But he couldn’t imagine it without Cassie.
The last four months of his high school career blew the previous years out of the water. The hockey team ended the season with a winning record—one game above .500.
He’d had a lot of fun living at Hadley’s house.
And his parents… well, maybe they didn’t matter so much anymore. He heard from them once a month for an obligatory five-minute phone call telling him a job was waiting for him upon graduation.
Yesterday, he called them to turn it down.
He wasn’t an A student like Jesse or as dedicated as Cassie, but he still wanted more than a job handed to him on a silver platter, one he didn’t have to work for.
One that would take him away from his family, even though it would move him closer to his parents.
Instead, he planned to start at the University of Southern Florida in the fall. He hadn’t told his parents when he applied, but the day he got his acceptance was like unlocking the chains from his wrists.
They’d since offered to pay. Maybe it was their way of reconciliation.
For him, it meant staying in Gulf City and going to school with Jesse. Cassie still chose an online college after graduating a year early, but she’d made a lot of progress.
He stood next to Hadley and her grandfather watching Cassie and a woman he’d since come to know as Annie. Her challenges brought Cassie and Roman together, and he’d always be thankful for that.
“Papa, we need to find our seats.” Hadley hugged her grandfather.
Jack put a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Proud of you, kid.”
Earlier that morning, Mr. Carrigan told him the same thing, and he hadn’t known how to respond.
He left Hadley at her spot in the alphabetically arranged chairs that spread across the wood covering the ice below it. Gulf City High’s auditorium wasn’t big enough for a graduation ceremony, so they used the ice rink.
It was pretty funny to see Gulf City residents arrive wearing coats in the early June heat of Southern Florida.
Roman found his seat and met his girlfriend’s gaze. Months ago, her being here was unfathomable. And today, when they called her name, she’d walk across the stage with the eyes of Gulf City on her.
The ceremony started with a number of boring speeches. Charlotte gave her valedictorian speech, ignoring Roman and Jesse’s cheers.
And then the names began.
“Amelia Carmichael,” the principal read. A small girl Roman barely knew ambled to the podium to collect her diploma.
It took a lot of convincing on Mr. Carrigan’s part for the school to allow Cassie to walk in the ceremony after graduating online. But here she was.
“Cassandra Carrigan.”
No one came.
Roman looked to the side of the stage, finding Cassie frozen at the bottom of the steps. His eyes met Jesse’s. Should one of them help her?
“Cassandra Carrigan?”
Roman started to rise from his chair, but before he could take a step, Cassie ascended the stairs, her head held high, the robe swishing with her confident steps.
Roman remained standing as he clapped and cheered. Jesse, Charlotte, and Hadley joined him.
Because they knew.
The girl on that stage was a superhero.
And she’d just won the war.
Next up is Hadley’s book, Spencer and the Younger Girl! Turn the page for a sneak peek.
* * *
You can get your copy here!
Spencer and the Younger Girl
Chapter 1: Spencer
Coming home was not what Spencer Lee considered an epic end to three years of travel. Nor was the job waiting for him on his parents’ ranch. Yep, Gulf City, the beachy tourist destination was also home to the Lee’s, a family with more mud on their boots than sand.
Most people in town never ventured out of their sheltered existences to see what else was out there.
But Spencer Lee? He’d seen it all.
And everything led him right back here to his parents' doorstep with a single travel-stained duffel slung over his shoulder.
He glanced behind him, taking in the familiar scenes of the ranch. Horse barns lined the far end of the property with pastures stretching out before them. Beyond that, the neighbor’s cattle roamed across the grass, their black forms shadows in the waning light.
The scent of manure permeated the air.
Ah, the ambiance. He sighed. Three years ago, he’d skipped his own graduation to take a plane out of here. There were a lot of things he’d hoped to leave behind, but the past had a habit of following him wherever he went.
At the time, all he’d wanted was to escape the cage of this town and the memories it held.
And his parents didn’t understand that, they didn’t understand him.
Spencer won the lottery the day he was born. He grew up with the ideal parents. A mom who doted on him, a dad who taught him.
And his brother… Damien was the best part of returning home. Spencer just didn’t know if it was enough.
One month. He’d give himself four weeks to figure out what came next.
Just as long as none of them learned why he’d left in the first place.
Lifting his hand, he rapped his knuckles against the worn wooden door. The entire house was in need of a paint job but with so many tasks to be done on the ranch, it wasn’t high on the list.
Footsteps sounded from inside the house, and Spencer braced himself.
The door opened, and time stood still. Sheila Lee hadn’t changed at all. From her tanned skin to the chestnut hair piled on top of her head, she looked just as she always had. Kind. Tired, but kind.
“Jerry!” she called over her shoulder. “Get out here. I think I’m having a stroke.”
Spencer couldn’t move as his dad sprinted into the narrow front hallway, skidding to a stop when he took in his son. Jerome Lee, with his dark skin and workman’s build, turned away from Spencer to look over his mom.
