This Love of Mine (Raine Series #1) (6 page)

I made
my way over to where he was, hanging my head low. If I had learned anything in
the last seventeen years, it was to keep my head down. "Hi Granddaddy.
Whatcha doin' up so late?"

"Oh
ya know, just takin' in the cool night air. It was a hot day today, hottest one
so far, I reckon. How are ya feelin' darlin?"

I knew
he would know if I was lying, but I really didn't have the energy to get into
the whole story and I knew he would stop at nothin' to get the truth. "I'm
feeling a little bit better. Tired, but the pain isn't as bad." I could
feel his eyes on me, but I refused to look up.

"Looks
like your leg is hurtin' ya, why don't ya come sit down next to your old granddad."
He patted the rocking chair next to him and I quietly obliged. "Ya wanna
tell me now, what happened without your grandmamma around, or ya wanna wait til
mornin'?"

My head
shot up and fear took over my expression. I wasn't sure how much of the truth
my granddaddy knew, but I figured it was bout time I told him. "I don't
know exactly where to start."

He
leaned forward and his frail hands reached out for mine. I flinched a little at
first contact, but he gently rubbed my hands with his and then brought them up
to his lips, placing a small kiss to the back of them. "How bout ya start
at when my daughter first thought it was okay to lay her hands on my precious
grandbaby."

I could
feel the tears welling up behind my lids when my granddaddy talked about me
like that. In such an amazingly cruel world, I had forgotten that there are
actually people in this world who care about my well being.

"It
was a couple of years after Daddy left. She started drinking, a lot. After
that, it was a pretty regular occurrence. It has never been this severe though,
so don't think I've been keepin' things from y'all. I promise, I wouldn't do
that."

"I
believe you darlin'. It ain't right, I tell ya. She ain't right, I think is the
best way to put it." His grip tightened around my hands just below the now
dark, fully formed bruises from Wren, and I couldn't help but gasp at the pain.
"Oh lord, what are those?"

I
quickly pulled my hands back and out of his grasp, rubbing the bruises and
wishing them away. "Those are from Wren." I whispered with my head
still bowed.

"And
who in the hell is Wren? Is that one of your momma's boyfriends?" He was
getting angry, and even though I knew it wasn't with me, it was anger nonetheless.

"No
Granddad, he was
my
boyfriend."
I couldn't bring myself to look at him just yet, knowing disappointment was all
I would see.

"Darlin',
I hope you know we don't blame you for any of this, but the fact that this has
been goin' on and you haven't picked up the phone to come out sooner, well that
just makes me angry. You should know by now that your grandmamma and me are
always here for you. Do you understand what I'm sayin' to ya?" His finger
dipped below my chin, pulling my tear stained face up to meet his. "You
will live here from now on, you got me?" His voice was gentle and
soothing, and the tears were now falling like rain. I couldn't bring myself to
speak, so I just nodded.

"Well,
I reckon it has been quite a day for you, so let's get ya in bed and tomorrow
we can discuss your smokin'." He let out a small laugh and then it
happened, I smiled. I smiled a wide toothy grin and for the first time in a
long time, it touched my entire face.

My granddad
deposited me off in my room that they had made up for me, before heading off to
bed himself. Unfortunately, the room I would be staying in was located on the
second floor, so getting up and down the stairs myself was going to be a
challenge for a bit. My granddad never ceased to amaze me that is for sure. Even
at his seventy-five years of age, he hauled my ass upstairs about as fast as a
twenty year old could. He was an amazing man, my granddaddy. I honestly don't
know what I would do without him.

I sat at
the edge of the small full sized bed for a good twenty minutes, just staring
down at the bandage wrapped around my thigh. I guess I just couldn't comprehend
how someone could do something so terrible to their own child. In my case, I
suppose she just never wanted me to begin with. If she couldn't have my daddy
and me, well then she just didn't want either of us. It's her loss. After a few
more minutes of contemplating the grand scheme of life, my mind slowly started
drifting to that young man named Madison.

