Asher

ASHER

The Boys
South of The Mason Dixon

Episode
One

Effy Vaughn

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pt by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes. If you are reading this book and you have not purchased it or won it in an author/publisher contest, this book has been pirated. Please delete and support the author by purchasing the ebook from one of its many distributors.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Published by Effy Vaughn.

Contact: [email protected]

Cover by Effy Vaughn.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

When I decided to write this series, I was brave enough to tell some special people who supported me through the entire thing. Not only did they encourage me, they helped me navigate this big overwhelming world of self-publishing.

They know who they are and they know I appreciate everything they’ve done. I am very excited to start this series and I hope readers will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

INTRODUCTION

The idea to write a series in “episodes” came to me a while ago. I wasn’t sure how well it would do. I watched as serial books began to enter the world of self-publishing and I realized that this was an idea that just might work.

The Boys South of
the Mason Dixon
will have a new episode release every three weeks on a Friday. It will follow the lives of the Sutton brothers and the women that love them. Each episode will be twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand words in length.

Welcome to the world of
The Boys South of the Mason Dixon
…

        The paper bag in my hands was being abused. The death grip I had on it from the moment I noticed that old blue Ford truck slowly pulling through the caution light on main street was causing my hand to go numb. I hadn’t been ready to see that truck. Not yet. Steel hadn’t warned me about this.

      But then… Steel may not know. I glanced back over my shoulder to see if the truck was going to drive by so I could breathe again. The heavy beat of my heart sped up as I saw the truck pull into a parking spot outside Harrod’s Pharmacy. He was getting out.

              I needed to look away. I didn’t want him to catch me staring at him. It was pathetic really. Completely pathetic. Asher had destroyed me. I shouldn’t care that his face was more beautiful and his body was that from every woman’s dreams.

             
Before I could gather my common sense and self-preservation kicked in, the truck door swung open and long jean-clad legs stepped out onto the pavement. The dark hair I used to run my fingers through was cut short only highlighting his perfectly chiseled face. Stumble covered his jaw making him seem like a dangerous angel. The flannel shirt he was wearing was faded and pulled tight over his chest. A chest I knew all too well was beyond perfect.

             
“Don’t go there, Dixie,” Scarlet North, my best friend since middle school, whispered in my ear. Her hand clamped around my arm and she tugged at me hard enough to snap me out of my Asher gaze.

             
“Evil. Remember that, Dixie. He’s evil. More beautiful than any one man has a right to be but pure evil. You know that. Besides, don’t forget about Steel,” she said in a voice so low only I could hear her.

             
Gossip in a small town was bad. In Malroy, Alabama it was so much worse. This place was the mecca of gossip. Everybody knew everything. There was a good chance that people were peeking out of their windows to see if I would even look Asher’s way. There was enough talk in this town about the two of us to last a lifetime. And two years away at college didn’t change anything. Asher Sutton hated me. And I had no idea why.

             
“I didn’t know he was coming home,” I said simply trying to calm my heart rate at the sight of him. I hadn’t seen him in so long. He hadn’t come home last summer. He had stayed in Gainsville, Florida and taken summer classes at the University instead.

             
“He’s probably just here to see his momma. He’ll leave soon. Steel woulda told you if Asher was coming home for the summer,” Scarlet assured me.

             
I managed to nod and held the bag close to me as if it were a shield. Asher was back. I wasn’t even sure how to deal with this information. What was I supposed to expect from him? Would he keep pretending like I didn’t exist? Could he even do that now? Would Steel tell him? Would Asher care?

             
No. I knew that answer. Asher wouldn’t care at all. He had made it very clear to the entire town that he didn’t want me. He didn’t care who had me. He was done with me. I went from being the other half of the “golden couple” to the discarded girl who must have done something horrible for Asher to turn from her so quickly and easily.

             
He had once been my safe place. I was secure in his love. I gave my innocence to him knowing it would only be him forever. Then one day he rejected me. Completely out of the blue.

             
The people who I thought were my friends turned from me too because they all believed it must have been my fault. They all worshiped the football star that had put our town on the map. Asher Sutton had led his team to a State Championship win two years in a row. He could do no wrong.

             
Without a word he had turned everyone against me.

             
Everyone except Scarlet.

             
“He’s a giant asshole. Full of himself. The great and mighty Sutton,” she snarled.

             
I rolled my eyes and turned to look at her. “Don’t act like being a Sutton boy is a bad thing. You’re so in love with Brent Sutton you can’t see straight,” I pointed out.

             
She grinned then shrugged. “Yeah. Well ain’t all Sutton boys bad. Just that one.”

             
I agreed with her. The Sutton boys were a big part of my life. They always would be. Our farms were beside each other. Our families were intertwined.

             
I glanced down at the tiny diamond on my left hand as it sparkled in the sunlight. “No they aren’t all bad,” I said.

             
Scarlet let out a sigh and shook her head. “Why are you wearing that? I thought you were thinking about it.”

