Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 142(@200wpm)___ 114(@250wpm)___ 95(@300wpm)
“And beat me. You forgot that part,” I add. Except I don’t feel angry. I don’t feel anything. I haven’t been this numb in years and even though some part of me knows it’s not good, I don’t care.
“He was only helping you,” she snaps as if I’m an ungrateful child. “He didn’t have to keep you. I wanted you gone but he swore to me he could raise you to be good.”
I shouldn’t have expected her to be sorry. I shouldn’t have expected them to care at all. I embrace the numbness, calling on it to get me through these next few moments. “I’ll sign the paperwork today. But in return, you never contact me again. No one does. Not when he dies, not when you die, not for funerals or births or baptisms. Nothing. I’m dead to all of you after this.”
Mom nods quickly and it dawns on me that she’s glad. She’s just as glad to be done with me as I am with her. The thought should hurt but it doesn’t.
Instead, I follow her to the back and sign a lot of paperwork. I’m not even sure what I’m signing or how expensive this will run. I don’t care about the money. It’s a small price to pay to finally be rid of the family that never wanted me.
When I’m done, I step into the cancer center parking lot. The sun is shining down on my back, but I can’t feel it. I still can’t feel anything.
In the distance, I hear my name. Someone is shouting my name.
I look around to see a blur of blonde hair running toward me. Molly is calling my name then throwing herself into my arms. I stagger back under the unexpected weight as she peppers my face with kisses. She came to find me.
My sunshine wraps her arms around my neck and whispers into my ear, “I didn’t want you to be alone.”
13
MOLLY
“Are you ready to go?” Blade grunts at me as I slide into his truck. He’s not happy about this little impromptu road trip.
Trace left earlier this morning while I was still sleeping. When I woke up, there was a knowing deep in my gut.
Blade was on the front porch, drinking a coffee and watching the sunrise. He’d been stationed there. Actually, a lot of his friends were stationed around the property. Because Trace left me protected. He left me in the hands of the best men he knows.
Still, I can’t let him be alone in this. There’s so much hurt that he’s faced on his own for too long, so I have to see him. I have to get to my man.
“Ready,” I answer as I buckle my seatbelt. The cancer center in Knoxville is only a few hours away from Courage County, which means we should make it by lunch time.
The ride is quiet, passing in a quick blur of mile markers and interstate connections. When we finally pull into the parking lot for the cancer center, I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m here.
I’m out of the truck before Blade even fully stops it, and I spot Trace the moment I’m outside. Then I’m running toward him, shouting his name, and throwing myself into his arms. He stumbles back a half-step before holding his ground.
I press kisses all over his face, relief filling me now that I’m finally with him again. “I didn’t want you to be alone.”
He holds me tight for a long moment before he puts me down gently. There’s a distant look in his eyes and I imagine that facing this today took him back to a dark place.
Two hours later, Trace and I haven’t said anything. He’s quiet and withdrawn, wrapped up in a world of pain.
I think of a little boy who was made to feel helpless and scared and hated every day for years. My heart aches at the thought, but he’s no longer that boy. He’s a man now. A strong, confident, rugged mountain man. I need to remind him of that.
When I see the sign for the suit store, I have an idea of how to do it. Blade and I passed this sign on our trip to the center. He’s on his way back to Courage in his own vehicle. I haven’t seen him for miles.
“Get off at this exit,” I tell Trace, finally breaking the quiet.
He doesn’t ask me why. He just does it.
I direct him to the suit store, and he frowns. “You want to go shopping now?”
It’s the first time he’s spoken to me all day. I take his hand and tug him out of the truck and into the store. It’s nearly empty, which isn’t surprising considering that it’s early in the afternoon on a weekday.
I wave away the store employee who offers to help us and pull several dress shirts from the display along with two suit coats and a few ties. I shove the items at him. “Carry these.”