Shelby's Awakening: Legacy Series: The Beasley's Book Three

SHELBY’S AWAKENING

The Legacy Series: The Beasley’s

Book Three

By

Leila Lacey

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental

Copyright © 2014 by Leila Lacey.

All rights reserved, i
n accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976.  The scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes) prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]
. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

To my brothers;
all
of you. There is so much I want to say. But can’t, so many things I want to do but can’t. One thing I will always do is love you!

Your Sister,

Leila

CHAPTER ONE

“Why are you standing out here?” Lance said to Logan as he walked up behind him. Logan had been standing outside the doors of Shelby’s physical therapy session for the past twenty minutes trying to figure out if he should go in and risk another rejection from Shelby. It had been two months
since Shelby’s accident. The pain and fear of that dreadful day still hit Logan like a ton of bricks every time he thought about it. He had almost lost her forever, and while she still was not allowing him in her life, at least he still had hope.

“Why are you always sneaking around like a woman looking for clues
to find out if her husband is cheating?” Logan said to his brother looking away from the small window that was in the door of the physical therapy room.

“I am not sneaking
and that description was disturbingly detailed,” Logan said looking at his brother out of the corner of his eye.

“Go talk to her you
, big pussy!” Lance said poking Logan in the back.

“Alright
,” Logan said looking over at his brother. “You are one step away from writing a check your ass can’t cash.”

“I am just kidding with you. Why are you in such a bad mood?” Lance asked him.

“Because I want to be in there supporting her, but because of some bad decisions and her disgust with me, I am here talking to you!” Logan said.

“So your resolution is to stalk her?” Lance said to his brother.
“That makes sense,” he chuckled shaking his head.

“Why are you here?” Logan said
. “What is this?” Grabbing his brother’s shirt collar to pull it back a little, he could see four distinct scratches on his neck. “Have you been fucking cougars again?” Logan said chuckling. Smacking his hand away, Lance adjusted his collar again.

“Fuck You! If I had not known her all my l
ife, I would swear that she was a cougar,” Lance said to his brother. Savannah and Lance had been sleeping together since the night of the accident.

“I do not know how you ca
n sleep with that heartless cow,” Logan said scratching his chin. He had started to let his beard grow in the last couple of weeks. He had been so worried about Shelby and working overtime at the shop and keeping up with Gia that he had pretty much given up on hygiene. Taking a step forward and sniffing in the air, Lance frowned and stepped back from his brother. “Dude, you smell like a sweaty nut sack.  When was the last time you took a shower?”

“Shut up!”
Logan said. Lifting his shirt and sniffing down, he frowned and placed his hand on his chest like he could lock the smell inside his shirt.

“You are not going to go in there smelling like that
, are you? She just started to make great strides. You want to set her back?” Lance said laughing and waving his hand in front of his face.

“I guess I should have
gone home and showered before I came,” Logan said. He looked through the glass of the door watching Shelby making great strides in her physical therapy. “I just really wanted to see her.”

When the doctors sat down with them all and told them the extent of Shelby’s injuries
, they had all been afraid that they would lose her. The surgeons had said Shelby had suffered a fractured skull, a ruptured spleen, a lacerated kidney and a
Lumbar Spinal Cord injury that they had thought would cause her to be paralyzed. But as Shelby had healed and shown how strong and amazing she was, they had realized that it had only caused weakness in her lower extremities and with physical therapy she could gain full use of her legs again. Because of the trauma to her head, she could not remember what had happened in the accident or who she was with. No one had wanted to tell her that Zach Walker had died in the accident, and that they had crashed no one was sure why including the Highway Patrol that had investigated it. Logan had felt guilty that she was in that car with that man every day and if he was still alive, Logan would have killed him with his bare hands.

“Why are you two standing out here?” Cassidy said walking up to them. She had come to th
e hospital to work out with Shelby today. She had been coming to support her friend every day since the accident.

Pointing
to his brother, Lance said, “Chicken shit here is scared to go in and talk to Shelby.” He dodged the punch that was aimed at him.

“Well
, I am surprised that she does not know you are here,” Cassidy said turning her nose up. “Logan! You smell like ass! Rotten ass, used rotten ass! I think you may need an exorcism!”

“Do I really smell that bad?”
Logan said sniffing himself again.

“YES!” Cassidy and Lance said simultaneously and l
aughed. “Don’t keep sniffing yourself or you are going to cause brain damage,” Lance said laughing. Cassidy and Lance were laughing so hard that one of the nurses came from the other side of the nurse’s station to look at them. Putting his hand in the air Lance said, “Sorry” to the nurse.

“Logan, stop hiding from her.  She has been asking me about you. Why you have not come to
see her?” Cassidy said.

