Promised

Dedication

My Sisters and Sister-in-Laws: You girls are the best sisters and sister-in-laws I could ask for. I can’t thank you all enough for the support you’ve showed me, putting up with reading my latest chapters, and listening to me go on and on about my characters. Love you girls!

Co: Thank you for being understanding with Mommy when she is wrapped up in getting her stories done. I love you more than the moon and the stars.

Gary Michael: I’m so lucky to be your wife. You’ve supported my decision to follow this dream, even though it meant you had to suffer through frozen dinners and take out. I love you, husband.

November

Chapter 1 – Linc

~The Great Lincoln Tatman~

“I’ve found the girl of my dreams.” I whisper to my cousin Nate.

“Oh, I have to see this. Who could possibly get the attention of the Great Lincoln Tatman?” He teases as he looks around the school parking lot.

“Shut it, smart ass.” I use my shoulder to push him. He’s been calling me that ever since I moved to town and all the girls at the high school started giving me the attention he used to receive. I’ve tried to explain to him that he can have it and those girls. I haven’t found a single one that interests me. Well, until now, and she hasn’t even looked in my direction. But Nate, being Nate, is pouting about not being the center of every girl’s attention.

“Just point her out. I don’t see anyone you haven’t already had falling at your feet.” He pouts, pushing back on my shoulder.

“Over there.” I point out a girl sitting under one of the large oak trees at the front of the school. She’s leaning against it with her legs crossed, text book resting on her lap, and a notebook in her hand. I’m not close enough to make out the details of her eyes, but from here, I can see how her curly brown hair is just passing her shoulders. I watch as it falls in her eyes for the fifth time since I’ve been watching and she uses the back of her hand to push it back in place.

She’s wearing straight leg dark jeans and a pale blue sweater that exposes a small strip of her perfect stomach. She topped the whole look off with a pair of black high heeled boots that go to mid-calf. It’s the middle of November and the weather is already feeling more like winter than fall, so she really should be wearing a coat. I’m seriously thinking about going over and offering her mine. It would be the perfect opening to introduce myself.

“Ah hell, that ain’t happening.” Nate laughs out loud beside me, pulling me out of my perusal of the brunette.

“You think she’s out of my league?” I ask, puffing my chest out at what sounds like an obvious challenge.

“No man, that’s not it at all. It’s just that…” Nate stops, looking for the right words.

“Spit it out.” I demand.

“Let’s just say, she doesn’t date. Not
us
anyways.” Nate says as an explanation, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

“
Us
as in me and you, or
us
as in high school guys?” I question him.

“Linc, take my advice for once and drop it. Nothing will ever happen with you and that girl.” Nate tells me as he looks me in the eyes.

“I think I can change her mind. She’d be worth it.” I have no doubt about that. She’s the definition of beautiful come to life. If her personality is a quarter of what her beauty is, she’d be worth the challenge.

“See that Navigator pulling up?” Nate asks, but I don’t see why he’s changing the subject.

“Of course I do. I’m not blind.” I snap.

“Watch it closely.”

I do as he says. I watch as it pulls up to the curb a few feet away from where my dream girl sits under the tree. The doors to the black Navigator open up and four dark haired, muscled guys exit it. They approach my dream girl and help her gather her bag and books and then walk her to the SUV. The one who is driving notices us watching them and glares at me as he slips back into the driver’s seat.

“What the hell was that?” I turn back to Nate and ask.

“That is the best reason you have to stay away from that girl.” He informs me.

“Brothers?” I ask.

“Extremely overprotective brothers who are not afraid to rip off your manhood if you get within ten feet of their only sister.” Nate clarifies.

“There are only four of them. With you at my back, it might be an even fight.” I reason out loud, not ready to give up on my dream girl.

“There were only four here today, but there’s a fifth brother and a father. And her old man taught those boys everything they know, so I wouldn’t count him out of the fight.”

“I doubt her dad is going to jump into the fight.” I say, doubting the description my cousin is using to sway me from the fight for my dream girl.

“Cuz, her dad is blood thirsty. He’d push his sons out of the way to get a shot at you. I hear he still bare-knuckle fights to earn some extra green.”

“If that’s true, then he’s crazy.”

“Well, my sources are very reliable so I’m warning you, stay away from that girl and her family.” Nate watches my face closely. Seeing that I’m determined to win the girl, he says. “Fine. I’ll have your back. But if her old man kicks both our asses, I’m telling my mom it’s your fault.”

“I’m not afraid of your mom, Nate. Aunt Kelly is an angel.” I climb in to my 1970 Dodge Challenger and say. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”

He crosses in front of the car and then climbs into the passenger seat.

“You do realize Satan was an angel too, right?” He asks, throwing his books into the back seat which causes me to glare at him. He knows he’s not supposed to throw his crap all over my car. My dad and I worked hard on rebuilding my Challenger before he was deployed, and it means the world to me.

