So. Long.: Bad Boy Next Door (81 page)

COMING SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

The tumbler turns in the lock and I hold my breath,
waiting.

Two…Three…Four.

Nothing.

I step inside, careful to be quiet. My chest tightens and my
gut urges me to bail. If it weren’t for Sophie and Mom, I’d run.

Leaving my shoes in the entry, I creep into to the living
room. My ears strain for signs someone’s awake. The television is muted, but
its flickering light bounces off the walls, illuminating the figure sprawled on
the sofa.

My pent up breath seeps out. It’s just Mom, not
him
.
I spread a quilt over her, pull her Rosary from her fingers, arranging it on
the coffee table, and turn off the TV. Most nights she passes out on the couch.
It’s been like that since even before my baby sister Lola died.

Stopping at Sophie’s room down the hall, I push open the
door. I stumble over piles of toys to her bed. The nightlight casts long
shadows around me.

She rubs her knuckles over her eyes. “Mom took those pills
again for her somnia. Is she asleep?”

My heart cringes, as it does every time Sophie asks about
Mom. “It’s
in
somnia, Soph. And, yes, she’s sleeping. Seven-year-olds
should be too. That means you, kiddo.”

A door slams. Every muscle in my body grips the nearest
bone. Sophie takes a breath like she’s going to say something, but I cover her
mouth and shush her. We wait, eyes wide. I stare through the dimly lit room.
Was that movement in the crack of light around the door?

Sophie’s jaw clenches under my palm. A crash in the kitchen
is followed by shattering glass, banging cabinet doors, and cursing.

Minutes inch by on their hands and knees. Footsteps come
down the hall, but then they stop and retreat. I count to ten, and then
whisper, “Was he gone all evening?”

“Yeah. Mom said he had a dinner meeting.”

Relief floods my veins. The less he’s around, the better. Maybe
he’ll go straight to bed and leave us alone.

I move Sophie over and climb in next to her. With the tip of
my finger, I brush the hair off her forehead, pushing it behind her ear. Mom
always says how much Sophie looks like me, but other than matching olive
complexions, along with our dark hair and eyes, I can’t see it. Sophie’s
beautiful; I’ve never been anywhere close to beautiful.

Taking a deep breath, I say, “Okay, and this is how it goes:
I once had a penguin named Al.”

She puts her little hand on my cheek and snuggles close. “Al
is a real pal.”

We play our happy game of nonsense and whatever rhymes we
can think of, which generally devolves into gibberish and made-up words that
never existed. Sophie loves this game. It’s perfect for keeping her mind busy
when things get stressful.

Once again, I stay the night in Sophie’s room to guard
against the last person she should need protection from—our father.

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This year has been one of the hardest years of my life.
There was a time when I thought I’d never write again. I proved myself wrong,
and it’s only because so many wonderful people kept their faith in me and
continued to tell me I could do it. I put off writing these acknowledgments
until the very last thing I needed to do before publishing, because I knew how
hard it would be to revisit these last months and all that has happened. I have
tears as I write these acknowledgments. I am blessed beyond measure and my cup
runs over with the love and friendship I have received from so many.

There is no possible way that I will be able to thank
everyone who has supported me through getting this book written and published.
But I’m going to try…if you think your name should be here, but it is not,
please forgive the sad memory of this writer. I promise, I DO appreciate every
single supporter, reader, friend, and family member who has helped me through
these last months, not just with my writing but with everyday life…sometimes
even just crawling out of the bed and putting one foot in front of the other.

First, thank you to my friends and family who have been so
loyal and caring during the writing, editing, and publishing process. You are
all my favorite people and I pray you know how much your encouragement means to
me.

Karla Pierce, thank you for being my rock-solid friend, the
one I will treasure until my dying day. You are MY LEIGH and MY HEART SISTER.
Without you I might have seriously melted into a puddle of tears and never
typed another word. Alexandria Marie, my sweet daughter, you are one of the
main reasons I kept climbing out of bed and coming back to the keyboard, even
when the words could not be wrung from my brain, and I wanted to do nothing
more than roll into a ball on the floor of my closet and die. You inspire me to
be better, to do more, and to excel, if for no other reason than I must be the
mother to you that you one day must be for our lil’ Cupcake. De McGaha, thank
you for loving me and caring for my minion all summer to allow me to struggle through
getting a book written. You saved me. Gail Harvey, thank you for continuing to
tell me, “Get that DAMNED BOOK DONE.” And Mom, thank you for always being there
when I needed to rant and rave, when I needed to whine, and when I just needed
to hear “I love you, you can do this.”

To my author friends, thank you for your words of
encouragement, your never ending shares and LIKES, and all the other things you
do. I really mean it when I say, please let me know when I can help you.
Without your support, I would never reach my goals. Specifically, thank you to
my PLOT YODA…there really are NO WORDS that can express my love and respect for
you. I owe you so much that I will never be able to repay you, but I’m sure
going to try. Also, thank you Katrina Sincek, Lizzy F., Lana Grayson, Sosie
Frost, Winter, Cora, and Joanna, you all ROCK!

Thank you also to my Dream Team Leaders, Jennifer DiCenzo,
Kristin Smith, Diana Page , and Terri Sullivan. You are my FALadies, and I
FLOVE you all. (Fucking Awesome Ladies who I Fucking Love, if anyone is
wondering). Without y’all, your support, your encouragement, your loving
pushes, your virtual hugs, and your understanding of my humanness I don’t know
that I’d still be able to call myself an author today.

Thank you to my Dream Team as a whole. You are all the
support structure on which my platform is built. Thank you for your
encouragement and support. Christina Badder and
Penny
Leidecker for always being there to share and add my name to all those
contests.

Thank you, Valorie Clifton, for
being an absolutely phenomenal copy editor. I look forward to working together
for a very long time.

To my readers, thank you for
your patience over the last few months, waiting for my next release and still
encouraging me as I worked through my personal issues. I love you ALL. THANK
YOU.

Last, but certainly not the
least, I wish to thank my friend Troy H. You were my Adam. You were the
inspiration for a hero that gives all the feels and says the right things at
the right time. Thank you for rebuilding this woman’s broken confidence and
helping me continue to move forward. You made me feel beautiful and important,
when I’d been feeling so
not
beautiful and so insignificant. You forever
have a place in my heart.

Kelley is the mother of two beautiful girls. She lives in
North Central Texas with her youngest. Her eldest lives nearby, and recently
had her first child. Kelley lovingly calls her beautiful granddaughter Cupcake.
Kelley enjoys reading YA and NA, although on occasion she gets caught reading
other genres. Writing is her full time career. Though it’s hard work, it’s also
a dream come true. Her characters knock on the door of her heart and constantly
poke their heads out the windows of her imagination. She hopes you connect with
them as deeply as she does.

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