Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 118459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 474(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 592(@200wpm)___ 474(@250wpm)___ 395(@300wpm)
“I found something the other day. A letter from Gage.”
“Where?”
“At the bank.” She closes her eyes and I’m not sure if she’s going to continue. “I went to get my ring and when I found it, I also found a letter he’d written to me.”
“What did it say?” I feel my heartbeat pick up, wondering what my brother said.
She laughed sadly. “He told me if anything ever happened, he wanted me to trust you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. I’ll show it to you sometime. But for now, I want to just keep it, if that’s okay?”
I nod, trying to figure out why in the hell Gage would say that.
“He said he loved you, Crew. And that you’d always had his back and that you’d have mine too.”
A pinch in the back of my neck pierces me and I grab it, rubbing it down.
Julia makes a face. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” I roll my shoulders, trying to loosen the pull.
“Are you hurt?”
I laugh. There’s no fucking way I’m telling her that. “No,” I lie.
She cocks her head to the side. “Maybe you should stop doing push-ups all the time and lifting weights and stuff. I bet that would help.”
“Not likely,” I say, twisting side to side. I figure I may as well test the waters. “I might be fighting again.”
“What?” she shrieks. “Oh my God. You aren’t. You can’t, Crew.”
I shrug. “Maybe. It might be fun.”
“If you fight again, I’ll send you to meet your brother,” she says, only half joking. She rises from the couch and yawns. “I think I’ll head to bed. We have a long week coming up.” She starts to leave the room but stops. “Crew? Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“I need to tell Ever this weekend what’s going to happen to her. I . . . um . . . I don’t know how to do that. Will you help me?”
“Of course.”
“Thank you.” She heads down the hallway again, the back of her tattered blue shirt hanging behind her.
“Hey, Jules?”
“Yeah?”
“You can sleep in my bed, if ya want. I’ll take the couch.”
“You don’t have to do that, Crew.”
“I know. But you’re gonna need a good night’s rest while you can get it.”
She smiles softly. “I can’t. I’ve taken so much from you already.”
“You’ve given me more than you’ve ever taken, Jules,” I whisper. “And, by the way, I didn’t answer you earlier.”
“About what?”
“I’ll never leave you again.”
Her cheeks flush. She dips her head, a small grin gracing her lips, and slides through the door to the guest room.
TWENTY-TWO
JULIA
Darkness envelops me as I step inside the bedroom. It’s cool and calm. Ever’s sweet, rhythmic breathing is the only sound besides the wild thumping of my heart.
I close the door and lean against it, my back flat to the wood. I take a few controlled breaths and try to make sense of what just happened. My mind is spinning, already replaying the conversation with Crew.
What was that?
Everything I thought I knew was just pulled out from under me. I have no idea where I’m standing, except that I’m on shaky ground. “I want you to know something. I came home that day because I missed you.” Never in a million years did I think Crew came back for me.
I close my eyes and remember hearing his voice call Gage’s name through the house that day. I remember feeling like I was going to come out of my skin when he walked in the room.
I hadn’t seen him in months. I hadn’t heard from him in weeks. Even then, the conversations had been short. Impersonal. I didn’t think he cared anymore. And when I looked up at him, his eyes were locked away. They only served to strengthen my conclusion that he had grown away from me, found a more exciting life in Minnesota.
But was I wrong?
I let my head hang forward, hoping the rush of blood to my brain will help me think.
Did I do something wrong? Should I have waited on him? Was I wrong for being with Gage?
Everleigh’s breathing shifts and she rolls to her side. Her pink lips pucker in her sleep. And I know.
Regardless of why Crew left or why he came back, regardless of when and how I got with Gage, it wasn’t wrong. This little girl proves it. She’s the tie that binds us together, even under these terrible circumstances. She’s what bonded Gage and me together, solidified our marriage. A marriage that I am absolutely certain would have stood the test of time if he was still here.
But he’s not.
She’s also what kept me going after losing him. And now, she’s the reason that Crew and I are able talk without killing one another.
I scoot Ever over and climb into the bed. She snuggles against me, resting her monkey on my chest. I squeeze her tight.
This may be one of the last normal nights we have in a long time.