Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 73462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
“They all said he was dead. But he’s not. He’s here. He didn’t know about me.”
Darby doesn’t speak. She just waits, her touch steady on my shoulder, like she knows this is one of those moments where the silence matters more than any words.
“I saw his face,” I whisper. “He looked right at me, and…nothing. Not even a flicker.” My throat burns, but it’s not from dehydration this time. “He doesn’t know he has a sister. But how could he not see it? The resemblance between us?”
“If he doesn’t know, he probably wouldn’t be thinking in those terms,” she says gently. “Your pulse is still a little elevated. I need you to try to relax, Misty. You’re hyperventilating. That’s why it’s so difficult to get your breath.”
“I don’t know what Jake’s doing here,” I say, voice trembling. “Or why he pretended he was dead all that time. But I know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“He looked straight through me,” I whisper. “Like I was no one. Like I didn’t even exist.”
Darby studies me for a moment. “What do you want from him?”
I blink at her.
“What would you want Jake to say to you? If he knew?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
Because I don’t know.
Do I want an apology? A hug? Some big-brotherly vow to make up for the years I lost?
Or do I want to scream in his face for having the life I was denied?
Then again…his life couldn’t have been all that great either, if he let his friends believe he was dead.
I’m back at square one.
Where I always am.
I don’t fucking know what I want.
Before I can put anything into words, someone knocks on the bedroom door.
“Is it okay for someone to come in?” Darby asks.
I nod.
“Come in,” Darby says.
The door opens.
I expect it to be Alex or Sebastian.
Maybe June. She’s the only one of the women I knew from before this event.
Or Evangeline.
But it’s not any of them.
EPISODE 211
ALWAYS
River
I deserve everything that Brett has thrown at me. Totally I do. I feel for him. He’s in love with two people. As much as I’d like to relieve him of that burden, I can’t. It’s his to bear.
And I’m in love too.
I’m in love with Emily, and I need to tell her.
I should have returned the words when she said them to me.
I didn’t. Not because I didn’t feel them, but because I was too overwhelmed with everything else going on. With the memories of twenty years ago, with Larson’s old leather watch fob in my safe. With the break-in at my parents’ place.
Someone knows.
Someone knows everything.
But who? A blond woman is our only clue.
The longer I let the question hover, the more I realize that it’s not just about what someone knows. It’s why they’re surfacing now.
Why stir up ghosts after all this time?
I close my eyes and see Emily’s face. The way she looked at me when she said it—I love you. Like it hurt to admit it, like she was handing me something breakable and hoping I wouldn’t drop it.
And what did I do?
I stood there. Silent. Like a coward.
I love her. But love comes with a cost. With risk. And if whoever broke into my parents’ house is trying to get to me, Emily could be next.
I can’t let that happen.
Which is part of the reason why I didn’t say the words.
I can’t make her my Achilles’ heel.
The other reason is that my mind was too fucked up with everything else going on.
So what did I do? I stirred everything anyway by bringing Jake here. By showing the others that he’s alive.
The dam has already burst, so I’ll tell Emily. I’ll tell her that I return her love.
I reach the house and enter through the front.
“Oh!” Emily gasps.
She and Sienna are in the large living room right off the foyer.
“River, where’s Brett?” Sienna asks.
“He’s still on the beach.” I look to Emily. “Can we talk?”
“What about?” she asks dryly.
“Of course you can,” Sienna says with a smile that looks forced. “I think I’ll see if there’s anything left over from lunch.”
“Sienna…” Emily says.
“We’ll talk later,” Sienna says over her shoulder.
Emily turns back to me.
My God, she’s beautiful, her blond hair falling around her shoulders, her sparkling blue eyes full of life.
And full of anger.
Angry Emily is still beautiful. Perhaps even more so.
But she’s also dangerous. Not in the way that hurts. In the way that makes you want to drop to your knees and beg for a second chance—even if you know you don’t deserve it.
“Emily,” I start, but she lifts a hand.
“No,” she says. “You don’t get to call me that in that tone. Not after ignoring me.”
“I wasn’t—”
“And then just showing up with Jake like he’s a casual plus-one for vacation? Do you have any idea what kind of emotional chaos you’ve unleashed?”