“Am I seeing things, Jerry?” she whispered loud enough for Spencer to hear. “Or am I dying?”
“Ma.” Spencer stepped forward.
“Now I’m hearing things too,” she wailed.
“Honey.” Her husband gripped her shoulders and bent his head to look her in the eye. “Our son is standing two feet away.”
Neither of them had said a word to Spencer. He always thought his parents were the perfect match, the ideal duo. It had been a lot to live up to in his life. He’d never fit their brand of excellence, not that they ever asked him to.
His mother approached him as one would a wounded animal, thinking they’d run. “Spence?”
“Yeah, Ma. It’s me.”
A cry broke past her lips, but she didn’t reach for him.
And it tore Spencer in two. He’d never wanted to hurt his parents, but he had a habit of hurting everyone who came into his life.
“Spence, you’re home.” She pulled her hand back and slapped him across the face.
He jumped away from her, rubbing his cheek. He deserved that and so much worse. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re sorry?” She rounded on him. “Sorry is what you tell your mother when you leave the goat pen open and they get free.”
Yes, that happened.
“Sorry is what you say when you shoot a hockey puck through the barn window, scaring Harbi into kicking one of the hands.” She shoved him. “When you disappear before graduation with only a short goodbye note and then don’t contact us for three years? That deserves a heck of a lot more than sorry.” She turned on her heel and stomped back into the house.
Spencer stood on the threshold rubbing the back of his neck. He looked to his dad.
“Your ma is glad you’re home, Spencer.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” This was going to be a long month.
His mom appeared again with her purse hanging off one arm. “I have a hockey game to get to.” She brushed past him.
“Since when does ma watch
hockey?”
His dad grabbed a jacket off the hook by the door. “Since your brother made the high school team.”
“Damo, really?” They’d played together when they were younger, but it was nothing more than shooting pucks at the chickens or deking around goats in the yard. Yeah, they were stupid kids.
Spencer didn’t even know how to skate.
His dad closed the door and locked it. “You missed a lot around here.” He walked past him to the truck where his mom glared from the passenger side.
Spencer watched them, unsure what to do. He had nowhere else to go, and they’d just locked the house. He eyed the bunkhouse—usually home to the ranch hands—wondering if he could pick the lock so he wouldn’t have to sit here on the stoop for the next three hours.
His dad’s window lowered. “You coming?”
Was he?
For his brother, he’d go anywhere—even if that meant joining the entire town he’d hoped to avoid.
Spencer threw his duffel in the bed of the truck and climbed in behind his mom in the cab. Dust kicked up behind the tires as they drove down the long driveway.
When the Lyft had dropped him off after a long day of flights, he’d just wanted a hot shower and a bite to eat—oh, and a lot of avoidance.
But nothing was ever that simple.
Exhaustion weighed Spencer down as he weaved through the crowd, keeping his ball cap pulled down over his dark hair. If anyone recognized him, there’d be questions.
Where had he been?
Why did he leave?
What brought him home?
Answers he wasn’t ready to give anyone.
A blond girl bumped into him and cold seeped into the sleeve of his black shirt. He cursed, making the girl stop walking and turn to him.
“What did you just say to me?” She narrowed her eyes.
He shook out his wet sleeve. “You spilled your drink on me.”
“Oh, I’m sorry you weren’t watching where you were walking.” Sarcasm dripped from her words.
“Hadley,” another girl called. “Come on.”
The girl brushed bangs out of her face and surveyed him for a moment longer. With a shake of her head, she walked away to join her friend.
Spencer pushed the rude girl from his mind as he stepped up to the counter and ordered a Root Beer, a drink he’d missed over the last few months spent in Australia.
Sipping it, he sighed. Yeah, there were some things being home was good for. Like the food. He’d dreamed about his mom’s cooking—not like she was inclined to cook anything for him at the moment.
Climbing the steps into the stands, he rejoined his parents. They both looked at him like they didn’t know what to say.
Well, join the club.
“This place doesn’t change.” He scanned the rink from the ice to the rafters. When he was a sophomore, an ex-NHL player bought it and revamped the entire arena. Since then, it remained the same, a central part of the Gulf City social scene. “How is the team this year?” Years ago, the high school team was unbeatable. He’d had a few hockey playing friends and their talent was unreal.
His parents shared a look.
“What?” Spencer scanned the faces down on the ice as they went through their warm-ups. He recognized a few guys like Jesse Carrigan and Roman Sullivan who’d been underclassmen when he graduated.
His dad leaned back in his seat. “They didn’t win a game for the first half of the season.”
Spencer cringed for his brother, knowing how much that would have bothered the perfectionist he was. “And now?”
“Well, they brought in a ringer, and she’s changed everything for them.”
“She?”
His mom broke her silence. “This girl came in and took your brother’s spot on the first line.”
“Dear, she earned it.”
“But it was his spot.” His mom had always been protective of her children.
His dad was the realist in the family. He laughed. “Don’t you worry, darlin’. With all these seniors graduating, Damien will lead next year’s team.”
