Forever Read online

  by

  Mary A. Wasowski

  * * * *

  Forever

  Book One in The Forever Series

  Copyright © 2014 by Mary A. Wasowski

  Cover Design by Okay Creations

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Table of Contents

  Part One – Reese

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Prologue – Phillip Reed

  Part Two – Walker

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen – Elizabeth

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  Bonus Surprise

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Dedication

  For my family. You help me make the impossible become the possible.

  I love you with all my heart.

  LOOKING AROUND MY now empty bedroom, I wondered how had the last ten years of my life spent here been reduced to packed boxes? The last three years had been spent living away at college. I always looked forward to coming home to the comforts of this room and all of the memories it held for me. As I labeled my last box and pushed it in the corner, I closed my eyes as the memories came crashing back to me.

  This is the room that my Nana made up for me when I had to come live with her and my Granddaddy. She filled it with my personal things, like new books to read and stuffed animals to snuggle with when I was scared of the thunderstorms. We said our prayers here in this room every night and looked up to the heavens to mom and dad, knowing they were looking down on us.

  It wasn’t supposed to be this way. My parents should be here seeing me off, begging me not to go, but they’re gone. All I had were memories of our short time together. I was ten years old when daddy died. He was crossing the street and out of nowhere a passing truck driver mowed him down… and left him for dead. As my father struggled to cling to life, my family had been enjoying a day by the lake waiting for him to arrive. I remember laughing and Granddaddy splashing me with water. My mom and Nana were busy preparing lunch while I laughed and played.

  Hours had gone by, and with no sign of daddy, we went home. We were unpacking the car back at Nana’s house when we were greeted by the local sheriff and his deputy. Pottersville was a small town where all your neighbors knew each other. I loved this town when I was little. Naturally, I never could imagine myself leaving it. Sheriff Danforth asked if he could speak with my mom and grandparents. I stayed outside and played with Bubba, Granddaddy’s golden retriever. My smiles turned to cries as I heard my mom scream from the house. I ran to her, but Nana held me back. Granddaddy was holding Mom in his arms, just rocking her as if she were a baby again, shushing her, and urging her to breathe. “Please breathe, baby, we will get through this…please,” over and over again he whispered to her.

  Two days later, I watched my father get lowered down into the ground. We were told that my father had died en route to the hospital, where he was pronounced D.O.A. The injuries that he sustained were too severe, and there was nothing they could have done to save him. The truck driver was caught the next day and taken into custody for driving under the influence. He only spent seven months in jail, a small price to pay for his act of carelessness. According to the law, he paid his debt to society, but not to our family. He killed my father and destroyed my world. The anniversary of my father’s death delivered another devastating blow to our family. My mother never was the same after losing her beloved Daniel. She left me a letter telling me to be a good girl for Nana and Granddaddy. She said she was sorry that she had to leave me, and as much as she loved me, she just wasn’t strong enough to go on without my father by her side. She begged me to forgive her for her weakness, to remember that I was loved very much, and one day we would all be together again. I could feel her heartache in her written words.

  Together again? Her words burned me like touching the flames in a fire. How could my mother believe that I would be okay without her; that I would not be as broken hearted as she was? HOW DARE SHE? Mama was right about one thing, she was weak! I vowed never to become a person like the one she had become. I would grow up and be strong. I was going to make something out of my life! I thanked God every day for my grandparents who put their own personal grieving aside to take care of me and to make sure I was okay first. Again, I looked to my empty room and shook my head at the fact that I wouldn’t be living here anymore.

  “No! I’m not going. I’ll finish school here and find a job.” Not realizing I said that out loud, my grandmother Lila was standing behind me laughing. Why was she laughing? Doesn’t she know how much I am going to miss her?

  “Nana! Stop laughing at me.”

  “Oh, my beautiful girl, come here and sit with me for a minute. I’m not laughing at you, so calm yourself. Maybe I was laughing because you make me so happy.”

  “How blessed I have been to have you as my granddaughter and to know I have had a hand in the strong woman you have become.”

  “How do you do it?”

  “Do what, honey?”

  Now wrapped in my Nana’s arms, I said, “Make me feel better.”

  “It’s my job to know these things. You have been my shining light since the day you screamed yourself into this crazy world. I have not regretted one day spent with you. As hard as it is to move on, you just have to, honey.”

  “Why did she do it, Nana? Losing daddy was hard enough, but to lose both my parents within a year of each other? It’s just so cruel.”

  “I know it is, honey, and sometimes we are faced with things in this life that we are not meant to understand. Everything does happen for a reason, and hopefully, one day we will get the answers we need. For now… the best thing for you to do is to go out and live your life. Now, enough of this wallowing in the past, your Freddy Macaroons is waiting on you.”

