Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 513(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
“Oh my god! Disgusting!” Wren snaps, recoiling in horror while wiping her hand on her jeans. I laugh again, and she whisper-shouts, “Shh! How can you joke at a time like this?”
“Time like what?” I ask suspiciously.
She moves to the dresser, opening various drawers until she finds what she wants and throwing me clean clothes this time. “I heard about the protest. Good job, by the way. But Dad and Jed were plotting all evening, so we need to go. Like right now.”
That’s enough to get me up and moving. “What? When I got home, Leo said Mom was on the phone all evening, getting more and more worried about Dad not coming home after work or picking up her calls. And that Dad eventually came home drunk and passed out again. I knew he was mad about the protest, but what are they up to?”
“I’ll tell you on the way,” Wren says with a shake of her head.
I slip into the bathroom to get dressed, brush my teeth, and run wet fingers through my hair. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and realize that for the first time in a long time, I have fire in my eyes.
My life in Newport is calm and serene by design, and I appreciate every moment of that. But some things are worth disrupting the peace.
“Alright, I’m ready,” I tell Wren as I come back into my bedroom.
She’s sitting on the edge of my bed, looking at my computer screen approvingly. Thank God it was research, though it would’ve served her nosy ass right to find some crazy porn instead.
She places a finger to her lips. “Down the back stairs, out the dining room window, and around the house. We’ll take my car.”
I still don’t know what I’m getting into with Wren, but she’s got a head start on me this morning, considering I was having zero luck in finding some magical wand to wave and stop Jed, so I’m on board with her plan.
We tiptoe down the hall and follow the path she suggested, successfully rolling down the driveway in Wren’s quiet Tesla.
Still, she looks behind her several times until we’re out of Cold Springs.
Finally, I ask, “You think Dad’s going to send the cops after you? Pull you over the way he had them come into Puss N Boots last night?”
Wren shrugs. “At this point, I don’t know. He’s in bad shape, Wyatt. Leo’s right: Dad did come home drunk, but he didn’t pass out right away. I heard him in his office, muttering to himself and ranting. He’s pissed.”
“Yeah, I could tell by the stone-cold look he gave me when he saw me with the protesters.”
Wren takes her eyes from the road long enough to look at me carefully. “Well, you did basically stand up and give him a big giant ‘fuck you’ moment.”
“Wasn’t my intent. I just needed him to realize the people he’s hurting aren’t alone.”
Wren nods, and sighs. “Yeah. Well, he’s not mad at you. Okay, maybe a bit,” she corrects. “But he’s mad at Jed. And furious with himself.”
“I thought they were plotting together? That’s what you said.”
“They are, but that doesn’t mean Dad’s happy about it,” Wren says, her voice tight. “He’s in over his head, big-time, and I think he’s starting to realize it.”
Her sigh is heavy with the weight she’s been shouldering. Dad might not expect the same things from Wren as he always has from Winston and me, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t expect them from herself. And with me gone and Winston working with Jed, she’s been the one at home, helping Mom deal with Dad’s spiral.
“I’m sorry I left you to handle all this,” I tell her quietly.
“You’re here now. That’s what matters,” Wren says before looking side eye at me. “You are here, right? Not going to disappear on us again?”
The question is so similar to Hazel’s last night that it hits the same spot, making the pain double. But I choose my words carefully. “I haven’t made plans to go back to Newport. I’m here to see this through, and then . . . I don’t know.”
She glances at me, hope blooming in her eyes. “Good enough for now.”
She pulls up to the airport, parking on the sidewalk, and grabs her phone, making quick work of sending a text. A moment later, Winston and Avery come out the automated doors, wheeling a suitcase each.
I get out of the car to help them put the luggage in the trunk, confused at why they’re back from their honeymoon so early. They’re not scheduled to return until next week. “Uh, hey, guys.”
Winston glares at me. “Seriously? ‘Hey, guys’?” he mocks me. “That’s all you’ve got?”
“What?”
I look from Winston to Avery, whose eyes are bloodshot and purple smudged, so I don’t see it coming when my brother steps in close enough to send an uppercut into my gut.