Spencer found his brother down on the ice and thought of the last email he’d sent him. It was part of the reason he’d jumped on a plane so last minute, leaving his life of few cares behind Australia.
Spence,
I’m so confused. I just wish it was easy for me, that I could know who I am and be done with it.
There was a lot more, but that line got to him. Damien always claimed he hadn’t told his parents they emailed weekly. Spencer didn’t know why he couldn’t call home. Maybe he was afraid of hearing their disappointment, or maybe he missed them too much.
Either way, he’d been a coward and knew he hurt them.
But Damien… no, he couldn’t hurt his brother.
The game started and Spencer tracked his brother’s every move. When he shot on net, he pictured him practicing against a target Spencer drew on the side of the barn.
When he sped down the ice, Spencer imagined the two of them racing across the pastures.
He wasn’t ready to come home, not yet, but when his brother needed him, there was nowhere else he’d rather be.
Damien scored the tying goal in the third before the girl Spencer’s mom mentioned won it for them in the final seconds. A smile stretched across Spencer’s face, not because he was a Gulf City Hurricane fan, but because he was a Damien Lee fan.
Always would be.
He followed the crowd out into the concourse.
“Spence?”
He cringed at the sound of that voice. His mom turned before he did. “Victoria.” Her voice lightened. “What a wonderful surprise.”
Spencer pivoted on his heel, bracing for the bludgeon that was Vicky Chambers and the feelings she brought forth. “Hey, Vic.”
A smile parted her painted lips. She looked good, better than good. The years treated her well. “Are you home from USC?”
“USC?” He looked from her to his parents.
His mom jumped in. “Yeah, he had a break from classes.”
His brow creased. Was that what his parents told people? He’d once thought he’d marry Vicky. As best friends growing up, she’d been a part of his family. Then she crushed him… or maybe they crushed each other. Either way, whatever it was between them broke.
And he’d left town.
His parents didn’t know the details, but they loved Vicky like she was one of their own. She practically had been.
She stepped closer. “It’s good to see you, Spence.” A smile warmed her face. “I mean it.” And she did. Vicky meant everything she said. In all his traveling, Spencer hadn’t met a single person as genuine as his old friend, the only girl he’d ever loved.
“Yeah.” He couldn’t take his eyes from her face. “I’ve missed you.”
Her eyes softened. “Don’t be a stranger, okay? I don’t know how long you’ll be in town, but I’m living over in the village.” It was a neighborhood by the beach next to the prestigious WentWood estates her parents lived in. “Come by and we can catch up.”
He nodded, unable to form words.
“Spencer?” Saved by the brother.
Spencer broke away from Vicky to face his brother with the first genuine smile on his face. Damien stood before him, sweaty and tired, but grinning.
Pulling him into a hug, Spencer pounded him on the back in the manly way they’d always made fun of.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” Damien pulled away, eyeing Vicky. “Sorry, Vic, I’m stealing my brother.” He turned to his parents. “He’ll ride home with me.” Through all this, the smile never left his face, and for the first time, Spencer felt like returning home had been the right decision.
Their parents left and Vicky followed them. Spencer elbowed Damien. “Don’t you have to shower or something?”
Damien shook his head. “I was going to, but Ma texted me to come out here.” He blew out a breath. “I did not expect to find you with them.” He lifted his hockey b
ag from where he’d set it at his feet. “Come on. Let’s get out of here, and you can tell me why my vagabond brother would return home to the family ranch.”
For you, he wanted to say. But Damien was the most un-selfish person Spencer knew. He’d never want his brother to come back for him.
What Spencer never would have admitted to anyone was that those first few minutes with Damien were the first time in three years he didn’t feel alone in the world.
And he hadn’t realized just how lost he’d been until he returned to the one person tethering him to the ground.
Spencer and the Younger Girl
Chapter 2: Hadley
Hadley Gibson was not a boring girl.
She didn’t sit around wishing she was somewhere else or dreaming of better things.
She acted.
But sometimes action wasn’t enough.
Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the tiled ceiling of her bedroom in the exclusive WentWood neighborhood. “Anyone else think senior year has been one giant let down?”
On her floor, her best friend Charlotte lay on her stomach flipping through a magazine.
Cassie Carrigan, another friend, propped her feet on the desk and leaned back in the rolling chair. She lifted her eyes from the Kindle in her lap. “What?”
“This is what I mean.” Hadley sat up and released a dramatic breath. “It’s Saturday morning and the three of us are just laying here in silence.”
Charlotte grunted. “Excuse me, but I just played a hockey game last night. Then I had a figure skating session with my mom this morning. I think I earned an afternoon doing nothing.”
Cassie shrugged. “I like boring.”
A groan rose in Hadley’s throat. “It’s not just today. This entire year has just been so… vanilla.”
“Vanilla?” Charlotte raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing big has happened, no drama. Where were the drunk people at winter formal or the senior pranks? I would die for a senior prank.” She flopped back on the bed.
Roman and the Hopeless Romantic (Gulf City High Book 2) Page 17