If I was
being honest, he was an extremely good-looking guy. None of the boys at school,
especially Wren, looked anything like him. I guess it's true what they say,
country boys are grown better than city boys. All I could think about was what
he looked like leanin' back against that old truck with his granddad. I wasn't
quite sure of his age, but he had the body of a twenty something gym rat. His
arms had been crossed, and every single muscle was bustin' at the seams of his
plain black t-shirt. Along with his bulging muscles, came the full sleeve
tattoos peaking out beneath his short sleeves and traveling the rest of the way
down to his wrists.

I had
plenty of time to check him out on my long, wobbly walk over to his granddad. I
didn't want to be obvious about it though, so I made sure to make my walk look
even more convincing. I don't think he noticed though. He actually seemed
pretty perturbed that he even had to be there. His stance against the tailgate
never changed and he had a small scowl on his beautifully carved face. I wasn't
sure exactly what was goin' on beneath his ball cap, but I could tell he had
some hair under there. Although I'm sure I would never get a chance to see it,
not that I wanted to anyway.

I was
fine being around him, and I was even willing to be nice and maybe even get to
know him a bit, so I at least had one friend here. But after he dumped me off
in the cab of the truck, I wasn't so sure he was going to be open to any of
that.

I slowly
stood myself up off the bed and hobbled my way into the small bathroom
connected to my room. It wasn't much, but it would do. Hell, at this point
there wasn't much I would be complaining about. I wasn't supposed to change the
bandage until morning time, but the gauze felt like it was cutting into my
skin, so against my better judgment, I decided to change it now.

This
turned out to be one of the worst ideas I ever had. Once I got the ace bandage
unwrapped, the thin white gauze was all but glued to my skin. I knew I couldn't
get the stitches wet, so I just wrapped it back up the best I could manage. I
let out a loud grumble as the pain intensified when I walked. I tried lying
down, hoping I would fall fast asleep, but sleep was evading me. My mind was
finding it hard to rest, when all it wanted to do was run a damn marathon. I
knew my pain medicine was downstairs on the counter and I needed to get out of
this stifling house, so I took my chances going down the stairs.

I held
tight to the old wooden railing, bouncing my way down on my good leg. I didn't
want to wake my grandparents but being quiet was starting to become quite a
challenge. As I bounced down the last stair, my foot caught on the edge of the
carpet and I went flying across the floor. If I had been playing baseball, I
would have been sliding safely into home. At least that's what it looked like.

I lay
still against the cool wood floor for a few seconds, just to make sure I didn't
wake my granddad. When I didn't hear a sound, I scooted myself over to the
dining room table in front of me, and pulled myself into one of the chairs.
After the initial pain of hitting my wound against the floor started to
subside, I stood myself up and made my way into the kitchen. I wasn't huge on
taking pain medicine, but if it would stop this aggravating tingling, then
that's what I was gonna do.

The pill
bottle said to take one every four to six hours, so me being the overachiever
that I am, I took three. I was beyond caring at this point and all I wanted to
do was numb the pain. I stood in the kitchen a minute longer, before deciding
to go back out for a smoke. My granddad said that we would talk about it
tomorrow, so I might as well smoke it up tonight, right?

I
started making my way up the small hill to the open plot of land, praying that
Madison
had since gone back to his grandparent’s
house. I was in no mood to deal with his gorgeous, tattooed ass, or was I? I
laughed at myself as the pain medicine started working its way through my
system. I was feeling all sorts of loopy and thought every damn thing was
hilarious. My laugh echoed off of every tree and bush around. I think I even
told myself to shush a time or two.

My leg
was feeling amazing now that I had something to dull the pain, so I all but
speed walked up the hill. When I reached the top where it plateaued out, I was
thankful that he was nowhere to be seen. It was considered pretty late around
these parts, so I assumed I was the only drugged up asshole out in the middle
of nowhere.

