Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 816(@200wpm)___ 653(@250wpm)___ 544(@300wpm)
Laila finally returned. Cody dragged Laila into a short, fierce hug before stepping out of her way. Jeremy wasn’t surprised Laila didn’t return it, and the look on Cody’s face said they knew better than to take it personally. They moved wordlessly back to their own row, and Laila settled beside Cat once more. Cat hurriedly ended her call and turned in her seat to face Laila. The headlights splashing through the window had her damp cheeks glistening, but her voice was remarkably steady when she said, “Anything?”
“Get some sleep if you can,” Laila said, gently pulling Cat toward her and offering herself as a pillow. “It’s going to be a very long night.”
Jeremy would be surprised if anyone up front managed to rest. The hours to Cedar City were as miserable as they were endless, but finally the driver took the last turn for the airport. Laila tugged at Jeremy’s sleeve in a silent demand for him to come along as she carried her bag to the front of the bus. Cat was close behind her, so Jeremy urged Jean ahead of him before following. They were quick to disembark, but he hung back for a moment to face his coaches.
“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll let you know when we’re on board and when we’ve touched down in LA.”
“Be careful,” Rhemann said. “Take care of each other.”
The bus pulled away as soon as Jeremy was clear of it, and Jeremy jogged to meet his friends at the door. Twenty minutes later they were taxiing down the runway in plush seats that faced each other. Laila waited until they’d reached altitude before pulling a notebook from her bag. She flipped to the back where she knew she’d find enough blank pages to work with, and she stared down at it with a morose look on her face.
“Gary said we’ll need a list for our insurance claim,” she said.
They only got halfway through the living room’s contents before Cat finally started crying in earnest, and Laila pushed everything aside in favor of holding onto her. Jeremy quietly tried to take over, but the more he wrote the heavier his heart grew. It felt impossible that that homey space was gone, with its mismatched lamps and tables, the handstitched quilts from Cat’s grandmother, and the games they’d laughed around so many nights.
Jeremy finally had to turn the notebook over so he couldn’t see the list, and he stared out the window in silence for the remainder of the flight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jean
They didn’t make it to Santa Monica Airport until four in the morning. It was too dark out still to get a proper look at the house, but Laila’s uncle Gary Dermott knew they needed to see it before they could rest. He picked them up at the airport and took them straight to what was left of their home. There was a bag of flashlights in the backseat with them, so Laila passed them out as Gary put the car in park.
Jean noted first the security team parked outside to deter looting, then the jagged wrongness of the gutted house. The front wall was half-collapsed, and the roof above it had burned away in several spots. The hood of Laila’s car was ruined, as were the motorcycles that were always parked between her car and the front of the house. Cat stood over the blackened bikes even as Laila followed Gary through the yawning doorway. Jeremy hesitated, not sure which girl to follow, so Jean motioned him after Laila.
“Guess you have to buy a new bike now,” Cat said when Jean moved up alongside her.
Jean knew she was going for lighthearted, but her tone was defeated and empty. Jean weighed every possible response: reassurances that sounded clumsy even to him, guilt he wouldn’t voice but couldn’t relinquish, and the simplest path of agreeing with her declaration. In the end he went with the least familiar, reaching for her like she’d reached for him time and time again this summer. It was easier than he’d thought it would be to fold his arms around her, and Cat came without resistance. She clung to him, fingers digging in like she could drag some strength out of him. Jean propped his chin on her head and waited for her grip to finally go slack.
“We should head in,” she said, so Jean let her step away from him. She took his hand as she started for the door, locking their fingers, and led him inside.
Jean regretted the decision immediately. It looked terrible, and Jean knew it would only look worse in daylight. Each room they visited was a charred mess, their furniture and possessions warped. He and Cat found Laila and Jeremy in the girls’ room, with Laila rummaging through a small safe.
“Good?” Cat asked.
“They’re all right,” Laila said, slamming the door shut again.