Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Not to mention, I’m desperate to get out there to start looking for our family. Mom, though, isn’t well enough to care for Dad and Dawson. She’s been throwing up all morning, which is worrying. I can’t leave her like this and I don’t trust Chet or Wild to know what to do.
Dad is still in and out of consciousness.
I know he’s in a lot of pain because he moans and groans while he sleeps, which is most of the time. There’s nothing I can do to help him. I changed his wound dressings and have forced water down his throat, but there’s not much else I can do.
God, I wish everything were back to normal.
I want my siblings back.
Especially them.
Raegan and Ronan.
Even though shit was weird between the three of us, crossing lines that weren’t meant to be crossed, it was still the most invigorated I’ve ever felt.
I’d grown strangely possessive over Ronan and got him off in our tent. The moments between us were intensely charged. Never once had I considered being with a guy until my brother.
And Raegan?
She’s been a secret, twisted, fucked-up fantasy I’ve had for a while now. Kissing her and touching her tits had felt like heaven.
Of course those moments we all shared were wrong, but I still loved them. I’d give anything to do them over again at least once more in my lifetime. But I’d give up the idea of touching and kissing them if it meant they could come home safely.
Someone bursts through the cabin door, hollering, and scares the shit out of me. I jump to my feet, swiveling around to face the commotion.
Wild, with his ball cap on backward and a huge grin on his face, says, “They’re here. Mom and Dad are here.”
For a split second, I thought he’d meant my siblings. His revelation of who exactly is here is a slight blow to my sanity, but I quickly recover to follow him out of the cabin.
Uncle Atticus is the next best thing.
We need him more than ever.
Chet leads the way, with me and Wild on his tail. Rowdy materializes from behind the equipment barn to follow us out the gate. We round the corner in time to see Uncle Atticus’s big RV pulling their trailer, which will be loaded down with supplies for our family. He parks it but leaves it running, rushing out the side door within seconds.
“What the fuck happened?” Uncle Atticus demands, gesturing at the husk of a home beyond the fence.
So much.
So fucking much.
Chet and Wild are both talking over each other, explaining in detail about the visitors, their stay, the drama, and then the night of the fire and kidnapping. While Wild panics about his missing truck and Chet worries over Sadie, I just hope like hell they brought better pain meds for Dad.
The RV door opens again, revealing Aunt Eve. Her long dark hair dances in the wind as she holds the hands of their three-year-old twins, Forest and Meadow. Even though one twin is a boy and the other is a girl, they both look exactly the same—dark shoulder-length hair, deep green eyes with flecks of brown, and their usual pouty expressions. They’re cute, I guess, but they’re sort of creepy with their unusually pale skin, dark circles under their eyes, and the way they rarely speak.
I wait for Wild to explain all over again to his mom, growing antsy with each passing second.
“Dad’s in bad shape,” I tell them, despair clawing at my words. “We have him in Ronan’s cabin. He hasn’t woken up since…”
Since he was cut loose after those motherfuckers dragged him behind the truck.
Uncle Atticus gives me a clipped nod before stalking over to the gate. Aunt Eve walks over to me, her brows pinched together in concern.
“They’ll pay for this,” Aunt Eve vows, brown eyes flashing with vengeance. “We’ll make sure of it.”
I force a smile at her. “Damn straight they will.”
She releases one of the twins’ hands and plucks at a longish strand of hair that hangs over my brow. “I’m going to cut this off. It looks stupid.”
This time, my smile is genuine. Aunt Eve has zero filter. It reminds me a lot of Raegan, which has my smile disappearing. “Shave it off. I’m sick of it.”
“After supper. Take me to your mother.”
Turns out, Uncle Atticus brought a lot of stuff we needed. Each visit, they bring new clothes, shoes, and jackets or coats, depending on the season, blankets, prepackaged snacks this family goes nuts over, medicine, tools, books and games, animal feed, and sometimes equipment. He also brings replacement solar panels, bins, buckets, hoses, furniture, and whatever else he can think of. Dad and Uncle Atticus have the supply runs down to a science these days, anticipating our needs and fulfilling them.
Just being able to replenish simple things like dishes feels like a blessing. But the most important items were the medical supplies and medicine. Not long after they arrived, Uncle Atticus forced some antibiotics down Dad’s throat along with some stronger pain meds. Dad even roused long enough to clutch at Uncle Atticus’s shirt.