Before Us

BEFORE US L.N. WHITE Copyright © 2023 by L.N White All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. To Hannah. You were so happy and excited for this journey for me. I hope I have made you proud. CONTENTS Author’s Note Playlist Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Dani Chapter 7 Dani Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Seth Dani Chapter 10 Seth Dani Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Seth Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Seth Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Dani Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Seth Dani Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author AUTHOR’S NOTE Dear reader, I want to start by saying that your mental health is very important to me. I would never want to be a part of something that may trigger you. With that being said, please note that if you are expecting a fluffy summer romance, this is not that. This book deals with love, loss, grief, and forgiveness. There are mentions of death of a child (older than ten) as well as death of a character. Cancer is mentioned throughout the story as well. Please keep in mind that these characters are young adults and are still navigating life. They will mess up. They will be toxic at some points but they are learning just as we all have. Thank you. -Letty PLAYLIST Listen on Spotify Rescue — Lauren Daigle Someone You Loved — Lewis Capaldi Lover — Taylor Swift The Loneliest — Maneskin The Night We Met — Lord Huron Always — Blink -182 How Long Will I Love You — Ellie Goulding All Through the Night — Sleeping At Last For Your Eyes Only — One Direction Ocean Avenue — Yellowcard 18 — One Direction Wherever You Will Go — The Calling In The Stars — Benson Boone Bigger Than the Whole Sky — Taylor Swift PROLOGUE June 2013 — 14 years old “Calm down, please. He didn’t mean it.” I tried to coax my twin brother, Cameron, off the edge of what was no doubt the next big meltdown. I fiddled with the bracelet on my wrist. Cam and I had similar ones. We made them a few months prior. I had gotten a new jewelry kit and begged him to play with me. “Yes, he did. He always means it. You’re too blind being daddy’s little princess to notice it.” Cam stomped off in the opposite direction towards his room. He went to his closet and pulled on his hoodie before facing me. “That’s not true. Dad just…. You know he’s under a lot of stress with the new building contract and…” “Yeah? And what will be his excuse next time? I’m fourteen, not eighteen. I have my whole life to figure out what I want to do. I don’t need that kind of pressure right now.” Cameron sighed as he picked up his bag and walked over to his desk. Cam and our dad had always butt heads with each other. I could see it from his point of view though. Dad rode him a lot about getting serious, his grades, and to start learning about the family business. I guess since I was mom’s focus, I never got the bad end of the stick when it came to dad. Ballet was my life and dad had Cam’s life already mapped out. I never thought of what would happen if he didn’t want to follow in my dad’s footsteps because it was just what the plan was always meant to be. “Where are you going?” I asked as he shoved a flashlight and a few books into his bag. “The site.” He shrugged and walked past me. “What? Why?” I trailed closely behind him. Our dad never let us on a site unless we were with him and even then, we weren’t allowed near the buildings. I sighed and quickly grabbed his hand. “You can’t go there.” “Oh yeah? Says who?” He jerked away and started for the stairs. “Cam!” I tried to plead with him. “Look, I just need to get away from him. I’m not hurting anyone; all I have are books. I’m just going to lay around and read. Come with me.” “I don’t know…” My eyes ping ponged between him and the floor, weighing the pros and cons of what this entailed exactly. The fear and anxiety of doing anything that my parents didn’t know about was always there washed over me. “Live a little, Dani.” He smiled at me as I fidgeted with the bracelet he made me. I took a deep breath and nodded. We headed to the garage and grabbed our bikes before peddling off to one of the sites my dad was working on. * * * “Took you long enough.” We laid our bikes down next to the fence where my brother’s best friend, Logan, stood waiting for us. “I was beginning to think you chickened out.” He pushed my brother. “Me? Never.” Cam laughed as he reached into his pocket and unlocked the gate that closed