Always Just Us: A Just Us Prequel

By Emma Tharp

It's been ten long years since she graduated high school and five years since she's seen him.

But time and distance haven't changed the way Caroline feels about Ethan.

She still loves him, but he's in a relationship with someone else.

So much has changed since Caroline broke up with Ethan and their band. Now she's home for the reunion weekend and the band is getting back together for one show.

When sparks fly on stage between Caroline and Ethan, old feelings come flooding back that neither of them can deny.

Second chances don't come easy. Will she be able to walk away this time? Will the reunion bring more than just the band back together?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emma Tharp
• Release date: Sep 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386108801

Book preview

1

Caroline

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Nothing has changed here in small town Pennsylvania, but at the same time everything has. Ten years have flown by in the blink of an eye, but the regulars are still sitting at the counter drinking sodas and eating Reubens at Ralph’s Diner, with the smell of fried food wafting through the air.

Who do you think is going to show up? Rachel, my sister, asks with a conspiratorial arch to her eyebrows.

How would I know? I don’t even want to be here, I tell her, my tone flat and annoyed. I still haven’t forgiven her for dragging me back here.

Rachel swallows the large bite of lemon meringue pie she just put in her mouth. Listen, you know why we had to come; can you please stop harassing me about it?

Reaching over to her plate, I take a forkful of the yellow goodness. I’m sorry. You know how hard this is going to be for me. The second the tangy bite of the lemon hits my lips, it’s like I’m transported back in time, sitting in this same seat. How I wish I could go back to when life was that good.

I know. I think we’ll have a good weekend though. Let’s give it a chance, okay? And do you think Walter Haynes will be here? God, he was hot. His Facebook status says he’s still single. Her blue eyes sparkle and she pretends to fan herself with her hand.

Wasn’t he the lacrosse player? I ask, unable to call up the memory of his face.

Duh, yes. He’s tall, thin, with the cleft chin, and different colored eyes. You remember, right?

Oh, yeah. He is good-looking, but I think he’s in a relationship with a man.

Rachel grasps her heart and begins to speak, but I’m pulled out of the conversation by that voice. I’d know it anywhere even though I haven’t heard it in five years. And there he is: the boy I’ve loved since I was a freshman at St. Martin’s Academy, Ethan Brooks, who is definitely not a boy anymore.

My heart leaps in my chest and butterflies swarm in my stomach. How is it possible that he still has this effect on me? He hasn’t seen me yet, so I take advantage and openly stare. He looks good. Like, really good. Not much has changed, same blond hair, although it’s cut shorter. The face is still devastatingly handsome, but it’s more angular now, no more baby face. His body is toned, but he’s filled out with bulkier muscles and wider shoulders. He must be hitting the gym. The clothes are different. He’s in a charcoal suit with a crisp white shirt and tie. Huh. I’ve never seen him dressed up unless it was for a dance or something formal.

Ethan Brooks, my first love, is walking right toward me. Suddenly my mouth is far too dry. I take a long sip of Coke. His smile is wide and gorgeous just like I remember. You’re here, he says, staring at me. There’s an intimacy in the way he says it that warms me from the inside.

Yes, Rachel convinced me, I tell him, my voice monotone and shaky at the same time. I wonder if he notices.

Thank you, Rachel. It would’ve been hard to have The Trees back together without the lead singer. He looks pointedly from Rachel to myself.

You know me, I always manage to pull through, Rachel says, smirking at Ethan, whose gray eyes still haven’t left mine.

It’s suddenly too hot in here. I finish off my Coke and shake a couple of ice chips in my mouth, crunching them up just as Jane walks up to our table.

Well, well. Look who we have here. The Carter girls are back in town for the reunion. Aren’t we lucky? Jane’s tone is dripping with sarcasm as she puts her arm around Ethan.

Sighing, Ethan says, Hi, Jane. Could you please grab us a table? I’ll be right over.

With some hesitation, Jane says, Okay, but don’t be long. I’ve got a story to tell you. She makes a show of kissing Ethan on the cheek with her red lipstick, leaving a thin-lipped stain behind. She walks away without