  “Nana! His name is Freddy Mac, and although he loves your cookies, he doesn’t want you to share the nickname you have for him with anyone.” I laughed for a few minutes after Nana mentioned the nickname that she gave my best friend. Freddy Mac, a.k.a. Freddy Mackelstein, was born and raised in the Bronx. He moved to Georgia for his father’s job and attended Georgia State University, where we met on orientation day. I’ll never forget watching Freddy from across the campus. He looked completely frazzled and lost. My southern manners did not escape me. I walked over to help him. I had visited the campus on several occasions, so I already knew the campus well enough.

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nbsp; His head was buried in his hands, I softly cleared my throat to get his attention. Freddy looked up after hearing me. “Hi there, my name is Reese. You look a bit…lost. Can I help you find your way?”

  “Have the gods answered my prayers and sent me an angel? If you are that angel, then, yes, please help me!” After hearing that very cheesy line, I thought helping this stranger didn’t seem like a good idea after all. Then he smiled and broke out into laughter. I guess the look on my face said it all for him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out. Please help me navigate my way around here. If you prove to be successful with your tour guide skills, then you are hired as my new best friend.”

  “Apology accepted, but before I accept your job offer, I will need to know who I’m working for.” I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. He was adorable.

  “Mac, Freddy Mac, really Mackelstein but don’t tell anyone. And you are…Reese?”

  “Mitchell, Reese Mitchell. Pleasure to meet you, Freddy. So, you look a bit lost. What can I do?”

  Sighing…“I don’t know how a handsome New York Jewish boy ended up here, shvitzing in this god awful heat. But yes, I’m lost and need help.” Spending the entire day with Freddy calmed my own fears of beginning college. We were thick as thieves for the first two years at Georgia State University. He became a permanent fixture at my side, and anytime I would go home to Pottersville to visit my grandparents he was with me. Always my protector to ward off the jerk-off guys that would constantly hit on me at parties, Freddy wasn’t intimidating by any means, but he sure could talk his way out of any situation. I was sad when he told me he decided to transfer to NYU after completing our second year, but New York had everything he wanted and it was his home. I stayed behind and continued on without my best friend. Then, I received an opportunity to model.

  I was part of the drama club on campus and acted in some plays. One night after my performance, I was approached along with some other girls to model for some local designers participating in a charity event. After talking it over with my grandparents, I decided to go for it and see where it could lead me. Freddy gasped excitedly into the phone after I called him about it. The designers loved me for my height, and they seemed to be happy with my looks. I never really paid too much attention to my figure, but I was naturally thin and blessed with curves in the right places. Nana never liked me doing too much change to my hair, so I always left it in its natural brown color and kept it long. As time went on, the stylists gave me a more modern long style.

  Things couldn’t have been going better for me. I was maintaining my 4.0 GPA and earning a steady paycheck because of the modeling jobs. Everything was great until Freddy had sent me a link to a website he found me on. I was horrified with what I saw. It was my face, but it wasn’t me. I was watching myself in a porn movie. Oh my god! How was I going to explain this to my grandparents? Or the very small town I come from? It turned out that one of the photographers who was a last minute add-on, filmed me and some others while we were working. He used our images for the filth that he called art.

  I had no choice but to be honest and tell my grandparents right away. We hired a lawyer, and he was able to get the movie taken down from the sites that it was featured on. He immediately filed a lawsuit against the photographer and the well-known firm he worked for. We stopped further production of the film, and we won our case. Needless to say, my junior year was not as amazing as I thought it was going to be. No matter where I was on campus, I felt like a bright spotlight was shining on me for the world to see. Girls would talk behind my back, and guys would try to grab my ass or whistle rude catcalls at me. Nana always used to say that people find it easier to believe the bad than the good. I knew who I was. What happened to me was not my fault, and only the people closest to me truly believed that.

  Eventually the chatter calmed down, and I felt I could show my face again back home. I couldn’t wait to pack up my dorm room, go back home, and hide from the big bad world. Knowing Nana, she was having none of that! I was to finish with my last term of my junior year, and then come home like everyone else. Never disobeying her, I did what she asked of me. Sure enough, they showed up with their U-Haul and picked me up as promised. It was comforting to return home to Pottersville.

  What Nana didn’t know was that I was thinking of transferring out of GSU and taking Freddy up on his offer to move in with him in New York. I secretly sent my admission papers to NYU as a joke, never believing that I would get in, but I did. Now I just had to tell the grandparents. Over dinner, I broke the news. Surprisingly, they were happy for me. They both gave me their blessing. Nana was never one to dwell in the past, and she wanted more for me. So after many hugs, I called Freddy and told him that I would see him in August.

