Story Excerpt

Father’s Family, by Jezebel Rose

CHAPTER ONE: JEALOUSY

I watched as Katie walked out the door. Her short golden curls bounced in the breeze as she walked out. Even though she was my sister, and Daddy’s little girl, every time I looked at her my heart skipped a beat.

She had her jogging shirt on, but that did not stop me from eyeing her as she stood out on the front patio and waved goodbye to everyone.

Hailey looked over at me, “Well? Aren’t you going to go say goodbye?”

I waved to Katie. We had been going through a bit of a rough patch in our relationship as of late. It seemed like we just did not connect as well as we used to. Maybe it was the stress from moving or perhaps our relationship had run its course. Either way, there were many factors in play other than just the moving aspect.

Hailey took my hand in hers and spoke under her breath so Rick could not hear her. “Are you and Katie fighting?”

I nodded as I watched Katie hop in her black SUV and pull away from the house. Her music could still be heard as she drove down the road. That darn pop music was her favorite. It annoyed me every time.

“Tell me everything brother. Maybe I can help babe.” Hailey kept talking even after I tried to dismiss her with just a nod. I hated talking about mine and Katie’s relationship and it bugged me whenever she tried to pry for more information.

I looked over at my sister.

Hailey’s long black hair clung together down her back. She just got out of the shower and rushed to the door to see Katie out. She was pretty. Most certainly my type. She had an average build. Not too skinny, not overweight, and certainly confident. Not the cocky bigheaded type of confident, but the kind of person who was always sure of what she did.

I smiled at her and took her hand in mine, “Alright. Let’s head upstairs and talk for a bit. Do you have any other plans for the morning?”

Hailey replied quickly. “Nope – nothing. Mainly just going to be hanging out here helping get the boxes unpacked. There’s a lot to do, and I want to be ready when Katie gets back. It is her birthday.”

I almost forgot. It was my freaking sister’s birthday here in a couple days. We were going to throw her a surprise party for when she got back from Reno.

“Great, I’m glad you are on top of things,”—I looked over at my brother, Rick, who was standing outside lighting a cigarette—“hey bro, we are going to head upstairs and talk for a bit. Would you mind making something for breakfast?”

Rick looked over at me as he took a drag on his smoke. “Sure thing buddy, is everything ok?”

My eyes darted to Hailey then back at him, “Yeah, it’s no big thing. We are just going to go talk for a bit. Normal stuff, just keeping each other in check you know?”

Rick nodded and pulled out his phone. He was always into those little phone games. Rick was probably the most introverted person I knew. He loved just hanging out at home playing games on his computer or taking hikes by himself. Sometimes he would just disappear for a day and scare the rest of the Quad. He has been getting better about keeping us in the loop though, and honestly, he’s a great guy. Hailey and Katie loved him a lot, but I never really knew what they saw in the guy.

I felt Hailey’s hand pulling on mine. “Alright, alright, I’m coming.”

It was a small house right along the ocean line. Two bedrooms, two baths, and one big living room. One of the bedrooms we turned into a cute little den while we all slept in the single bedroom. We fashioned a large bed in the center of the room by combining three king-sized beds together. Katie was into crafting and sewed several large comforters together so we could all snuggle comfortably.

We could have afforded larger with our combined income if we chose to move further away from the beach. However, we were beach people. We loved swimming and meeting new people and the beach was a great place to do it. Not to mention all the great cafés and clubs in the area. That was a definite bonus.

I jogged up the stairs behind Hailey. Upstairs was the lounge, or what we called “the den.” It had several couches, a flatscreen tv on the wall and a mini-fridge. The upstairs also had a balcony that overlooked the entryway from the front and a large bay window in the back that had an amazing view of the ocean.

Please purchase this story and support me as an author! Thank you! ~ Jezebel Rose

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