Raging Heart On (Lucas Brothers #2)(87)

http://amzn.to/23CWNEC



Unwritten Rules (Book 3)

Coming Soon …




AUTHOR LINKS:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JordanMarieAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Author_JordanM

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9860469.Jordan_Marie

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/barBKv

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Rizo7l

Webpage: http://www.jordanmarieauthor.com



Want to read a sneak peek into the next book in the series? Do you want to read a previously released book I released under my pen name Baylee Rose? Turn the page to read both!





HAPPY TRAIL


CHAPTER ONE

PETAL




“Petal, it’s your turn!”

“I’m coming,” I tell Mom. The last thing I want to do is be here at family bowling night. I tried everything short of telling her I was dying of a dreaded disease to get out of it. Even that wouldn’t have helped. When Ida Sue wants something, you either fall in line or run away. I can’t tell you the times I’ve wanted to run away.

Don’t get me wrong. I have an amazing mother. She’s funny, talented, fiercely loyal, and a loving parent. She’s strong as hell, too; she’s had to be because she raised nine children completely on her own. I admire and love her as much as I resent her.

“What’s wrong with you, Petal?”

“Nothing, Mom! I just had other things to do tonight. Things I canceled so I could make your family night.”

“Well, if you were going to be a grouch and try and ruin the whole night for everyone, maybe you should have just not shown up.”

“It’s Black’s birthday, Mom. Of course I’m going to be here. I just wish you had given me a little advance warning, that’s all.”

“I might have if you’d been home much the last few weeks.”

“I’ve been home every night, Mom.”

“Yeah, but I’m usually in bed by the time you roll in. Honestly, Petal, little River needs more structure than what you’re giving him.”

“Mom, everything I do is for River. Don’t start.”

“Is he the reason you’ve been talking to that man again?”

“That man is River’s father and he has a name, Mom. It’s Luka.”

“You say Luka, I say Puke-a,” she says with a shrug.

“Now who’s acting like a child?” I sigh. It’s an old argument. Mom has never approved of Luka and he hates her. The friction between them is just one of the many reasons my marriage imploded. Well, that and the fact that I should have never gotten married at seventeen. I was a child playing an adult and as a result I made all the wrong choices. Hell, I’ll be twenty-one in a couple weeks and I’m still making all the wrong choices.

“If you had listened to me to begin with, you would have never had him in your life.”

“Mom, I was pregnant—”

“Big-freakin-deal! You were sixteen and pregnant. That happens to a lot of girls. It’s not a reason to get married. He should have been arrested for messing with you in the first place and yet somehow here he is, the sheriff. If that isn’t the biggest joke in years.”

“Mom, he didn’t know I was sixteen. If he had, he never would have touched me.”

“So you say. I haven’t seen one thing out of Luka Parrish that tells me it’s true.”

“I don’t want to argue about this anymore, Mom. Luka and I are working together to make sure our son is happy. That’s it. That’s all it is,” I tell her, and the pang of pain that hits me is real. I’m not lying, even though I wish I was. River has been diagnosed with ADHD and also has some other problems. We’ve been meeting in the evenings to figure out how best to tackle them. I had him in daycare and he was kicked out for biting and hitting other kids. River’s not a bad child. He’s sweet as he can be at home, but around other kids, he becomes different. We need a solution soon, not only for my child’s sake, but because I need to go back to work. I can’t keep living with my mom, I can’t. Every time she puts Luka down, I want to scream. Luka has done right by me and River, despite all the shit I’ve put him through. He tried so hard to make our marriage work. He doesn’t know why I divorced him, not really. I won’t tell him. There’s no point. He’s eight years older than me, he’s sheriff now, and the last thing he needs is the local hippy’s daughter being a stone around his neck. I figure if I say that enough times, I’ll finally believe it. The real problem is that Luka hasn’t tried to convince me that we have a future in over a year now. Even the dinners we have are purely talking about our son. Being that near to him almost every night and not being able to touch him or find out what’s going in his life—or to just talk to him like we used to, man and woman, best friends—it’s slowly and painfully destroying me. I miss him.

With a sigh, I go to get my ball and get ready for my turn. The place is loud, but only made louder because the entire Lucas clan is out and about tonight, including Gray, CC, and the two-month-old babies Violet and William.

“There’s my girl! I thought you got lost,” Black says, wrapping his arm around my back as I straighten back up, holding the ball in my hand.