Free Enduring Everything (Marked Heart #1) by M. Sembera Page A

the main area was under full reconstruction. William had pneumonia for the first time when he was five years old. That was the first of seven times total in his twenty three year old life so far. That, coupled with his asthma and chronic bronchitis made everyone in the family extra sensitive towards him and with all the construction going on you could actually see the dust in the air.
    It was like a Caffrey family reunion in there. All of Jackson's cousin Brennen's sons were there and Oran's boys as w ell. Smiles and waves were given as everyone was steadily working hard. I actually had to look twice when Auggie walked in from the kitchen. He looked so much like his dad, Gus, I expected to hear an 'awe hell' when he saw me.
    "Is Will still back there makin' love on the phone?" Auggie blurted.
    Jackson laughed as I asked, "What?" with a laugh of my own.
    Making a face, Auggie informed, "Some girl he met up with. I swear he's spent the last two weeks with the damn phone glued to his ear."
    "Awe he's got a girlfriend," I remarked before asking, "Who is she?"
    Shrugging me off, Auggie griped, "I don't know. Probly some girl that wants to get drinks for free once the bar's open again."
    Rolling my eyes at him, I said, "Wow Auggie, you're such a romantic."
    "No one's got time for all that," he replied.
    I watched Jacks shake his head before walking over to Oran, knowing Auggie and I were about to get into it.
    Auggie was a smart-assy jerk from the moment I met him. When he was ten, I held my tongue after a point because he was a kid. Now that he was grown, we often got into it.
    "Good to see at almost thirty you haven't softened up one bit," I fussed.
    "Hey, girls are great but they're even better when they get dressed and go home," he spouted.
    Making a disgusted face at him, I swore, "One day, one of those girls walkin' out, you're gonna want to stick around."
    Giving me a 'sure whatever' look, he sarcastically said, "Yea, and I bet we'll be best friends too."
    Narrowing my eyes at him, I snapped, "You know what..." before Jackson broke in, saying, "Alright you two, we only have an hour for lunch."
    "She's the one that started it," Auggie laughed.
    Rubbing my eye with my middle finger, I said, "Real mature."
    Jackson laughed at both of us, saying, "And I'm just a big kid."
    Sticking my tongue out at him, I turned and walked off to check out The Bar.
    Jackson and I walked the main area of The Bar as he showed me the beginnings of the stage area for live music, how they extended the back wall and widened the area for pool tables and of course the new bar, that was made up of the original piece in the center of the new one. On the way out, we stopped at William's office. William pulled some papers out of an envelope before handing them to Jackson.
    Turning to me, Jacks smiled, saying, "Don't look."
    Laughing, I asked, "Why not?"
    "I'm renaming The Bar and it's a surprise, I don't want you to know until we reopen," he replied.
    Placing my hands over my eyes, I said, "Fine," wondering why it was such a secret.
    Once the papers were signed and back in the envelope, I was allowed to uncover my eyes. Jackson and I told William goodbye and headed back to his car.
    Pulling away from The Bar, I was trying to think of ways to get Jacks to tell me the new name. It really didn't matter to me what he was naming it because it would never be the same but the fact that it was a secret made me want to know.
    I was about to start my interrogation when Jackson said, "We can swing by DPS on the way back to work."
    Giving him a strange look, I asked, "For what?"
    "So you can change you driver license," he answered.
    "I have to have our marriage license to do it," I informed before he replied, "I know, it's in the glove box."
    Wishing he would have told me we were doing that today, I shared, "I left my wallet in my purse at the office."
    His mood instantly changed as he stated, "Alright."
    "Are you mad?" I questioned, noticing the irritated expression on