  My final summer with Nana and Granddaddy seemed to go by so quickly. I tried to spend as much time with them as I could. As much as I didn’t want to leave them, I was so excited to start my new life in New York.

  “Hey, you two, if the crying and the hugging has ceased, my granddaughter has a plane to catch.”

  “Oh Granddaddy, we still have time.”

  “No you don’t, sweetheart. You and your Nana have been talking up in here for two hours already.” Wow! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised; talking to Nana is effortless, and it’s very easy to shut the rest of the world out.

  “Granddaddy, am I doing the right thing?” I looked into his green eyes, and waited for him to tell me no, but that’s not what he said. He took me in his arms, hugged me tightly, and kissed the top of my head.

  “Sweetheart, you were meant for bigger things than this small town. You go to New York and make your dreams come true”. He gave me one last hug before Nana came over to give me a few more of her amazing words of wisdom.

  “Now, my sweet girl, you listen to your Granddaddy and be happy. You never know what sweet gifts life is going to give you. You may even find your future husband in the big city and live happily ever after.” With one more hug and kiss from the two of them, I was shoved into the backseat of my cab, and they waved me off. I cried the entire time to the airport. I knew I was leaving my past behind that included losing my parents, the modeling nightmare, and the sadness that I tried very hard to keep at bay. I would miss my grandparents so much, but seeing me earn my college degree and just being happy was all they wanted. How could I let them down after all they had done for me?

  THE FLIGHT TO New York was smooth. I slept for most of it, only waking up to stow my tray table back in its place. Arriving twenty minutes ahead of schedule allowed me some time to freshen up and grab a coffee. It was only eight a.m. and I knew Freddy was probably still at home asleep. Granddaddy had arranged for a car to pick me up and take me to Freddy’s apartment in Washington Square. Freddy’s uncle had owned an apartment that he usually sublet to students, but since Freddy was back living in the city, his parents arranged for him to live there. The idea of me becoming his roommate came later when Granddaddy decided it would be better for me to live with someone I knew and trusted, than a complete stranger.

  Hitting the buzzer several times and getting no response, I was beginning to get annoyed when Freddy screamed out from the top window. “It’s about time my Georgia peach arrived.” Yeah…I was embarrassed since I was now surrounded by on-lookers curious to why the guy above was screaming and calling me a peach. My face turned five shades of red while waiting for Freddy to drag his ass down and welcome me to my new home for the next year.

  “Oh, I missed you so much! Come here, you.”

  I couldn’t resist his charm and gave him the biggest hug I could manage. “I missed you too, and thank you for the…welcome.”

  “My pleasure, love, now let’s get you settled. As you can see Bernie and Barbara spared no expense. Your room has a fresh coat of paint, and get this…new bed linens. Holy shit! You got a new blankie of your very own.”

  “Will you stop it? I like your mom and dad, they are so sweet, and all you do is mock on them. Why do you do that, Freddy?�
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  “Oh come on, Peaches. I’m their only son, and one day I will probably be wiping their asses when they are really old. I might as well get my jabs in now when they can still comprehend what I’m teasing them about.”

  “You are so bad, but I guess if they don’t seem to mind your humor, who am I to judge?”

  My boxes had arrived a few days before, and Freddy, the prince that he is, unpacked all my things and began setting up my room. I didn’t send much to New York; the majority of my personal belongings were back home with Nana. I only needed a few mementos to make my room a home. Freddy placed all my favorite pictures on the mantel in the living room along with his, and he placed a few in my room. The only picture that brings me comfort is the one of me and my parents taken a week before my dad’s death. We were in the orchard picking peaches, and Nana snapped our picture. The other one I hold dear is one of my grandparents sitting on their porch swing. They are so much in love after so many years together. Nana predicted I may meet my future husband here in New York, but I wasn’t holding my breath.

  My first week in New York was all about getting settled into my new apartment and learning my way around the new neighborhood. Freddy showed me where the grocery store was, corner deli, and of course, all the Starbucks surrounding our apartment. Freddy only had a few months until he would graduate in December. He attended three summers of classes and never had taken a single vacation during that time. He wanted to get his degree so he could start his career, which he had done months before I arrived. His parents knew fashion was his calling, but they wanted him to earn his business degree first. If he was going to be the master in charge of his own company one day, then he would need to know how to run it.

  Freddy had interned for Ralph Lauren and then was hired as a junior designer to work along with the creative teams that were in charge of Fashion Week. Oh my goodness! Fashion week! I shrieked with giddiness when I heard that. Freddy had passed along my portfolio along with some new pictures that I had taken before leaving Georgia. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to continue modeling, but Freddy quickly changed my mind.