Covering the Carolinas (42 page)

The kitchen light is already on as
well as the light inside the barn.
Man,
why didn’t I beat him this morning? He needs to take it
easy.
I grab my boots and sit on the porch
to slide them on before I head to the barn.

“
Mornin’, Sunshine,”
Grandaddy says as he feeds
each of the horses
in their stalls.

“
Mornin’. Whatcha need me to start with?” I
ask.

“
I’ll feed them if you’ll
check the water, collect the eggs, and slop the hogs. I should be
able to handle
the rest today.”

Standing there with my hands on my hips, I reply,
“Grandaddy, you better not work too hard today!”

“
Now, listen. Before you get all feisty like
your mawmaw, hold up. Joe’s coming back mid-mornin’. We have this
covered. I don’t want you to worry. You got me?” he says
firmly.

“
Yes, sir. I’m glad Joe’s
comin’,I say, and it’s the truth. Joe is my grandaddy’s longest
childhood friend and a lawyer in town. They might be getting up
there in age, but those men know how to work. They’d put guys my
age to shame. “I’ll hurry, so I can get breakfast
ready
, too.”

Within the hour, I’m finished and making my way back
inside the house. I take a package of fresh bacon and a few fresh
eggs from the fridge. Once breakfast is complete, I go out to tell
Grandaddy. As we eat together, we talk about the day and plans for
the week. After breakfast, I get ready for school while he goes
back out to start working for the day.

Hustling to get ready, I shower
and let my damp hair dry naturally. I look in my closet and have no
idea what to wear. Not that it really matters, because I know
Emmett doesn’t care, but images are important when you are
the
Raegan
Lowery.
I choose a pair of neon pink
shorts, an embellished black tank, and a pair of gladiator sandals.
After
I finish putting on my makeup and scrunching my
hair with a little gel, I grab my backpack and make my way
downstairs to tell Grandaddy goodbye before
leaving.

I see him at the tractor shed. I
toss my bag into my truck before I walk his way. When he notices
me, he stops
what he’s doing and walks toward
me.

“
A’ight, Grandaddy, I’m gone. I’ll see ya this
afternoon. You and Joe behave, okay?” I tell him as I hug
him.

“
Sunshine, I don’t know if Joe and I know how
to stay outta trouble, but if not, we know a good
lawyer.”

“
Oh my! That’s enough.” I laugh. “I’ll see ya
right after practice. Love you.”

“
Love you, too, and don’t you worry ’bout this
old man or the farm. Do you hear me?”

“
I hear ya,” I say, heading to the
truck.

I wave to him when I drive past him and make my way
to school. I can’t wait to lay my eyes on Emmett.

Emmett

When the alarm goes off, I
hit
Snooze
at
least five times. When I cut it off the last time, I pull myself
from the bed. Sitting on the edge with my elbows on my knees, I
give myself a minute to wake up. When Raegan’s image enters my
mind, I automatically become motivated.

Glancing at the clock, I hustle to get to school.
I’m not exactly sure how this is gonna go now that Jace has said
his peace, but I know I’m not gonna let him mess with her
today.

Grabbing a quick shower, I shave
to remove the stubble and then
pull on a pair of AE
khaki cargo shorts and a fitted vintage style tee. I
grab a Pop Tart on th
e way out the
door and put the truck in the wind.

When I arrive in the parking lot,
I look for her truck, but I don’t see it.
Crap! I didn’t even find out how Cole was this
morning!
I send Mom a quick text, and she
says Cole’s doing better, and they are going to work today because
he insisted.

As I slide my phone back into my
pocket, I see her blue Z71 C
hevy coming in on two
wheels. I can’t help but smile, but when I see her hair blowing in
the wind and the look on her face, laughter is the last thing from
my mind. She’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

Chapter 18

Raegan

Crap! Crap! Triple Crap! I’m
running late!
I push the Chevy’s gas pedal
to the floorboard as I hurry to make it to school. This isn’t how I
planned on Monday starting. When I round the turn into the parking
lot, my wheels squeal just a little as I slow down toward my
parking space. Once I’m in my spot, I throw the truck into park,
glance at my reflection in the rearview mirror, add a little
lip-gloss, and grab my bag. As I turn from the truck, I see
him.
Who thought a pair
of shorts and a tee could look so good? A smile escapes my lips,
and I take a deep breath to slow myself down from my crazy drive to
school this morning.

“
Mornin,’ Rae, or should I
just call you Mario Andretti?” he teases as he
approaches
.

“
I’ll take that as a
compliment,” I say as I make my way to him. He embraces me in his
arms, kisses the top of my head, and laces my fingers in his as we
walk into Cleveland High. Emmett walks me to my
locker
as the first bell rings. “You better go,
Em. I don’t want you to be late because of me.”

“
It’s all good. It’d just be my first
tardy.”
I guess he has a point.

He walks me to physics and lets my hand go as I
enter the doorway. I swear, every time he leaves me, I feel like a
piece of me leaves, too. I take my seat and count the minutes until
lunch.

When the bell rings, I gather my
things and walk to my locker. I’m surprised when Jace smiles my
way, but doesn’t say a word.
Something is
totally up with him.
I smile back and make
my way to my next class, but not before someone wraps their arms
around my waist as I walk.

“
How was class?” Emmett asks.

“
It was physics. Please, don’t tell me you’re
takin’ another tardy?” I laugh.

“
Nah, I have
physics next and just wanted to surprise you.”

“
Thanks.” I kiss him briefly on the cheek
before he separates from me, and yet again, I’m yearning to have
him near me.

Jordyn is waiting for
me after class, and I know she’s about to ask a gazillion and
one
questions, and to be honest, I can’t
wait to tell her all about it.