“Has she?” Logan said smiling
.  He truly missed Shelby so much. All he had been able to do was watch her from afar since the day after her accident. Logan had run into her father on the way into the hospital one day and he had asked to have a talk with him. They sat in the family waiting area on the floor where Shelby’s private suite was.

“
So, I am a man of straight forward dealings so I am going to get to the point with you...” Jackson had started to say when Logan had cut him off.

“Really? Is that why all of your children
are by different women who are NOT your wife?”

Clearing his throat and adjusting the jacket o
f his five thousand dollar suit, Jackson said, “Son, I realize that I have made mistakes in my personal life. But don’t assume to know me or my family.”

“No, Mr. Beasley, perhaps you should not assume that I
care
to know you and anyone in your family except Shelby,” Logan said.

“Boy, there is
not a violent bone in me but if you keep talking to me like that, I will show you what this old man can do,” Jackson said pausing. “Now, I realize that you fancy my baby girl, why wouldn’t you? She is an amazing woman. But what makes you think you can make her happy or give her what she needs? You have one child out of wedlock with the town crack addict, and another on the way with the town whore. To be frank, boy, it seems that your dick has seen more dirty pussy than an inner city OBGYN. My baby deserves better.  You know it and I know it. I will do everything I have to do to keep you out of my daughter’s life including buy that shack your mother lives in and tearing it down. Is that clear?”

Laughing sarcastically
, Logan stood up from the seat he had taken when they had walked into the room and stood toe to toe with Jackson.

“Yeah, you are clear,
loud and clear, but let me tell you something; I have let people like you push me around and control my thoughts for most of my life. First wanting to be accepted then wanting revenge for the injustice. I am pretty sure that I let it cost me my child MY Shelby was carrying. I will NEVER let that happen again. So come on, old man, do your worst. I am not going anywhere. I can guarantee you will lose. Yeah, I can see it in your eyes that you know I am right. You come for me, you will lose Shelby forever,” Logan said. Turning to walk out the door, Logan stopped and turned to face Jackson. “Oh and sir...” Logan said waiting for Jackson to look him in the eye so that he could see the seriousness in his eyes. “You ever threaten my momma again, I do not care what I have to do I am coming for you. There will be no place you can hide. Are we clear?” Logan finished walking out the door.

Logan had managed to pretend that he would not let Shelby’s family push him away from her when
he was talking to her father. What he had not managed to do was convince himself that she would forgive him. Standing there now thinking about his talk with Jackson Beasley, it reminded him that Shelby had suffered the loss of their child, and had almost lost her life because he failed her. Now she was fighting for her ability to walk and he was watching from afar, too afraid of how she could hurt him.

“I
... I gotta get going, you guys,” Logan said abruptly to Cassidy and Lance looking back through the glass seeing Shelby take small steps and smiling at how happy she looked.

“Take care of her
,” he said before he turned and walked away. Logan had a lot of work to do.

CHAPTER TWO

“Shelby
, you are making such progress.  I am so proud of you,” Sarah said to her. Sarah had been to the hospital and rehab facility every day for four or five hours at a time since the accident. Shelby had spent a lot of time with both of her mothers lately, which had been uncomfortable to say the least, but the talks they had shared had been eye opening and bonding. Right now, Sarah was floating around the room in her p
etite sleeveless color block shaped shift dress
with
color blocked stripes that draws the eye upwards on the dress for a complimenting look; white fades from grey to cerulean to navy in applique stripes, with chunky cerulean colored jewelry and silver strappy stilettos. She was fluffing Shelby’s pillows and arranging one of the five dozen bouquets she brought Shelby every day. Shelby looked over at Cassidy who had come to work out with Shelby and stayed to talk with her for a while and rolled her eyes upward in her head and dropped her head back.  Chuckling under her breath, Cassidy whispered, “Guilt really does put a fire in one’s ass, doesn’t it?” laughing as she finished her sentence.

“I heard that
, Cassidy!” Sarah said turning around to face her daughter and Cassidy who were both trying to hold back their laughter. “You are never too old to get a good old fashioned ass whoopin’, young lady,” Sarah said jokingly.

Jumping up out of her seat
, Cassidy started backing toward the door to leave the room. “See what you did Shelby, you have gotten me in trouble again,” Cassidy said.

Laughing
, Shelby said, “Don’t blame me because you can’t whisper worth a damn!”

