Covering the Carolinas (57 page)

Authors: Casey Peeler

Tags: #romance, #southern fiction, #nicholas sparks, #deathanddying, #reallife, #newadult, #southern american romance, #teen 15 and up, #country and small town life, #caisey quinn

BOOK: Covering the Carolinas

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As Emmett and I walk hand in hand, we pass a tattoo
parlor. I stop and look at him.

“
Are you kidding me?” he asks.

“
No.” He looks confused, but
follows me inside
.

“
Are you sure?” Emmett questions.

“
More than anything in my life. I want to keep
him near me,” I say as I pull the note from my back
pocket.

We walk inside, and within the
hour, I have the most
beautiful signature on my left
wrist.
Love, Grandaddy
. A
permanent ink for a man who has a permanent place in my heart. I’m
surprised at how the pain felt like it was healing my grieving
heart. Emmett looks at it and smiles.

“
It’s perfect, but you know he’s fussing for
you doin’ that to your body, right?” he says.

“
Yeah, well, I want him
always
, and this keeps him with me forever.”
Emmett and I walk from the tattoo parlor and meet up with
Cole, Tammy, Jordyn and Ridge. They quickly
notice the plastic wrap on my wrist, and Cole’s eyes fill with
tears when he sees the handwritten signature.

“
Rae, he might be fussing right now, but deep
down, he’s in love with it,” Cole says.

We enjoy supper at Hard Rock Café and then head back
to the hotel to get ready for the game tomorrow.

The next morning, as we get ready to walk to
Turner Field
to see the Atlanta Braves
play the Boston Redsox, I grab Grandaddy’s old Braves cap and put
it on. My heart is heavy, knowing Grandaddy never got to witness a
game live, but as we take our seats and I stare down at the ink on
my left wrist, I know he’s with me. From this day forward, he
continues to live through me. I will forever be his Sunshine, and
I’m a better
person because he shared his life with
me.

As the speakers begin to play “Kiss Me,” and the
camera scans the crowd for couples, I watch the jumbotron to see
where the camera is going to go. I love to see how people react,
but I pray it doesn’t land on us. I’m not so sure I want to make
out in front of thousands of people.

As the song begins to evaporate into the air,
the camera stops on me. I realize Em isn’t beside me.
What in the world?
When I glance to
his seat, I see him on one knee with a ring that is oh so familiar,
my mama’s. My hand covers my mouth as I start to cry
uncontrollably.

“
Raegan Lowery, when we were kids, I knew you
were special, but each and every day you amaze me more. You are the
light in my day and I know that right now, in this moment, your
entire family is looking down on us. Will you please do me the
honor of being Mrs. Emmett Bridges?”

As the crowd erupts, I shake my head yes as Emmett
stands, places the ring on my shaking left ring finger, and then
kisses me for the world to see. Right now, in this moment and
forever, Emmett Bridges is where it’s at.

A Note from Casey Peeler

On my birthday, August 23, 2013,
my world was rocked. I lost one of the most influential men in my
life, my pawpaw. From the day I was born on August 23, 1981, until
the day he passed, August 23, 2013, I believed the sun set in him,
just as he did me. See, I was “his girl,” but I was also his
caregiver in the final days. He has been one of my biggest
supporters on this journey as an author, but yet, he didn’t get to
see me hit
Publish
.

Halfway through the
Full Circle Series
, I knew
Southern Perfection
would have to be written,
but honestly, until the words were written on the pages, I never
knew the impact it would have on my soul.

Southern Perfection
isn’t just a good ol’ country romance. It’s a story of
family, taking the good with the bad, always being positive in life
regardless the situation, and becoming the person you are destined
to become while your loved ones look down and smile upon you each
day.

I hope and pray that every one of you that reads
this novel has a Sunshine in your life, because even though mine is
no longer with me physically, he still continues to shine through
me each day.

About the Author

Casey Peeler grew up in North Carolina and still
lives there with her husband and daughter.

Growing up Casey wasn't an avid
reader or writer, but after reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by
Zora Neal Hurston
during
her senior year of high
school, and multiple Nicholas Sparks' novels, she found a hidden
love and appreciation for reading. That love
ignited the passion
for
writing several years later, and her writing style
combines
real life
scenarios with morals and values teenagers need in their
daily lives.