Left Behind: Left Behind Series #1 (29 page)

“You
even wrapped it in paper with daisies on it?”

“Technically,
I wrapped it, but Evan did go to three stores until he found the paper he
wanted,” Meg adds, joining us.

I
watch her as she carefully opens every piece of tape and slowly pulls off the
paper. “I don’t think I ever bought wrapping paper before,” I admit. It’s worth
looking like an ass because it earns me a smile from my beautiful girl.

“It’s
kind of hard to see. Let me help you,” Meg says, shining her phone on the box.

Kacie
lifts the lid back and gets a glimpse of the locket inside. She looks up at me,
then back down at her gift. I watch as she gently pulls the necklace out of the
box. Jade helps her by taking the empty box, leaving her hands free to open the
locket. When it opens and she sees the picture inside, her eyes immediately
begin to fill with tears. “How did you…? When…?” She can’t finish a thought.

Raising
her chin with my finger, I ask, “Do you like it?” I couldn’t stand watching her
struggle.

“I
love it,” she tells me as tears begin to escape. I take it and open the clasp
to put it on her. She turns around and raises her hair so it doesn’t get
caught. Once it’s refastened, I spin her back around. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re
welcome,” I say, wiping her face. “She may not be living in the same house as
you anymore, but she’s still with you. All the time. There’s no way she’d be
able to leave you forever.”

“I
knew it would complete your look perfectly,” Jade cheers.

Kacie
laughs at her. “This dress doesn’t need a necklace? It’s nice enough by
itself?”

Jade
laughs back. “I had to say something to stop you from picking one of those
other ones.”

Kacie
reaches up to kiss me on my cheek. “I’m so sorry about yesterday,” she
whispers.

“No,
I’m sorry. I will never lose it like that again,” I promise her. A piece of her
hair keeps blowing around in the gentle breeze that’s coming in off of the
water, so I tuck it behind her ear. “I guess I should share you with everyone
else for a little bit. They are here for you, after all. Just be warned. Once
they leave, I’m never sharing you again.”

She
wraps her arms around me, so I do the same. “In a minute,” she whispers,
looking up at me. That’s when I see what Meg was talking about. The gleam in
Kacie’s eyes says there’s nowhere else she’d rather be than right here, right
now. The look that wonders how the hell did I get so lucky to find someone as
special as this person here in front of me. I only recognize it because the
same thing happens to me whenever I look at her.

A
familiar song begins to play in the background, one that I will always stop
whatever I’m doing to listen to from now until forever.

“A
special request by the birthday girl,” I hear Nick say through the speakers. “I
couldn’t tell her no, could I?”

“You
and me?” I ask her.

“You
and me,” she promises.

To Be Continued… 

Kacie
and Evan’s story continues in

Left
Together

Coming
Fall 2014

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my husband, Jason: Thank you for all of your love and
support. I know sometimes it seems like I’m a million miles away. Maybe I am,
but knowing you’re always here when I come back means the world to me. A
special thank you for providing the inspiration for the relationship between my
two main characters. If anyone can pull off sarcasm and name calling as love
and affection, it’s us. Thank you for everything!     Love
you, Always & Forever!

To my kiddies, Kaitlyn and Nicholas: There are no words
to explain how much I love you both. Every day, you fill my life with joy and
pride. Thank you for loving me back. Remember to always reach for the stars and
always strive for your hopes and dreams. OXOX

To all of my Beta Readers: A simple thank you will never
be enough for everything all of you do for me. I love each of you dearly and
will always cherish your friendship. Beta reading, especially for me, isn’t as
easy as it sounds. The way you’re able to still tolerate me after all of this
is absolutely amazing. Cara, where do I even begin? It feels like you worked as
hard on this as I did. Not only with your revisions, but also the constant
chatting over ideas on how to make this story better. The most important thing
to me is that we were able to finish this together. It wouldn’t have ever been
complete without you. Please tell Fil thanks for his help with all of the car
stuff. Briana, I’d apologize for talking your ear off about this story, but
there’s really no point. You demanded to know where things were going, so I
told you. It was only fair to then torture you for your opinion. You loved it!
I know you did. Terri, thank you so much for reading along and helping me out.
I loved getting your responses to the chapters. Tammy, I’m so glad you offered
to join this group of people who help me almost daily. The knowledge you
brought was priceless. Your excitement was contagious and usually just what I needed
to keep going. Getting your emails always made my day. Kellie, even though you
tried to get me to steer the storyline in the direction of your liking,
repeatedly, I’m so happy to have added you as a beta. You made this journey a
blast and memorable for me. Thanks for all the ideas. Colleen and Michelle,
thank you for reading and offering help when it was needed.

To all of my family and friends who have offered
encouragement: Your kind words are truly appreciated and will never be
forgotten.

To my cover designer, Samantha Bagood: Thank you for
working on this series with me and creating the beautiful covers.

To my editor, Kim Young: Thank you for all of the hard
work you put into my “baby” and for making it a million times better than it
was!

To all of the blogs and other authors I’ve met along the
way: There are too many of you to name specifically, but I’m so glad we’ve
crossed paths. Thank you for your support! 

A special THANK YOU to everyone who reads this story. I
truly hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed telling it.

Other
Works by this author
:

Forever
Altered

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR

D.J. Pierson graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson
University in 2002 with a degree in Radiologic Technology.  While she will
claim to be more of an obsessed reader than a writer, she decided to share a
story of her own.  She currently resides in New Jersey with her husband,
their two children, and two dogs.

To find out what’s new, you can check out her Facebook
page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/D-J-Pierson/547669458607713

Or you can email her at:

[email protected]