“Yes
, dear, you really have never been able to whisper. I used to ask your mother if she had made sure your hearing was ok,” Sarah said joining in ribbing of Cassidy. That was one of the things that had changed in her mother; she joked, and laughed and smiled with Shelby and Lance and, like today, sometimes even Cassidy. The changes in her mother had made Shelby uneasy but now she was glad she had made some adjustments and they were spending time together getting to know each other. Sometimes when they were talking, Shelby realized it was almost like she did not know her own mother. Shelby realized that her mom had felt alone and unloved in the world since her marriage to her father, a man that valued the “legacy” of his family and his fortune more than he did the people that loved him. Shelby still felt anger at her mother for treating her the way she had all those years, but she better understood now how she could end up making those mistakes. To love a man and raise the child that he created outside of your marriage with the one and only woman he ever truly loved had to be like being stabbed in the heart on a daily basis. Looking into the eyes of that child every day and seeing the eyes of the woman he truly loved. That was un-imaginable. Even Cassidy had sympathy for Sarah now after finding out that Savannah was her sister and her mother had slept with Jackson.

“I have to give your mother credit
, Shel. I would have stabbed, poisoned, shot, castrated and disemboweled your father long ago if I was your mother. No wonder she has always seemed afraid of Mother,” Cassidy had said the day they had discussed it.  Shelby laughed to herself now just thinking of what all the conversation had led to.

“Um
, Cass, baby,” Shelby had said grabbing her hand. “The psych ward is on the fifth floor if you want to get checked out,” Shelby had finished smiling at her friend.

“Have you
, Shelby?” Sarah said to her bringing Shelby back to the present conversation.

“I am sorry
, Momma, what was the question?” Shelby said.

“Are you ok
, baby?” Sarah said going to the side of Shelby’s bed grabbing her hand.

“Yes
, Momma, I am fine,” Shelby said patting her mother’s hand to reassure her that she was ok. “I was just thinking is all, stop worrying. What was the question?”

“I was asking if anyone had a chance to sit down and talk with Jackson, and your mom was sayin
g she had not seen him in weeks,” Cassidy said giving Shelby a concerned look.

“Yes, and I was a
sking if you had heard from him,” Sarah said giving her daughter that same ‘are you ok or are your brains melted’ look they had all been giving her since she woke up from the two week long coma she had been in.

Sigh
. “No, I have not seen or spoken to Daddy in about two weeks, I think. I just hope he is not out making anymore siblings for Momma to pass off as one of her own. I mean he was a rolling stone, you know,” Shelby said quoting the old Temptations song.

“Shelby!” he
r mother said trying to cover her laugh.

“There is my girl!” Cassidy said giving her a
high-five and laughing hysterically.

“I am just kidding, Mo
mma,” Shelby said squeezing her mother’s hand.

“Knock, Knock
,” Logan said as he was coming through the door with a huge bouquet of Cherokee Roses, Shelby’s favorite flower. “Can I come in?” Logan said looking at Shelby. “You cut your hair!” was the only thing that Shelby could think at the moment. Then again, Logan always had that effect on her.  She lost all her senses and could only think of how sexy he was. Logan had on a button down salmon and white striped shirt with white pearl buttons and a peaked color, with acid wash denim jeans and black cowboy boots.

“Well
, damn, if ya’ll are gonna have eye sex across the room, at least wait for Sarah to leave the room and for me to get popcorn,” Cassidy said to them.

“Cassidy!” Sarah said from across the room. S
arah was nothing if not a true Southern Belle. She did not swear, talk about sex with anyone, or speak sarcasm.

“Oh calm down
, Aunt Sarah!” Cassidy said winking at Shelby.

“Maybe i
f you had done a little eye fucking with Uncle Jackson, you would have told him to kiss your southern fried ass when he proposed,” Cassidy finished putting the word ‘proposed’ in air quotes.

“CASSIDY!” Sarah said totally shocked at what Cassidy had said. Shelby did not know why she was surprised any more. Cassidy had been a spit fire from the age of three. “You come with me
, young lady, I think that we need to sign you up for some etiquette lessons,” Sarah said taking Cassidy’s hand and walking toward the door.

“It
won’t work, Aunt Sarah.  Mom already tried. I drove the teacher to drink,” Cassidy said giggling as she followed behind Sarah mouthing, “I will see you tomorrow, Shell,” as Sarah got her on the other side of the room door.

“I feel sorry for the man that marries her!” Logan said to
Shelby as he walked over to the window sill to place the flowers he had bought her amongst all the other flowers that were already there.  

“Oh! I wouldn’t,
” Shelby said scooting herself up on the bed flinching from the pain she still sometimes felt when she moved the wrong way. “Cassidy is a whirlwind, but she has a heart of gold and a dirty mind that porn stars would marvel at,” she finished laughing to herself and shaking her head.

“Ha!” Logan said as he sat
down in one of the chairs beside her bed. Shelby had not really looked him in the eye since he had walked into the room. “How are you, gorgeous?” Logan said rubbing her leg and smiling at her.

“I am getting better every day.  I took three strong steps today by myself. I think I will be wal
king out of here in a few weeks,” Shelby said with a half-hearted smile.

“Well
, I never doubted that for a minute. You are one of the most amazing women…” Logan was saying before she cut him off.

“What are you doing here
, Logan?” Shelby said to him.