             
I glanced back at the blue truck, unable to act like it wasn’t there. My heart twisted painfully. He still had some crazy hold over me and it was unfair. “I wanted to see how it felt,” I admitted before glancing back down at the ring that Steel had given me two weeks ago. It hadn’t been a traditional proposal. But then our relationship was complicated. That blue truck reminded me why I hadn’t been able to say yes to Steel.

             
“Stop looking,” Scarlet growled in frustration.

             
“Do you think he’ll care… about the ring, I mean?” I asked. Only Scarlet got to see how incredibly vulnerable Asher made me.

             
“Oh, Dixie,” she sighed and pulled me into a hug. “You know he won’t. It’s been three years. You have got to let Asher go. For good.”

             
I closed my eyes and let her hold me a second because I felt like I needed support.  She was right. She was always right. “How do I forget?” the catch in my voice only made Scarlet sigh again.

             
“Let yourself love Steel. He loves you. Be the girl he deserves,” Scarlet said and then pulled back to look at me. Both her hands clasped my shoulders as she looked me in the eyes. “Asher Sutton broke you. Forget him. Steel Sutton adores you. He’s nothing like his brother. He gave you a ring, sweetie. It’s time your heart let go of the oldest Sutton boy and fell in love with the Sutton that deserves its beauty.”

             
Momma hadn’t told me the doctor wanted to put her on blood pressure medication. I had remained calm while Frank Harrod told me how happy he was that Momma had decided to take the medicine. He’d gone on and on about how dangerous it was at her age not to treat high blood pressure. Why the fucking hell hadn’t Doc John called me before now?

             
I pulled my truck into the gravel driveway outside the farmhouse I’d grown up in and took a deep breath. I hadn’t been here since Christmas. Even then my visit had been a short one. I had wanted to run as far away from here as possible. The memories haunted the hell out of me when I got near this place.

             
A loud banging startled me and I jerked my head around to see Bray grinning like a fool. “You’re home, motherfucker!” he said gripping the door where the window was rolled down.

             
Bray was only twelve months younger than me and seeing him smile was rare. He was one of two. Brent was his twin and he was the happy one. A grin was always on Brent’s face while Bray normally scowled. Not much excited my younger brother. Which only made me feel guilty for staying away so long.

             
I opened the door and grabbed the bag with the meds I had picked up and intended to force Momma to start taking. I couldn’t lose her. There was a lot of fucked up in my life but my momma was the one person I depended on being there. I would say no one knew I was such a momma’s boy but the truth was everyone knew. But it wasn’t just me. All four of my brothers loved our momma. She was our home. We knew as long as she was here in this house we had a place to run to.

             
“Don’t look too excited to see me. I might think you missed me,” I teased Bray who only grinned bigger. He didn’t even try to hide the fact he was glad to see me.

             
“Fuck that. I’m just glad you’re here. ‘Bout time you came home.”

             
“Holy hell! That can’t be my long lost brother who thinks he’s too good to come home,” Brent called out from the front porch before grabbing the rail and swinging his legs over in one swift move we had all perfected over the years. When his feet hit the ground, he took several long strides before grabbing me and pulling me in for a hug.

             
This was the happy twin. All was right with the world. As glad as Bray had been to see me he hadn’t been as excited as Brent. He slapped me on the back and stepped back. “Momma’s gonna be the happiest woman in Malroy,” Brent said.

             
“No, the happiest woman in Malroy is Jenny Wilson. I spent a good thirty minutes with my head between her legs last night,” Bray drawled.

             
“Dude, fuck, you did not just say that,” Brent replied.

             
I just shook my head and chuckled. I missed this. Being away from my family was so damn hard. Unable to help myself, I lifted my gaze to look out over the field toward the white picket fence that surrounded the house just over the hill. I wondered if she was still living at home with her folks. If she looked older… I shook my head. Fuck. That was fucked up. Only here did this get to me. I couldn’t go there in my head.

             
“Momma is inside putting up some strawberry jam. She won’t let any of them strawberries go to waste so she’s been at it for two days. We’ll have good ole strawberry jam with our biscuits all year long,” Brent said with his dimpled grin.

             
“Reckon with you being home we can get her to use some of those berries to make us some fried pies. Been craving one of them pies,” Bray piped up.

             
I wanted to talk to Momma alone. This shit with her not wanting to take her meds was serious and I had to fix it. Then I needed to leave. Run like hell because right now all I wanted to do was look back at the godforsaken white picket fence.

             
“Where’s Steel and Dallas?” I asked Brent as he fell into step beside me and we walked toward the front porch.

             
“Uh,” he replied and glanced back at Bray before replying. I knew that look. Something was up. Fuck. I’d been gone too long. What other shit did I need to fix before I could leave?

             
“Uh, probably at the feed store. We were low on some stuff. Steel said he’d go get it. Sure Dallas rode with him. The white truck is gone,” Brent replied. He was lying. His tone gave him away.

             
“Motherfucker, you suck at that,” Bray said shaking his head and walking past us. He took the steps two at a time then went to the front door as if he was in a hurry to get away.