I pulled
my pack of smokes and lighter out of my front pocket before practically
throwing myself onto the ground. My eyes were starting to cross a bit, and the
stars were slowly starting to spin. I closed them for a brief minute while I
lit my cigarette and when I opened them, the stars stayed where they belonged.
I smiled at myself.

Madison

I was
going to go back to the house, I really was, but for some reason I had to make
sure she made it down that hill okay. When she had first stumbled, I almost
went running after her, but she steadied herself and made it down. I watched
her small figure disappear as I took another long drag off of my cigarette,
before turning my attention towards my family's land. I took in everything
around me, knowing that this was no longer my future.

I had
promised my grandfather that one day, I would take over for him, but once I
started my senior year, things changed. Granted I had just graduated and I
still had time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, but I kind of
already knew.

I had
been playing baseball for as long as I could remember, and in high school I
only improved. I loved it. When I was out there on that pitching mound,
everything else ceased to exist, except for the batter and me. I was really
good too. My senior year at least a dozen scouts came out to see me. I never
really expected it to go anywhere, but when I was approached by one of the
scouts for Arizona State University, I couldn't pass up meeting with them.

I was
lucky enough to turn eighteen before I graduated, so I didn't need my
grandfather's permission to meet with anyone. I told the scout that I was
interested, but it would take me a bit to get out there to visit the campus. I
had a part time job, but I wasn't making enough to pay for a trip to Arizona.
When the scout told me that they would fund the trip, I was in shock. Of course
the first person I wanted to call was my grandfather, but I just couldn't bring
myself to break his heart just yet. It had to be a sure thing for me, before I
would even bring it up.

It
turned out to be one of the best trips I had ever taken, and that was saying a
lot. My dad used to take me on amazing vacations as a kid. There was never any
expense spared. I mean when your gambling and winning thousands of dollars in
one night, why not spend it all. I laughed knowing I would never be like my
father. As much as I loved him, I wanted so much more for my life and that
didn't include drugs, gambling, or stealing.

My
future was sealed that weekend I spent in Arizona. The school was amazing, the
people were awesome and the coaches were some of the nicest I had ever met. I
took my trip the weekend before I came to the farm to help out. I didn't want
my grandfather getting suspicious, so I told him that my band had a gig that
weekend, but I would still make it out in time.

Knowing
this would be my last summer here, I made sure to tell my grandfather that I
couldn't stay the entire length of it. I didn't necessarily lie when I told him
my band had gigs, but I also didn't tell him the full truth. I was expected to
report to camp by the last week of July. As much as I didn't want to leave or
even cut my time with them short, this was what I had to do.

So here
I sat against this old damn tree stump against the far end of the open land,
staring out at the middle of nowhere, contemplating the decisions I have made
thus far. I had practically been on my own since I was fifteen and saw no
reason to seek out any guidance now. I lifted the cigarette I had been holding
between my fingers, when I heard a loud girly giggle, echo through the night. I
wasn't sure if I really heard it at first, but when it happened again, I knew
it had to be her. Hell, she was the only girl besides my grams and her grandmamma
that was around.

I sat
still, smoking my cigarette, paying her no mind, when I saw her tiny frame
wobbling up that damn hill. A slight breeze had picked up and her long brown
hair blew across her face as a hint of strawberry assaulted my nostrils. It was
heavenly and exactly the distraction I needed from my own head. As much as I
didn't want this girl to get in my head, somehow or another she had found her
way there, despite how hard I tried to ignore it.

She finally
made it up the hill and I watched intently as she pulled something from her
pocket and then flung herself on the ground. I muffled my laugh as I watched
her try to light her cigarette. She was the cutest thing I had ever seen. I
still made no attempt to move when I heard her melodic voice carry through the
night. I wasn't sure if she was talking to herself, but there was no way she
knew I was here, so I could only assume that was the case.