Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 126602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126602 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Chapter Three
SHAYLA
My brothers went to school in Hyde, the county just outside of Dogwood Beach, so the drive wasn’t bad. From my apartment, it was thirty minutes away, and only a forty-five-minute drive from Whitecaps.
I grew up in Hyde, for the most part. My parents moved there when I was in fourth grade after Dad got a job transfer, taking us out of the small Ohio town we’d been living in.
At the time, I hadn’t wanted to move. I didn’t want to leave my friends or my grandparents, and everything else that was familiar to me. But then I’d found out how close we’d be living to the beach and quickly changed my tune.
I’d never seen the ocean before.
And the second I saw it, I’d fallen in love. That very first feel of sand beneath my feet and the water on my toes, the smell of the air, the sun, and how different it felt and looked, reflecting off the water. We lived close to paradise, but I couldn’t wait to live closer, and as soon as I turned eighteen, I packed up my things and moved to Dogwood.
I loved it here for so many reasons, but I liked visiting home too. I was grateful to be close enough to do that anytime I wanted.
Since the buses were filling the pickup circle in front of Hyde County Middle, I pulled up along the side so I could still see the front entrance where the kids were walking out, and threw the gear into park.
I still had fifteen minutes to kill, so I tugged my phone out of my bag and pulled up Snapchat.
I had a few more notifications from followers, people congratulating me or requesting information for an appointment. That made me crazy happy. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about this whole thing, so knowing people were interested gave me a rush of relief.
I took ten of the fifteen minutes to respond to everyone, even the followers just congratulating me, and then switched to video mode, selecting the filter that gave me killer lashes and a halo of gold leaves.
“You guys, seriously, thank you so much for all the sweet messages! I’m so grateful to have followers like you. You guys are the best!”
I added the snap and took a quick photo with the life filter, blowing a kiss at the camera. After sending that one through, I typed my hashtag and DM me for info! on a black screen, and added that to my story just as someone knocked on my back window.
Dominic was standing by the car.
I unlocked the doors and put my phone away as he climbed in behind the passenger’s seat. His book bag hit the floor with a thump.
I turned halfway. “What up? How was school?”
“Fine,” he grumbled. He pushed his hood down and rubbed at his short, dark hair while fishing the phone out of his jacket pocket, then he slumped back against the seat and started typing.
“Just fine?” I asked. “Anything cool happen today?”
“No.”
“Did you have any tests or anything?”
“Can we just go?” he snapped, gaze still fixated on his screen. “Why are we still sitting here?”
I narrowed my eyes, but I didn’t get on him about giving me an attitude. For two reasons.
One, I was used to it, seeing as he was thirteen now and basically hated everyone who wasn’t one of his friends from school. So it wasn’t personal.
And two, I knew he was having a hard time with Dad’s diagnosis, and I figured Dom had a right to be angry at the world, if that was part of his process of coming to terms with it.
The situation sucked. We were all having difficulty dealing.
I could put up with a little attitude.
The drive to Hyde County Elementary was made in silence.
Dominic stayed glued to his phone, and I kept the radio off, just in case he wanted to initiate conversation. When he didn’t, again, I didn’t take it personally. Still, I wanted him to know he could talk to me, if he wanted, so I made sure to look back at him and smile every chance I got, those times happening when I was forced to stop at a light.
Dominic thought me smiling at him was weird, I could tell, given the looks he’d given me in return. Maybe I was overdoing it.
After parking at the curb in the designated parent pickup lane at Hyde County Elementary, I waited on the sidewalk for Eli, giving Dom the space I figured he wanted.
When my eight-year-old brother walked out with a crowd of kids surrounding him, I smiled and waved.
He didn’t wave back, but he did smile, big and bright, before breaking into a run and pushing past the other kids. When he reached me, his head hit my chest, his arms wrapped tight around my middle, and he gave me a squeeze.