Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
He chuckled. “Probably not.”
The afternoon sun was still high in the sky as we stood there, father and daughter, wrapped in each other’s arms. It was the house I’d run away from when my mother had died. It was where Ramsey and I had spent countless days and endless summers growing up. We’d ridden our bikes in the streets, stolen kisses when my dad wasn’t looking, and formed a bond that I was positive could never be broken.
Only now I wasn’t so sure.
I snatched the phone off the kitchen counter, answering it on the first ring. “Hello.”
“She’s here,” Joe said.
A blast of relief ravaged my system. “Oh, thank God.”
I’d spent the hours since she’d been gone pacing, cleaning the mess the cops had left, and cursing the universe’s vendetta against me. I had no right to worry about Thea. I had no right to anything anymore. But she’d been upset when she’d stormed out and nobody had been able to reach her for hours.
“How is she?” I asked like a moron. She was wrecked and I’d caused it all over again.
Guilt churned in my stomach. How was it that I so desperately wanted the best for her, yet I slayed her at every turn?
“She’s…understandably hurt,” Joe replied. “But she just lied to Misty about being excited for pot roast, so I think she’s going to pull through. And based on that mark on her neck, I’m guessing you two were starting to pull through too before shit hit the fan today?”
Jesus. What a clusterfuck. I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. Only hours earlier, I was the happiest I’d been in years. I was making love to her. Promising her we’d figure it out. And now I was back to suffocating in a prison of my own making.
“Shit didn’t hit the fan, Joe. It hit my entire life.”
“I’ll give you that one, son. Listen, how’s Nora? She’s not answering her phone.”
I looked up to where she was sitting in the corner of the couch, her legs tucked beneath her and a mug of untouched coffee in her hand while she stared off into nothingness.
“She’s, um…okay. I guess.”
“That child has never been okay. She puts on a good smile. Nice show. But deep down, she’s never stopped struggling. I’m worried this is going to hit her hard.”
God, wasn’t that the truth. Nora had definitely inherited the Stewart smile. You could never tell how bad things were with her. I’d learned that the day Joe had shown up at the prison to tell me that he’d found her unconscious with a bottle of pills at her side. He’d waited six months to tell me. Six months when I’d thought she was doing great. Six months that my baby sister was in a fight for her life and I had not the first clue.
While she had been in the hospital, she’d told Joe about the night Josh died. He’d said everything had come pouring out of her like a bucket with holes in it. He’d spent months trying to decide between what was right and what was wrong without ever coming up with an answer.
I’d never forget when he’d asked me what I wanted him to do with his newfound knowledge. There had been only one possible response: Nothing.
I’d already lost Thea. She was starting to move on, and flipping her world upside down again with the truth was only going to make it worse. And freeing myself by putting my sister in prison wasn’t an option I was ever going to take.
I was a man chained in the middle of two women I loved with my whole heart. There was no such thing as winning in a situation like that.
When Joe had shaken my hand that day, he’d promised me he’d take care of Nora. I thanked him profusely, tears welling in my eyes. Then he’d shocked the hell out of me by pulling me in for a back pat, muttering, “Like it or not, one day you’re going to be the man taking care of my daughter. You can thank me by doing it right.”
I’d tried to argue, but he was having none of it and he left that day with a proud smile on his face.
Joe had kept his end of the bargain. He’d gotten Nora help. Boatloads of it. And little by little, the girl I’d once tickled until she peed her pants emerged from behind the façade.
But after today, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to follow through on what he’d asked from me.
I’d always known the day would come where Thea would learn the truth. As much as I was an integral part of the nightmare, it was Nora’s story to tell.
I just wished like hell she hadn’t blurted it out though.
There was so much I wanted Thea to understand. I’d wanted to explain why I’d made the decision I had. I’d never meant to hurt her, and with hindsight being twenty-twenty, there were so many things I would have done differently if I could have gone back in time.