PROLOGUE
Young Garret
“Grab my purse,” I looked at my mother and then glance to the left and the right, searching the street in front of Sugarland Bakery. “Oh my word, Garrett, it is not like I’m asking you to parade around the town square wearing one of my dresses with matching high heels. It’s a purse.”
Reaching across the seat I grabbed the strap like it might bite me and held it out to her. Rolling her eyes she leaned in and snatched it from me.
“You should know that the ladies across the street just took a picture of you with a purse.” She shrugged with a smile, and I looked around quickly. “I bet within an hour you’ll be the topic of conversation in everyone’s Sunday morning gossip.”
My stomach dropped.
“Garrett Tennison, the sweet thirteen-year-old boy who has his very own purse fetish.”
She walked off laughing leaving me searching the surrounding area only to find there was no one else around but us.
“Now will you stop being so weird and get inside so we can get these pies.”
On most days my mom was as bad as my dad and brother Mike. Each one of them loved to rile me up and get my heart pumping. If they found an opportunity to embarrass me they were racing to get there first. I guess it didn’t help that I wore my feelings on my sleeve, so they knew when and where to attack. I made it all so easy for them. I needed to work on my game face and armor.
She entered the bakery, and I followed behind her. The same bell that had always been there chimed above the door with our arrival and within seconds Lily Mae stepped out from the back. Wearing her personalized apron, sticked in pink across the front.
“I’ve got them stacked in larger boxes so they’re easier to carry.” She announced, her graying hair pinned up on top of her head. A white smudge of flour stained her cheek, and she smiles at both of us warmly. The woman always smelled like sugar and cinnamon, but she could be a spitfire if provoked. You couldn’t let that sweet granny exterior fool you; she would attack like an angry bear if you pushed her to her breaking point.
“I see you recruited some help today?” She asked my mother, but her eyes never waver from me. “And a handsome one at that.”
Rounding the counter she got closer, and I took a step back. I’d had my cheeks pinched enough in my lifetime by older women to know the look. She was most definitely going in for a tweak that I denied her.
“Those dimples are gonna drive the girls wild.” She insisted and I remember looking over to my mother for help. She offered none, not one ounce.
I narrowed my eyes at her, making her laugh.
“You should meet my granddaughter.” Lily Mae adds.
Oh no!
“Kyra.” She hollered out before I could escape and started walking toward the corner of the dining area. I hadn’t noticed we weren’t alone until I saw the back of a girl huddled in the corner. She wore a hoodie, the hat pulled up and over her head like she was attempting to hide. All you could see were her legs that she had tucked to her chest. Her head is buried in her arms resting on her knees.
“Girl,” Lily Mae grabbed the hood of her shirt and tugged it over, gaining the attention of the girl. “Get those things out of your ears so you can hear me when I speak. Quit hiding in the corner and come over here and meet our guests.”
Looking over at my mom I mouthed, let’s go, and of course she only smiled at my discomfort.
I grabbed the box, ready to escape to the car when I turned around and practically ran into Lily Mae who has now made it back over to my mother and I.
“Now, hold on a minute.” She told me as she grabbed the sleeve of the girls shirt and guided her around to her side.
That’s when I saw her blonde head turn.
“Kyra, meet Garrett and his mother, Maria.”
“Hey,” she mumbled, but I can’t focus on her annoyed tone, because all I could see are those eyes. A shade of blue so unique that they actually appeared to glow. A turquoise color that grabbed ahold of me and didn’t let go.
“Kyra has just moved in with me.” Lily Mae added. “She’s from Statesboro, but I think Brooklet is exactly what she needs.”
“What I needed was for my mom to start acting like an adult so maybe I could live in one place longer than a month.”
I glanced to my mom; she looked at Lily Mae and then I looked back toward the girl who had shrugged us off and gone back to her corner. Her hoodie pulled back up, her earbuds shoved in her ears, and I felt like I’d been tackled on the field by Jake and Jed Hendricks, the two biggest guys on my football team.
“She’s a little bitter,” Lily Mae said with a forced smile. “But she is here now, and I know the people of Brooklet will make her feel welcome. It’s only a matter of time until she feels as at home as I always have.”
CHAPTER
ONE
Garrett
“You going to the lake?” Mike sits down on the couch next to me and takes the controller from my hand. I wasn’t even interested in playing the game, so I don’t attempt to get it back. I was simply looking for something to occupy my mind, so I didn't fight him on it.
Instead I stand and walk over to the fridge, grabbing out a bottle of water.
“Mom is keeping Sarah so Mad, and I are going for a bit.” He adds, still playing the game on the PlayStation. “It seems like everyone's going so I’m sure the chances of Kyra showing up are pretty high.”
With the mention of her name I feel my stomach sour. I hate the idea of anyone touching her, not that I have some claim on her. Liking someone from afar is a bitch, but that’s been the story of my life since I was thirteen. Since I first saw her in Sugarland Bakery, wearing the oversized hoodie and jeans. That angry girl is far from the one she is today.
It took years for her to come out of her shell, but my God when she did she fucking lit up Brooklet.
Her smile and those damn eyes, the problem has been that I’m not the only guy who noticed. She may be just shy of two years younger than me, but every guy in my class and even older found her intriguing. She never had a moment where she stood alone, and for years I’ve watched and waited.
That was my mistake.
“Kyra has a guy,” I say, doing my best to hide the disdain in my voice. Phil is not a man, and I cringe at the thought of her with him. Honestly I never once thought I’d be turned off when it came to Kyra, but I was wrong.
“Phil isn’t someone to worry about,” Mike says, finally putting down the controller and walking across my small apartment to meet me. Crossing his arms he leans back against the counter and offers me the same look he’s been giving me for years. He’s mastered the father stare, though I doubt he’s had to give it to Sarah yet, she is still a baby. He has practiced it on me though for years, so my niece better watch out. Her dad is an overbearing, protective man at heart. Part of me feels sorry for her when she is old enough to date. But the truth is I’ll most likely be right there with Mike standing guard and making threats to all the little assholes that show interest in my niece.
Mike can be over the top though. Cross someone in his family or look at his wife Maddison for a second too long and he is on your ass like honey. Fucker can be a madman at the drop of a hat.