Abbi Glines - Never Too Far

Never Too Far

By Abbi Glines

Never Too Far Copyright 2013 by Abbi Glines

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes. If you are reading this book and you have not purchased it or won it in an author/publisher contest, this book has been pirated. Please delete and support the author by purchasing the ebook from one of its many distributors.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.

For information concerning the cover art please visit Sarah Hansens website at http://okaycreations.net/site/

Editor: Stephanie T. Lott a.k.a. Bibliophile

Published by Abbi Glines 16125 County Road 13 Fairhope, AL 36532

Quick Links

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Start of book

About the author, Abbi Glines

Dedication

To every reader out there who has a Rush Crush.

Acknowledgments

Keith, my husband, who tolerated the dirty house, lack of clean clothes, and my mood swings, while I wrote this book (and all my other books).

My three precious kiddos who ate a lot of corn dogs, pizza, and Frosted Flakes because I was locked away writing. I promise, I cooked them many good hot meals once I finished.

Elizabeth Reyes, Autumn Hull and Colleen Hoover for reading and critiquing Never Too Far. Thanks for your help ladies!

Sarah Hansen who designed this amazing cover. She is brilliant. I love her and shes pretty dang fun to hang out with too. Trust me I know ;)

To the coolest agent to ever grace the literary world, Jane Dystel. I adore her. It is that simple. And a shout out to Lauren Abramo, my foreign rights agent who is doing an amazing job at getting my books worldwide. She rocks.

Stephanie T. Lott Ive worked with many editors and I really love this one. Shes fabulous.

Rush

13 years ago

There was a knock at the door then just the small shuffle of feet. My chest already ached. Mom had called me on their way home to tell me what shed done and that now she needed to go out to have some cocktails with friends. Id be the one that would need to soothe Nan. My mom couldnt handle the stress it involved. Or so shed said when she called me.

Rush? Nans voice called out with a hiccup. Shed been crying.

Im here, Nan, I said as I stood up from the beanbag Id been sitting on in the corner. It was my hiding spot. In this house you needed a hiding spot. If you didnt have one then bad things happened.

Strands of Nans red curls stuck to her wet face. Her bottom lip quivered as she stared up at me with those sad eyes of hers. I hardly ever saw them happy. My mother only gave her attention when she needed to dress her up and show her off. The rest of the time she was ignored. Exceptby me. I did my best to make her feel wanted.

I didnt see him. He wasnt there, she whispered as a small sob escaped. I didnt have to ask who he was. I knew. Mom had gotten tired of hearing Nan ask about her father. So shed decided to take her to see him. I wish shed told me. I wish I could have gone. The stricken look on Nans face had my hands balling into fist. If I ever saw that man I was gonna punch him in the nose. I wanted to see him bleed.

Come here, I said, reaching out a hand and pulling my little sister into my arms. She wrapped hers around my waist and squeezed me tightly. Times like this it was hard to breathe. I hated the life shed been given. At least I knew my dad wanted me. He spent time with me.

He has other daughters. Two of them. And theyre beautiful. Their hair is like an angels hair. And they have a momma that lets them play outside in the dirt. They were wearing tennis shoes. Dirty ones. Nan was envious of dirty tennis shoes. Our mother didnt allow her to be less than perfect at all times. Shed never even owned a pair of tennis shoes.

They cant be more beautiful than you, I assured her because I firmly believed that.

Nan sniffed and then pulled back from me. Her head tilted up and those big green eyes looked up at me. They are. I saw them. I could see pictures on the wall with both girls and a man. He loves them. He doesnt love me.

I couldnt lie to her. She was right. He didnt love her.

Hes a stupid asshat. You have me, Nan. Youll always have me.

Blaire

Present Day

Fifteen miles out of town was far enough. No one ever came this far out of Sumit to visit a pharmacy. Unless of course they were nineteen and in need of something they didnt want the town to know they had purchased. Everything bought at the local pharmacy would be spread throughout the small town of Sumit, Alabama within the hour. Especially if you were unmarried and purchasing condoms or a pregnancy test.

I put the pregnancy tests up on the counter and didnt make eye contact with the clerk. I couldnt. The fear and guilt in my eyes was something I didnt want to share with a random stranger. This was something I hadnt even told Cain. Since I forced Rush out of my life three weeks ago Id slowly fallen back into the routine of spending all my time with Cain. It was easy. He didnt press me to talk but when I did want to talk about it he listened.

Sixteen dollars and fifteen cents, the lady on the other side of the counter said. I could hear the concern in her voice. Not surprising. This was the purchase of shame all teenage girls feared. I handed her a twenty dollar bill without lifting my eyes from the small bag shed placed in front of me. It held the one answer I needed and that terrified me. Ignoring the fact my period was two weeks late and pretending like this wasnt happening was easier. But I had to know.

Three dollars and eighty-five cents is your change, she said as I reached out and took the money in her outstretched hand.

Thanks, I mumbled and took the bag.

I hope it all turns out okay, the lady said in a gentle tone. I lifted my eyes and met a pair of sympathetic brown eyes. She was a stranger that Id never see again but in that moment it helped having someone else know. I didnt feel so alone.

Me too, I replied before turning from her and walking toward the door. Back into the hot summer sun.

Id taken two steps out into the parking lot when my eyes fell on the drivers side of my truck. Cain leaned against it with his arms crossed over his chest. The gray baseball cap he was wearing had a University of Alabama A on it and was pulled down low shading his eyes from me.

I stopped and stared at him. There was no lying about this. He knew I hadnt come here to buy condoms. There was only one other option. Even without the ability to see the expression in his eyes I knew that he knew.

I swallowed the lump in my throat that Id been fighting since I got in my truck this morning and headed out of town. Now it wasnt just me and the stranger behind the counter that knew. My bestfriend knew too.

I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other. Hed ask questions and I would have to answer. After the past few weeks he deserved an explanation. He deserved the truth. But how did I explain this?

I stopped just a few feet in front of him. I was glad the hat shaded his face. It would be easier to explain if I couldnt see the thoughts flashing in his eyes.

We stood in silence. I wanted him to speak first but after what felt like several minutes of him not saying anything I knew he wanted me to say something first.

How did you know where I was? I finally asked.