“What do you mean?”

Sigh. “What I mean is, I do not remember anything that happened the day of the accident but I do remember we determined that this was not going to work,” she said pointing at the both of them.
“So why are you here?” Shelby’s stomach was starting to turn. She had never liked the idea of staying at this rehab facility for her physical therapy. She was not a hospital type of girl, but this place had become like sort of a fortress from all the things that she could not, and did not, want to remember about the weeks and days before the accident. Now here he was; the object of her affection that she could not have because he could not love her the way she deserved to be loved. It was frankly making her sick to her stomach.

Sitting forward placing his elbows on his knees and rubbi
ng his hands together, he said, “I know I have let you down, Shelby. I have not been the friend or the man that you deserve. But I hope you could never really doubt how important you are to me; no matter what happens between us,” he finished looking up at her. Shelby could see in his beautiful eyes that he wanted her to know that she was important to him, if nothing else.

“Logan
, you and I have known each other for a very long time. Lance is my best friend. What kind of man would you be if you didn’t wonder how I was doing?” she finished. She was trying to not get wrapped in this moment.  She was looking at her tablet, the bed, the sheets and anything she could except at Logan.

“You know that is not what I mean
, Shelby,” Logan said standing up and sitting on her bed. He slowly took her tablet out of her hand and placed his hands on both her cheeks to force her to look at him.

“Baby
, I know that I have failed you in so many ways, and I am so sorry for that,” he said looking her in the eyes and caressing her cheeks with his thumbs. “I came here to put you on notice. I am not letting you kick me out of your life. I am going to prove to you that you and I are meant to be together and I do not want any woman but you.” Leaning in, Logan softly touched his lips to hers, gently at first gauging how open she was to him kissing her. When she did not smack him, he took that as a ‘Hail Mary pass’ to take her deliciously curved lips into his mouth and suck them. He slid his left hand down her back and the other around her neck slightly pulling her in, making sure she knew that she could break the contact at any point but she didn’t. Sliding the tip of his tongue along her lips, Logan moaned at the softness of her lips against his. He could not believe how connected he felt to Shelby every time he was near her. He had heard of this kind of connection but thought it was only in fairytales. Deepening the kiss, Logan pulled Shelby closer to him and their tongues danced with each other.  Wrapping her arms around his neck, Shelby moaned and leaned further into him. ‘Get it together, Chandler,’ Logan thought breaking the kiss and standing up.  He turned his back to her to adjust the hard on that was damn near bursting from his pants. Shelby was staring into space looking like she had just seen the Ghost of Christmas Past and trying to figure why, no matter how hard she tried, she could not get enough of this man.

“I am sorry
. That is my fault; I shouldn’t have kissed you but your lips are so irresistible to me,” Logan said to her over his shoulder before he turned around.

“Its ok, I seem to not have any
willpower when it comes to you,” Shelby said quietly. “An idiot with no willpower; I am sure that is very attractive,” she finished almost mumbling.

Whipping around
, Logan looked at her like she was an alien. “Is that what you think I think of you?” he said going back to the bed to sit in front of her again. “Is it?” he finished grabbing her arm to make her look up at him.

“Frankly
, Logan, I don’t know what you think of me,” Shelby said to him snatching her arm back from him. “Since every time we are in each other’s presence, we have sex, fight and then don’t speak for a while.  That is not all that surprising, is it?” she finished crossing her arms over her chest looking down at the bed playing with the quilt that her grandmother had made for her to have while she was here so she’d feel the family love all around her.

“I guess you are right
,” Logan said taking a deep breath and standing up. “That is what I came here to tell you, and I just got caught up in the moment,” he said looking longingly into her eyes.

“Excuse me?” Shelby said. The longer he was here the more confused she became.

“I am going to prove to you what I feel for you,” Logan said to her. “Without touching you, in a sexual way that is. Without kissing you, without making love to you,” he finished clearing his throat feeling a knot develop there at the thought of not being with Shelby. “I am going to show you what you mean to me, Shelby, until you can look at me and say ‘I know you love me, Logan.’

“Ok and what is this going to prove?” Shelby
asked. Smiling, Logan strolled over to her bed and sat down in front of her again. Looking longingly into her eyes, he stroked her cheek again. “You will see,” he whispered.  Kissing her on the tip of her nose and her cheek he stood up to leave.

“Wait
, you are leaving?” Shelby said to him confused. “That is a weird start to showing me what you feel for me.” Laughing as he opened her door, Logan turned and looked at her. “I will see you tomorrow, baby girl,” he said winking.

Shelby threw her over
stimulated self-back onto her bed like a rag doll, frustrated. Why would he come here, bring her favorite flower, give her this whole speech and then leave with no other explanation? Shelby sprang up in shock right at that moment before she realized she was swinging her legs over the side of the bed.