“
Spill it, girlfriend!”
Jordyn says with excitement. “But, first off, what happened to
Cole? There are all these crazy rumors going
on
.”

“
Cole was in a car accident Saturday night. He
hadn’t been drinkin’ or anything. Some car pulled out in front of
him, and he tried to miss them, which he did, but not before he hit
a freakin’ tree. It was awful, J. I’ve never seen him so pitiful.
That boy is like my brother, and I was scared I was gonna lose
him.”

“
Can I be honest, Rae?” she asks.

“
Aren’t you always?” I laugh.

“
True! I always thought he was in love with
you.”

“
What? He’s family for
cryin’ out loud.” I’ve never in a million years looked at Cole that
way. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, he’s easy on
the
eyes, but we are family.

“
The way he looks at you sometimes, I mean,
y’all are like barely related.”

“
Just stop! That’s totally gross, and no, he’s
not in love with me. I know that for sure.
Yuck! I don’t even wanna
think about
that.”

“
Fine, I’ll stop, because
I’m
tellin’ ya right now, if I knew I stood any
chance with him, I’d be
all about
that.”

“
We need a different subject because this is
wrong on soooo many levels.”

“
Okay, so, what’s up with you and Emmett? I
overheard Jace talking this morning.”

“
What’d he say?” I stop in the
hallway.

“
He said he and Emmett had words last night.
He made it sound like he was all big and bad, but my guess is he’s
the one that went inside with his tail between his legs.” We both
laugh because that is highly likely.

“
Now, back to you. What’s up
with you and Emmett?” My face starts to flush red. “Ohmygosh!
You’re totally
blushin’, Rae! Spill
it!”

“
J, we had the best day.
Well, after we left the hospital, anyway. Take out Cole’s accident,
and this has been the best weekend
of my life.
Emmett took me dancin’ at The Shed Saturday, and then Grandaddy let
me go with him yesterday after we left the hospital. We cruised
around and then went to the creek.”

“
Y’all totally went creek stompin’, didn’t
ya?”

“
You know it!”

“
I’d loved to have seen him all drippin’ wet,”
Jordyn says seductively, and I laugh.

“
It was nice.”

“‘
Nice’? That’s the word you’re gonna use?”
she asks. “‘Nice’ is how you tell Grandaddy he looks. I’m sure
Emmett was like damn scrumptious!”

“
Come to think of it, I think you’re right,” I
say as I loop my arm in hers as we giggle our way toward the
cafeteria.

Emmett

I’d planned on waiting for Raegan to walk into the
cafeteria, but when I see her and Jordyn in a full-blown
conversation, I decide to give them a little time.

Without much of an
appetite
,
I settle on a pack
of chips and a Gatorade from the vending machine and make my way to
sit down.
Um, awkward! Do I sit with Jace
like Friday or find a new table?
I see
Ridge sitting at the table, and he makes a motion for me to move
his way.

“
What’s up, Ridge? Jace?” I acknowledge them
as I sit.

“
We don’t know. How ’bout you fill us in?”
Ridge says with a sly grin.

“
Besides spending the
weekend in the hospital with Cole and Raegan showing me around
town, that’s been about it,” I say, trying to keep
it low key.

“
I bet she showed you ’round town,” Ridge says
mockingly.

“
Hey, man,” I say as Ridge bursts out
laughing.

“
Chill. I’m just messin’
with ya. We know Raegan is like the crown jewel, and
nothing’s
getting that. Right, Jace?” He
laughs.

Jace remains silent; he picks up his tray and walks
outside. I laugh it off with Ridge until my eyes catch sight of
Raegan and those long, toned legs moving our way.

“
Who pissed in his Corn
Flakes this mornin’?” Jordyn asks as she and Raegan sit at the
table.
Did she really say that out
loud?

Ridge kisses her on the cheek. “Ya know, his macho
ego just got deflated.”

I smirk, and Raegan elbows me. “Play nice,” she
whispers.

“
I didn’t say a word.” I throw up my hands to
prove my innocence.

“
Maybe not here, but word is there was a
not-so-friendly discussion last night.”

I just shrug my shoulders. I don’t care to air out
our business for everyone to hear.

“
Em? What happened?” she asks as she places
her hand upon my leg. “I know he tries to act big and bad, but we
all know he’d go cryin’ to his mama. Tell me what
happened.”

“
Nothin’ really. He just wanted to know what
was going on with us. So, I told him, left him standin’ there, and
went in and ate supper. That’s pretty much it,” I recount as I take
a swig of my drink. Her eyes meet mine, and I can tell she’s unsure
if she believes me.

“
I promise, Rae. That was
it. I’m not arguing with him about you because
there’s no reason. You got me?”

“
I got ya,” she says as she lays her head upon
my shoulder and steals my bag of chips.

“
Chip thief? I never would have thought that
about ya!” I tease as I watch her eat every last one as slow as
possible.

Chapter 19

Raegan

The way Emmett stares at me as I eat his chips looks
as if I am about to have him begging me to stop in front of
everyone. I have to say, for a girl who hasn’t really liked all the
male attention I’ve gotten in the past, I love everything about the
way Emmett Bridges looks, touches, and speaks to me.

When I finish the last chip, I
d
on’t give him time to think. Instead, I brush my
salty lips across his and back away.

“
Rae, you’re gonna have to stop that,” he
says.

“
What can I say? I love
chips. Come on. We’re gonna be late for class,” I say as I stand
from the table, grab his hand and we walk down the
hallway
.

The remainder of the day is filled with boring
lectures, a pop quiz, and thoughts of
Emmett. I take a few minutes with him after school before I
head to practice. As I hurry to the gym from the locker room, Jace
meets me.