the house, making sure to slam the door behind him. I heard his pick-up truck start and speed off.
I really wanted to scream. I could feel my legs start to quake. My nails bit into my clenched fists, and my heartbeat accelerated. I was getting tired of Brian just taking off in his damn truck, leaving me to handle everything. It wasn’t like I didn’t have days I wanted to run away for a few hours and hide my head in the sand and drink myself silly. No! I had to try and keep it all together for Brian and mostly for Kate, but who the hell was keeping it together for me? I wish I could say Brian did. Well, he used to before everything got so damn bad. Not only had the mountain of bills stacked up, it had destroyed our financial lives, and it looked like it was on a course to destroy our marriage as well.
I didn’t have the answers Brian wanted. My mind boggled and busied for any possible way to help us. I usually always had the answers to everything, but this was up over my head. It wasn’t like we were a bunch of idiots who didn’t know how to budget and blew through the money. Brian and I had always been financially stable because he worked for his dad right out of high school when we found out I was pregnant with Kate. Then years later, he took over the company. His dad passed away five years ago, and since then the business hasn’t done so great.
I just wanted us to get back on track, but it doesn’t seem like it’s possible. We were sinking like the Titanic, and just like those people, we didn’t have enough life jackets to keep us from going under. We were drowning in debt. The bank accounts were on life support, and creditors were poised to pull the plug. Kate interrupted me from my thoughts.
“Mom?” I heard a voice creep up behind me. The voice that usually soothed any troubles
in my life, like a balm to an emotional battle wounds, but, this time, I knew nothing could soothe what was happening to us. Not right now at least.
“Hey, honey, go to back to sleep, everything is okay.” I turned in my chair and slouched, facing Kate. My bright, smart, beautiful teenage daughter stood before me. She was one of those kids that someone can look at her and know she was my daughter. She was a carbon copy of my looks and mimicked my mannerisms. Almost like looking at a mirror of my younger years. Her slender body and bright sandy blonde hair that came midway down her back was like mine had been at that age with my blue eyes. Those knock-out baby blues that I didn’t think could get any brighter, but they did in Kate.
“Where did Dad go? Why are you guys fighting?” She yawned and placed her hand to cover her mouth.
I took her hand, trying to think of the right thing to say. I pulled her into a hug, and she sat on my leg hugging me back tightly. “Don’t worry about it, Kate. Things between your father and me are just that. Nothing for you to worry about. I love you.” I kissed her temple, sliding her hair behind her ear.
I walked with Kate back up to her room and headed to my own. I debated over and over in my head whether or not to call Brian, but I figured he needed time alone. I didn’t need time alone, I needed him back here in my arms to comfort me.
I received a text from Kate. She really does text me in the next room down the hall.