Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75770 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Damn.”
“We have to tell River about the break-in. It’ll be better if we go to him with a plan.”
“He may already know. I’m sure Monica must have tried to get in touch with him.”
“I don’t think so. Shelley said that I needed to tell him.”
“Fuck.” Alex threads his fingers through his hair. “I’ll leave that to you then.”
“No way. You’re in up to your eyeballs now. You’re coming with me.”
Alex straightens his glasses. “Actually…what if we don’t say anything until Brett returns?”
“That’s not fair to Riv, man.”
“We’ll tell him, but we’ve got to do something about Misty. Slow her down. Maybe convince her we all have connections back home.”
I scoff. “Seriously? Give her reason to break into all our childhood homes?”
“We don’t know she’s behind anything,” Alex says. “But it’s worth the risk if it slows her down. She doesn’t have a phone, so it’s not like she can change course that fast.”
“Alex, this isn’t one of your suspense novels. You’re not the writer. You don’t have control. We can’t leave this to chance. Misty may not have a phone, but she has Evie, who has a phone and a computer. We can’t assume Misty has no way to get shit done while she’s here.”
Alex nods. “We have to keep her busy then. Very busy.”
EPISODE 92
DAYDREAMS
River
Getting Heather to leave my room after our shower was awkward to say the least. After my release, I turned off the water and handed her a fluffy white towel from the warmer. She wrapped it around herself and grabbed another to dry her blue-tipped hair.
She made some conversation about nothing in particular that I don’t even remember, all the while I was subliminally sending her a message to leave.
The message didn’t get to her.
She continued blathering on about something while I opened the carry-on I was supposed to take to the mainland with Sienna and mindlessly threw the few items back into the dresser drawers. Brett didn’t take a bag with him this morning. He plans to be back sometime tonight.
Finally I turned to Heather and decided to be frank. “I’ve had a great time with you, but I have some business to attend to.”
“Oh,” she said. “Yeah. Of course. I had a great time too. See you later?” She scurried into her workout clothes.
“Of course.” I escorted her to the door of my suite and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.
That was an hour ago, and I feel like shit. I don’t use women, and I didn’t mean to use Heather, but in reality, that’s exactly what I did. I like her. I’m attracted to her for sure. But my mind was elsewhere while we were together. I’ll apologize later when I see her. Maybe I can make it up to her once my head has cleared.
I’ve been ruminating, and finally I open my walk-in closet and kneel in front of the small safe. Inside is my phone. I’ve honored the no-devices policy, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to be completely cut off. I enter the combination and open the door to the safe, but it’s not my phone I reach for.
No.
There are a few things that mean so much to me that I didn’t want to leave the country without them. I pull out a yellowing envelope and open it. Inside are a few dog-eared snapshots from my youth. The first is of my old mutt Ernie. I’ve had many dogs since him, but he holds a special place in my heart. I’m not religious or even spiritual—other than my pure love and respect for nature and the land—but Ernie and I had a connection so profound that to this day I believe he was my familiar.
“What should I do, Ern?” I ask out loud.
Sometimes he answers in my head, but this time, he doesn’t.
I turn the next snapshot—my mom, dad, and me before Dad’s accident. It’s crazy how much I resemble my father. Same dark hair and eyes, same muscular build, though I’m slightly taller. My mom, of course, was always beautiful, with dark hair and striking blue eyes. My parents were true partners, running the ranch side by side. As hard as Mom worked, she always had three meals prepared for Dad and me—and for most of my friends. Seb and Jake especially liked to come around at lunch and dinnertime.
Which brings me to the third photo. The five of us one summer. We were twelve or thirteen. Brett and I had already hit puberty with a vengeance, so we towered over the other three. Alex, Seb, and Jake caught up with us the next summer.
A lump forms in my throat as I turn to the fourth and final photo.
The four of us.
Brett, Seb, Alex, and I, dressed for Homecoming our junior year in high school. It was our first school year without Jake. We’re dressed to the nines—even Seb, who never had any extra money. He found a decent black suit at the thrift store and my mom altered it for him and bought him a white cotton shirt and a blue silk tie to wear with it. Our hair is combed, our faces shaved, and each of us holds the corsage that we’ll present to our dates later.