Page 1 of Forever in the Country

PROLOGUE

SORREN

“Hey, Mama said you can sleep over if it’s okay with Gran and Pop.” Waylon’s eyes are wide with excitement and a crooked grin plays on his lips. I can feel mine start to twitch, but I’ve never gone to a sleepover.

I’ve never been away from Marlee that long—I couldn’t.

And even though she’s happy here—I’m happy here—it’s hard to let six years go like I haven’t been keeping my sister and myself alive almost on my own.

“I, uh…I’ll ask,” I say and his smile grows, his brown hair flopping over his eyes. He’s that laid-back, carefree country boy like you see in movies, and I’m fourteen with short hair, gaining weight only because Gran never lets my plate be empty, and have a lifetime’s worth of stress bearing down on my shoulders.

The counselor at school says I’madjustingbut I don’t think this is something I’ll ever truly get over.

“She’s gonna say yes.” He rolls his eyes and then pushes my shoulder playfully. “Just go ask.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumble as I walk backward toward my grandparents’ house.

“Hurry up! Mama is makin’ fried chicken coz it’s your favorite!” I chuckle at that and turn and jog toward the house and up the porch steps.

I breathe in a lungful of air like I always do when I look at this house. The first time I ever stepped foot on this land, I felt home in a way I never had before.

Opening the front door, I find Gran at the stove cooking a big pot of soup. Homemade biscuits are covered in the basket next to her, and I don’t even have to see them to know how they melt in your mouth.

“Hi baby,” Gran says with a warm smile. I walk willingly toward her and then let her wrap me in a hug. My body sags against hers for only a second before I pull back. She’s already shorter than I am but she feels like she’s ten feet tall with love bursting out of every pore.

“Waylon asked if I could spend the night.”

“Would you like to do that?” I hesitate and she takes my hand and leads me to the table where we both sit. “Flora called and asked if it would be all right.”

“She did?”

“She wanted to give me a heads-up and make sure it was okay with you.” Gran pauses and searches my face. “Is it okay with you? Boys your age have sleepovers all the time. It’s okay with me and Pop if you want to go.”

I hear what she’s saying because logically Iknowkids my age do this all the time but—my sister.

“We’ll take care of her, baby. Go be a boy and stay up late watchin’ movies and talk about pretty girls and sneak downstairs to eat the desserts Flora didn’t secretly make for y’all anyway.”

I try for a smile but fall short. Soft, wrinkled hands cup my face, and she pulls me gently down so we’re eye to eye.

“I will keep her safe. Just be you tonight, okay?”

“K,” I manage as I swallow the lump in my throat.

“Good boy.”

This time when she pats my cheek and releases my face, I smile and it’s real and I allow myself this moment of peace. They keep telling me this will get easier— living my life apart from Marlee—but I’ll never believe it as long as my parents are still out there just one call away from turning our world upside down again.

“Sorren! Come on, man!”Waylon yells my name from upstairs, and from the noise I can tell that he and his brothers have piled into his room to watch the game—probably his sister too.

At least until she’s sick of us.

“I’ll be right up!” I yell even as Mrs. Thayer watches me shift my weight back and forth as she sits at the long, worn table.

“What do you need, honey?”

“Can I call my sister?” The words rush out and I feel my cheeks heat.

“Of course.” She stands and grabs the phone, dials it, and hands it to me.

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