Cherished

I shrugged my shoulders. “Will you do me a favor? I know I’m asking a lot of you.”

Brad nodded.

“Please don’t tell anyone you brought me to the airport—at least not for a few days.”

Brad’s mouth dropped open. He slowly shook his head. “Jessie, I can’t make you that kind of a promise. If people ask, Amanda and I are going to have to tell them that I brought you to the airport. I mean, if I don’t know where you’re going, then I can’t really tell them any more than that.”

I nodded. “That’s fair enough. Hell, at this point, I don’t even know where I’m going.” I gave Brad a weak smile and thanked him for the ride.

“Jessie, Amanda said you threw your phone in a field. Will you please buy a new phone? Then, let us know when you get to where you’re going. Please.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at my own stupidity. I nodded. “I’ll buy another phone and get in touch with y’all, I promise.”

“You better. Your father and brothers are going to freak the fuck out when they find out you’ve just up and left without any word on where you’re going.”

I laughed as I hugged Brad good-bye.

I turned and walked into the airport with the worst feeling I’d ever felt. Something was telling me that I was making the biggest mistake of my life. At first, I didn’t even try to stop the tears. I finally got them under control as I walked up to the ticket counter.

I sat down in my seat on the United flight that was taking me to Houston and then on to Ambergris Caye, Belize. I asked the flight attendant for a drink before takeoff.

“What would you like, dear?”

I just stared at her. “I don’t care. Something to make me forget a guy.”

She winked and nodded. “Oh, I know just the thing.”

As the plane took off, I grabbed the arms of my seat and closed my eyes.

Never will you make me feel like a fool again, Scott. I’ll never waste another tear on you for as long as I live.

Jesus H. Christ. I woke up to damn horses sniffing around my face. Where in the fuck am I? I tried to stand up, and immediately, I fell back down to my ass. Holy hell, my head is pounding. How much did I have to drink last night? I slowly stood up and looked around. I was in Gu

I couldn’t even remember anything that had happened last night. All I remembered was playing tag football and drinking. Yep, I did a lot of drinking.

Oh shit!

I reached down into my jeans pocket and let out a sigh of relief when I felt the ring box in there. I reached in and pulled out the box. I opened it up and smiled at the engagement ring I had bought two days ago. I was going to ask Jessie to marry me at my parents’ a

I walked out into the sun and let out a few curse words. As I made my way back to Gu

Shit, he looks pissed. Where’s Jessie? Damn, I’m never drinking again.

As Drake walked up, I held out my hand to shake his, and before I knew what was happening, he reached back and punched the fuck out of me. I fell backward, and I swore I saw my future flash before my eyes. Gu

“What in the fuck, Drake?” both Gu

“You son of a bitch, what did you do to my daughter?”

I looked at Drake like he was crazy. I glanced over toward Dew and Aaron, and they both looked like they wanted to kick my ass.

I shook my head. “Wait…wait just a second. I just woke up in Gu

Drake looked at me, confused, and then he looked at Gu

“Scott, do you remember most of us leaving because Gramps had a heart attack?” Gu

My heart stopped, and I put my hands on my knees. “What? Oh my god, Gu

Gu

I let out a sigh of relief, and then all of a sudden, I was taken over with a sick feeling.

Jessie…

“Where’s Jessie?” I asked as I looked at Drake.

He ran his hand through his hair and waved for one of the boys to come over. Aaron walked up to me and gave me a dirty look as he handed me a piece of paper. It took me a few minutes to focus on the paper, but once I did, I felt my legs slowly about to give out. Gu

“What does she mean…she’s leaving? Where in the hell is she? Why in the hell does she say I’m cheating? I’m not cheating! I just bought her an engagement ring. I was going to come talk to you today, Drake, about asking her to marry me.”

Dewey started laughing. “Is that right?”

I shot my head up and looked at him as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring. I opened it up. “I’ve been carrying it around with me the last few days. I was going to ask her at my parents’ a

Gu

We all sat down at the kitchen table.

All I could do was put my head in my hands and cry. She left me? Why would she leave me?

I reached for my phone to call her. “Where in the hell is my phone?”

“Don’t bother. We’ve been trying all morning. It just keeps ringing,” Aaron said as he looked over at Je

I threw my hands in my hair and then dragged them down my face. Maybe she’s hurt? Fuck! What if she’s been trying to call me? Where in the fuck is my phone?

“I gotta get home.” I got up and started making my way out to my truck.

Gu

“Can I use your phone, Gu

I made my way to the phone and dialed my home number.

When Bryce answered, he sounded panicked. “Hello?”

“Bryce, it’s me. Hey, do you have—”

“Holy fucking shit. Where have you been? Oh my god, Scott, I’m so sorry. Jesus, I’ve been trying to call her all morning.”

My head was already spi

I tried to get him to calm down. “Bryce. Bryce! Jesus H. Christ, what in the hell are you talking about? Have you talked to Jessie?”

“Wait—you haven’t talked to her? Where are you?”

“I’m at Gu

“Oh fuck. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! This is all my fault.”

When my brother began crying on the other end of the line, my heart started beating faster. I glanced up toward Gu

“What do you mean, Bryce? How is all this your fault? What in the hell happened?”