He rolls his eyes at me and leans back in the seat to grab his books. Once I’m convinced he’s picked everything up, I ask. “Did you just compare your mom to the Devil?”

“Dude, you’ve never seen her pissed off. I swear the last time I made her mad, two little red horns popped up out of her head and she grew a pointy tail.” Nate exaggerates.

“What’d you do to make her that mad?” I ask as I’m backing out of the parking spot and pulling on to the road.

“I may have rear ended a cop car.”

“What the hell were you doing that you didn’t see a cop car in front of you?” I ask.

“I may have been checking out a girl who was walking down the street.” Nate confesses as he’s looking out the window.

“Aunt Kelly should get a medal just for putting up with your crap.” I state, shaking my head.

“Hey! You didn’t see this girl. Short shorts, long tan legs, and oh my lord, she had on this top that was no bigger than a band aid. It barely covered her tits. You would’ve rear ended the cop car too.” He turns to me as he pleads his case.

“If you say so.” I have no doubt there was a hot chick, but I highly doubt she’d be worth me getting in trouble for rear ending a cop car. Nate likes them hot, but he also likes them dumb. It’s easier for him to fool around on them if they’re not smart enough to catch on. Don’t get me wrong, I like them hot too, but I also want a girl with brains. I’m not saying she has to be the next Einstein, but I want to be able to hold an intelligent conversation with her. Preferably one not about her favorite lip gloss or which dress she looks better in. Seriously, I actually had a girl talk to me for an hour about her favorite lip gloss. It was what I imagined torture to be like. If a terrorist ever needed to get some highly classified secret out of me, he wouldn’t have to water board me. He would only have to bring that girl in and make me listen to her talk about whether she likes her Wild Watermelon or Berry Splash lip gloss better. I would spill every secret I know in two point three seconds flat.

“You know if it was Wyn walking down the road, you would’ve done the same thing.” Nate crosses his arms and stares out the window again.

“Wyn?” I ask him confused.

“How soon you forget your
dream girl
.” Nate mocks.

“That’s her name?” I ask, gnawing at the bit for any information he can give me.

“You’re not going to forget about her, are you?” Nate shakes his head at me.

“Doubt it.” I admit honestly.

“Fine, but I did warn you.”

“Noted. So spill.”

“Her name is Arwyn Scott, but she goes by Wyn. She’s the youngest of six kids. You saw the four oldest of her brothers. They guard her like she’s the crown jewels and she doesn’t associate with anyone at school other than the teachers.” Nate tells me.

“No one hangs out with her?” I ask, thinking it’s highly unlikely that everyone ignores a girl as beautiful as Wyn.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s not like people haven’t tried.” He throws up his hands in defense.

“How long has she lived here?” If she has no friends, she must be a new student too.

“She’s lived here her whole life.” Nate tells me.

“How the hell does she not have friends?” I ask, getting mad. I’m imagining the stuck up kids at school shunning her because of her crazy family and I find myself wanting to defend her from them.

“She has friends. They just don’t go to school with us anymore.”

“Oh my lord, could you be anymore cryptic. Just spit out the story, Nate, before I get pissed and make you walk the rest of the way home.” I’m gripping the steering wheel so tight, my knuckles have turned white.

“Damn, you’re bossy today.” I turn and give him the stare that clearly states not to try me.

“Fine! She had friends that went to school with us
, but they all dropped out. Most of them dropped a few years ago, including her brothers; they all dropped too. The youngest would’ve graduated last year, I believe, but he quit when he was around fourteen or fifteen. I’m honestly surprised she’s still in school. Her last friend, a girl named Dani, dropped at the beginning of last year.”

“How the hell can a big group of students all drop out and have no one care?” I ask stunned.

“Dude, they’re Romani.” Nate says, thinking that explains everything.

“Romani?”

“Gypsies.” Nate clarifies.

“Are you pulling my leg?”

“No, Linc. Wyn is a gypsy as in the kind you see on those documentaries on TLC. Big, puffy, blinged out dresses and all.”

Chapter
2 – Wyn

~The Black Sheep
of the Family~

“Dani?” I call out, knocking on the door to my sister-in-law’s, who also happens to be my best-friend, travel trailer.

“I’m in the bedroom, Wyn. Come on back.” She replies.

I walk the short distance to the back of the trailer where the bedroom is located. Dani is sitting on the bed folding onesies and placing them into neat stacks in a wicker laundry basket. Her red hair is pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head, and she’s wearing black yoga pants and a tight fitting, red tank top that shows off her tiny, pregnant belly.

“So, when will we know if I’m having a niece or a nephew?” I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing up a onesie to fold.

“The ultrasound is in three weeks.” She tells me.