Beautiful Chances (The Beautiful Series)

Copyright © 2013 by Alicia Rae

All rights reserved.

Cover designer: Sarah Hansen,
Okay Creations

Editor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley,
Unforeseen Editing

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except
for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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

Visit my website at
http://www.aliciaraeauthor.com

To my dearest husband—

Thank you for your never-ending support in everything I do. You are my rock, my light, and my best friend. You planted the seed of writing in my mind, and I am forever grateful.

I love you.

Preface

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Dear Readers

Acknowledgments

I believed when you loved someone, truly loved someone, nothing should stand in your way. No human being, no circumstance, no amount of miles should ever keep you apart from your loved ones.

Fear should never stand in your way.

Fear had a way of changing people, making you give up or hold back. It had a way of overpowering your courage to love and be loved. Fear was known to stir, fester, and build. It was like a disease that could keep you from achieving your dreams.

But
love…

Love was a bond between two people that should never be broken. When you felt each pain, you wanted to weep. When you felt each joy, you wanted to embrace it. Love was powerful all by itself.

Love could conquer fear. You just had to believe in yourself.

I loved the sun. I loved to let my skin bake in the sun, feeling my body heat underneath it. It was one of the ways I escaped my mind. All the good and bad in my life would fall away when I was beneath it.

I picked the secluded beach of Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, for the sole purpose of hearing the ocean waves race to shore every day. This was just what I needed—some quiet time on the beach before I made the heavy decisions in my life. With a heavy heart, I knew it was time to begin a new chapter in my life. I had been riding the road of avoidance and denial for three years now, and it was time to move on. For some reason though, every time I’d tried, I felt weighed down, alone.
Would I ever adjust to being alone?

I jumped to the sound of my phone ringing. “Hello?”

“Hello, dear. Just thought I’d check on you. I’ve been waiting to hear my beautiful niece’s voice for weeks, but you haven’t called. How are you? Still staring at the deep blue sea?”

“I’ve just been taking a breather and sightseeing, Aunt Lucie. Florida is so beautiful, sunny, and warm that I can’t seem to make myself leave yet,” I answered. My gaze shifted out to the ocean in front of me. Waves were crashing in unusually high today. I closed my eyes and listened.

“Ah…yes, Florida is a beautiful place. In fact, I went there many times with your father when we were teenagers.”

Just hearing the slight reference of my father made my whole body ache and my heart constrict with yearning. I sat silently, holding my phone to my ear, as my grip tightened slightly, and I hoped the pain would pass quickly.

“I’m sorry, dear. I didn’t mean anything by mentioning him. I sometimes have a hard time remembering it’s true myself. I wish it were just a bad dream, and I could wake you up. But, sweetie, it’s been almost three years. I think you need to move forward and start living. Your family would’ve wanted you to have a happy, healthy life,” Aunt Lucie added with sadness in her voice.

I loved my aunt dearly, but she made it sound so easy. I closed my eyes tightly as a frown marred my features. My heart was pumping so fast that I thought it might explode.

“Aunt Lucie, I love you. I love you all. I’m trying…trying to get my feet on the ground, and I need space to do that. I will be home soon.” I didn’t want to lie. I
hoped
it was true.

My aunt sighed. “Okay, dear. Just know that we miss you. Your cousins are anxious to see you, and they miss you so much. They have voted, and if you aren’t back for a visit by the end of summer, they plan to kidnap you, and you know how rough they play. I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”

The love in Aunt Lucie’s voice made me miss home even more. An affectionate smile spread across my lips as I thought of my dear cousins arguing over how to kidnap me. They always enjoyed roughhousing and getting into any mischief they could find. Jason, Blake, and Damon were the three musketeers of trouble. Everyone in the neighborhood had feared them as kids because they were constantly in the principal’s office, leaving four-wheeler tracks in their yards, or roughing up every boy who tried to talk to me.

“No need to send the musketeers, Aunt Lucie. I’ll be visiting soon. I’m just…working on my tan.” I genuinely felt lighter from thinking of my family and their devotion to one another.

“Love you, sweetie. Call if you need us.”

“Love you, too, Aunt Luce. Bye.”

After hanging up, I watched the waves continue to roll in and crash against the rocks as I let my mind fill with happy childhood memories of my cousins—all of us kids roughhousing, pillow-fighting over which movie we would watch, or four-wheeling while my cousins made sure I was the muddiest one. My Uncle Dan would just shake his head at me and laugh each time I came into the house covered in the most mud from head to toe.

I did miss my family, and it was time for a visit
. It’s well overdue.
I just hoped I could bear the feelings that would come along with seeing them.

After lunch, I decided it was time to get some work done. Writing was a passion of mine and a very important aspect of my life.

Since I was a little girl, books had consumed me. I felt I could be anyone I wanted in a book as if it were a borrowed life. I could do anything or imagine anything my heart desired. The emotions that would surface as I read someone else’s story always amazed me. From a young age, I had known that I wanted to be the one to write those stories, to let others feel the passion that I felt in my heart.

A small publishing company in Clearwater was expecting my second novel to be completed by December. It was a new relationship with my first publisher, and I wanted to make sure things went very smoothly. I was pleased that I’d planned to move up that deadline to October if my steady progress continued.