Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 121734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
She laughed. “Don’t forget Bertle. He drives everyone crazy, but he takes care of them all. They just don’t know it.”
“I don’t really know Bertle, but I’m looking forward to getting to know him more.”
The corners of her mouth lifted in a timid smile, but I saw the fear that blazed in her eyes as well. I had laid the foundation, set up parameters so we could talk about the scary things here. Now I needed to see what she’d do. I’d told her something about me. I’d showed her trust, and then I’d changed my voice so it was strong, soothing, and I’d tried to reassure her that I was an adult and was here for her. I was steady. I could handle whatever she wanted to say to me.
In the back of my mind, I knew the water had stopped running in the kitchen. There was absolute silence except for the movie playing on the television.
She looked up, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
I went for it, speaking in a low tone, “Zoey? Can I ask you something? About your overdose?”
Time seemed to stand still, until she finally nodded.
I took a breath. “Was it accidental?”
Tears fell, and she crumbled, shaking her head.
My heart pounded. “You tried to…”
I didn’t need to keep going. She jerked her head up and down, her tears flowing.
I sat still. I allowed her to sit with her emotions and feel them, feel whatever she needed to feel. She needed to express it, and if I moved to hug her, that might change our course.
She opened her mouth, but she was gasping for breath.
“You can take your time,” I murmured.
She hung her head, and those tears never stopped. “It hurts to talk.” She patted her chest.
“Sometimes the more important the words are, the harder it is to say them.”
Her knees fell, and she sat cross-legged. Finally, in a small voice, she said, “I went to a party and I—” Her chest heaved again.
I waited.
She sniffled. “I went to a party at a friend’s house and went to her mom’s bathroom. There were pills in there and I…” She took another deep breath. She looked up and cleared her throat. “I took them home because I wanted to—” She began crying again, giant sobs crashed through her, one after another. “I didn’t mean for my mom to find me. Not her. I didn’t—”
Movement came from beside me as Skylar stepped out of the hallway.
Zoey paled. “Mom. I—I—I’m so sorry. I didn’t—”
“Baby.” Skylar rushed to her, pulling her into a hug and smoothing a hand through her hair, rocking her back and forth. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.”
The dam broke with Zoey, and she sobbed into her mom’s arms. Her cries were loud and guttural, and they broke my heart.
Then Tyler was there, blinking back his own tears, his eyes on me.
I studied him. Was he angry with me? There was such torment on his face as he blinked and turned to his sister and niece. He moved past me, but his hand came to my knee and squeezed before he sat on the other side of Zoey. She was sandwiched between her mom and her uncle.
Skylar didn’t lift her head from where it was buried in her daughter’s neck, but she reached out with one arm to clasp onto Tyler. He reached back for her, and the three of them were together. That’s how they sat for a long while, like a family.
70
TYLER
Later that night, Rain was quiet on the way back to her hotel. I glanced over, the sound of the wipers filling the air. We hadn’t turned the radio on, and it had started to snow. Tonight had been a lot. The previous twenty-four hours had been a lot. Fuck. The whole week had been intense. Rain was quiet, withdrawn, and looking out the window I was suddenly really tired of going to a hotel in order to be with her.
“I need to get an apartment.”
“What?” She frowned at me. “You didn’t sign just for a year. They locked you in for five years, right? You should get a house. Move Skylar and Zoey in with you.”
I shot her a look. She wasn’t including herself? “Thank you for tonight,” I told her.
I hadn’t said it earlier, but I’d felt it. Zoey hugged Rain before going to bed, and then Skylar had hugged her so tightly I worried she might break my woman’s bones. As soon as Zoey’s bedroom door had shut, Skylar broke down and clung to Rain, thanking her profusely.
Rain had smiled, hugged Skylar back, and said, “I just nudged the door open. That’s it. She wanted to say it. Sometimes it’s easier to tell someone who’s not so close, someone more impartial. I think it would’ve come out soon anyway.”
Skylar had needed to hear that, and she’d thanked her for saying that too.