Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
There’s nothing else useful, so I shove everything other than the documents I’m keeping back into the safe, close the door, spin the lock, and then haul ass out of this house of horrors.
Any time spent here is too long, plus Nora’s at home waiting on me, and I can’t wait to give her the good news.
CHAPTER 22
NORA
I’m sprawled out on the couch watching Outer Banks—at Ellis’s insistence—while he provides a running commentary on the show from his recliner when the sound of Atlas’s truck barreling down the driveway snags my attention.
“Got it!” Atlas hollers, stomping into the living room.
“Got what?” Ellis asks, pausing our show.
Hope flutters in my chest as he walks into the room. I want so badly to run and greet him with a hug and a kiss, but I force myself to remain seated in fear of rejection. I know he’s told me he’s mine, but deep-seated fears keep me firmly in place.
“I found your birth certificate and social security card.” He cuts his eyes toward Ellis. “I also found Mom and Grace’s death certificates. They’re… interesting.”
“How so?” Once again, Ellis speaks up before I can.
“They might as well be carbon copies of one another. It’s…” Atlas shakes his head. “Something’s not right.”
Ellis stands, crossing the room to Atlas. “Mind if I take a look?”
This time, Ellis is on his own; I’ve never seen Mom’s death certificate and I don’t particularly want to.
Which is silly, because logically, I know she’s dead. She has been for close to a year now, but still, the thought of seeing it in black and white somehow makes it even more real.
“Knock yourself out.” He passes him a folder with a loaded look and then joins me on the couch, wrapping me in the hug I so desperately wanted. “Missed you.”
“You weren’t even gone long,” I protest, even though hearing it secretly makes me giddy. I’m not sure anyone’s ever missed me before, not really.
“Long enough,” he counters, putting an end to my objections. After all, who am I to tell someone else how to feel?
A sobering thought pops my bliss bubble. “I still need an ID though.”
Atlas wraps an arm around my shoulders, tucking me securely into his side. “Now that we have these…” He tugs another envelope from his pocket and places it on my lap. “There shouldn’t be any problem getting one. We can go tomorrow if you want?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Atlas drops a soft kiss on my temple. “Really.”
“If y’all are done being mush balls,” Ellis drawls, plopping back down onto his recliner, “my boy John B has got some shit to get up to.”
“He sucked you in?” Atlas asks, toeing off his boots before kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.
“Oh, yeah.” I snuggle in closer to his side, resting my cheek on his chest. “Totally.”
With a smile on his face, Atlas grabs the blanket from the back of the couch, covers us both, and settles in for the rest of our binge-watch.
It’s a simple thing, just the three of us camped out in front of the television as we devour our takeout, but at the same time, it’s one of the best days I’ve had in a long, long time.
CHAPTER 23
NORA
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Atlas asks as we step out onto the sidewalk.
The sun is so bright overhead, I have to squint my eyes to look up at him. “I don’t know. There were so many people in there. It was… kind of awful.” I pretend to shake off my disgust.
Atlas laughs and I swear the rich sound warms me more than the sun. “Welcome to the DMV, pretty girl. It’s one of the worst parts of adulthood. Just wait until you have to renew your tag.”
I don’t mean to, but I scoff. “That would require me to know how to drive.” Dad used to always talk about teaching me. He drove an old Jeep named Mavis, and he swore up and down if you could handle Mavis, you could drive anything.
“You don’t—” He clamps his lips together and then slips his hand into mine as we walk back to his truck. “Of course, you don’t. I’ll teach you.”
“Really?” I pivot my entire body to face him, throwing my arms around his neck.
Miraculously, he catches me, and smoothly swings me around to his other side. “Hell yeah.” Atlas once again laces our fingers together. “It’ll be fun.”
“I don’t know about that.” I roll my eyes to disguise the excitement rushing through me. Driving is something I thought I’d never get to do. “But I’m grateful all the same.”
He unlocks his truck once and opens the passenger door, scooping me up and setting me on the seat before running around to his side. “I’d be hard pressed to think of a single thing you could ask me for that I’d say no to, Pip.”