             
“What am I missing? ‘Cause I sure as hell am missing something,” I said stopping on the steps and looking from Brent’s deer in the headlights expression to Bray’s stiff back.

             
“Just tell ‘im,” Bray said without looking back at me.

             
Brent didn’t say anything and we all stood there for a few moments The silence was deafening. “If something is wrong with one of them, I need to fucking know,” I said the angry roar just under my breath.

             
Bray dropped his hand from the door and turned to look at me. The hesitation I had seen in Brent’s face wasn’t in his twin’s. There was an annoyed glare instead. “They’re fine. Everyone is just fucking fantastic. So calm your shit down,” he said shifting his gaze from me to the yard behind me. I could see him trying to control his temper. That was another thing that set him and Brent apart. Brent didn’t lose it easily. Hell, you were lucky if you could actually piss him off. But Bray… he was a loaded gun. He’d blow the hell up on someone real easy. I’d bailed his ass out of trouble more times than I’d care to admit.

             
“Where are they,” I repeated looking at Bray.

             
Bray didn’t look back at me. The muscle in his jaw ticked as he kept his gaze on the empty yard. He was thinking this through whatever it was. I didn’t like to be kept waiting but I also didn’t want to come home and end up in a brawl in the front yard with my brother before even giving my momma a hello hug.

             
“Steel has been dating Dixie for almost a year now,” Bray said calmly but the warning didn’t go missed that I’d heard in his voice. He was protecting our younger brother. But he had no idea what he was protecting him from.

             
My world felt like it had just been sent spinning and I grabbed the railing beside me to steady myself. This wasn’t happening. I had left to protect a secret… to protect Dixie. But this… holy fuck.

             
I couldn’t destroy her but I couldn’t…. this couldn’t be fucking happening. I’d lost everything. I had walked through hell and I was still walking through it daily. Every dream she appeared in reminded me that no one else would ever be enough.  Deception had ruined my life. I wouldn’t let it ruin hers and I sure as hell wouldn’t let it ruin my little brother’s.

             
“Don’t fuck this up for him. He worships you. He would do anything for you. But he loves her. Don’t screw this up for him,” Bray said as he glared at me.

             
He didn’t know what he was saying. None of them did. No one knew but me. I wasn’t about to lose my shit because of jealousy. I had learned to live with the jealousy that ate me alive anytime I thought of someone touching her.

             
“Have they….” I couldn’t even say it.  My throat closed up and I wanted to yell at the cruelty of this world. The tightness in my chest and rage pounding in my veins were emotions I knew well. Emotions I shouldn’t be feeling. The idea of Dixie sleeping with someone else ripped me apart but then I’d been living that nightmare for three long fucking years. The unfair cruel fact was that I shouldn’t be jealous. I should be sick. I should be horrified that keeping my mouth shut led to this. I should be a fucking lot of things but all I could think about was Steel touching my Dixie.

             
“Fuck!” I roared before stalking back to the yard needing distance from everyone. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to beat out of my chest. The range of emotions churning through me pounded in my head. “Motherfucking hell!” I yelled tossing the bag of my momma’s meds to the ground and grabbing my head to keep it from exploding.

             
My knees went weak and I let them give way as I squatted resting my elbows on my thighs and holding my head as the pain shot through me. Pain that I had tried so hard to escape. I had run to save me and her. Being here was too hard. But in order to save her from the same pain that would haunt me the rest of my life, I had let my brother walk into the same horrible sin. I hadn’t protected him. Holy hell, how could I tell him this? How could I let him turn into this shell of a person I had become?

             
“Asher?” Momma’s voice rang out loud and clear over the front yard and I let my hands fall as I looked up at her. She was standing on the front porch with her apron on and her hands on her hips. The pinched look on her face meant she was upset. The stained red spots all over her apron reminded me of happy times. Days when sneaking a berry without Momma looking was the only problem I had.

        “You two had to go and tell him before he even got in the door? You little shits. I haven’t seen my boy since Christmas and you go and upset him,” Momma scolded Bray and Brent before shaking her head and pointing at me. “Get up from there for God’s sake. You’re too big to act like a five year old throwing a tantrum. Come see your momma and then tell me why the hell you went and got meds for me that I didn’t ask for. I’ll make you a fried pie while you explain,” she said in a tone that we all knew meant business. “And you two,” she said waving the towel in her hands between the two of them. “Y’all outa be ashamed. Ain’t the way to do things.”

              I stood up letting the numbness wash over me. It was the only way I could get through this. I made a decision three years ago that my little brother would now pay the price for. The dark hole in my chest where my heart used to be grew bigger as I picked up the bag of Momma’s meds. Without letting myself think about it anymore, I walked slowly back to the porch and into my momma’s open arms.  When her five foot seven frame held me tightly, tears stung my eyes. I hadn’t cried since the night I realized I’d lost it all. Or more accurately, the night I realized it had never been mine. But having Momma hold me made me want to break down.