Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
And the word on his knuckles, the same word his brothers have.
Ashes.
We get out and dress together. He’s tender with me, toweling me off, even making a couple of lighthearted jokes. When we’re set, he kisses me. “You should check on Hattie.”
“You’re right, but are you going to be okay?”
“I’m fine. I promise. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
“I won’t tell Hattie that. She’ll never leave you alone.”
He smiles and it’s strange. It’s almost pained. “I’d hate it if she did.”
I linger in the quiet of the room after he’s gone, wondering what’s happening to me and why I feel like a piece of my body’s been ripped from my chest but inserted backwards, upside-down, somehow wrong, and somehow that makes me whole again.
20
JUNE
“There!” Hattie pats the bandage she stuck to Rafe’s cheek. “All better!”
“Thank you, darling.” He says it reverently. “You’re a fantastic doctor.”
“Easy-peasy.” She starts to dig for another Band-Aid. “More?”
“No, no, we have to let Rafe get back to work.” I tug my daughter by the hand. She doesn’t resist, but she does pout.
“He doesn’t look busy.”
“Hattie!”
“He doesn’t!”
Rafe’s laugh is a low rumble. It startles us both. “I’ll come find you later, pony queen, how does that sound?”
“Fine.” She’s still pouting, but at least she lets me take her outside.
It’s been a day since Rafe came home bruised and bloodied. His injuries are thankfully mild. A doctor came by to check him, a white-haired man that apparently does house calls for the Corvinos. He acted like it was the most normal thing in the world, finding Rafe beaten to shit.
But it’s been bothering me ever since it happened. The way Rafe was fine one hour and almost broken the next. How the gore and the cuts are proof that there’s trouble outside these walls.
I spend the morning out back at the pool with Hattie. She splashes in the shallow end, wearing her puddle jumper and a pair of goggles while I sit on the edge with my phone. Music plays from speakers hidden in the rocks.
Marnie: Guess who sat up and ate all by herself today?! Give me a few days and I’ll be using the bathroom like a big girl.
June: I’m so, so proud of you, Marn.
Marnie: Gosh golly it feels good to get praise for stuffing my face.
June: Have you thought about going somewhere else? How long are you stuck there?
Marnie: Honestly I don’t know where I’d go.
Marnie: It’s not like I have anyone at home waiting for me.
Marnie: HA WOW that’s depressing!!!
Marnie: But seriously, I’m fine!
I blink back tears. An overwhelming sense of responsibility hangs over my head. Marnie’s in this state because of me. Maybe not directly my fault, but still. She’s lying in a hospital bed right now and I feel horrible about it.
June: What if you came here?
I send the text without thinking through the issues.
The biggest being: what if Rafe says no?
Marnie: Seriously? To your husband-slash-kidnapper’s house?
I grimace and quickly reply.
June: It’s not like that. I mean it’s a little like that.
Marnie: Relax, I’m not calling the cops. Unless you want me to?
June: Stop, Marn.
Marnie: Okay, okay, whatever, but I don’t know. Is he going to lock me in a dungeon?
June: This place is huge. There’s plenty of space for you, and he can afford round-the-clock medical staff. And Hattie’s been asking about Auntie Marnie.
Marnie: I don’t know…
June: Think about it. Seriously, it might be good for you.
Hattie shrieks, pulling my attention away. I’m halfway in the water before I realize she’s only chasing after a beetle. I set my phone aside and join her, but the idea of bringing Marnie here keeps bothering me.
It would be good, right? If Rafe agreed, I think Marnie would be more comfortable and get better care here.
And yeah, it would alleviate some of my guilt, there’s that.
By the time the day rolls over and Hattie’s down for bed, I’ve already convinced myself about a dozen times.
But Rafe’s late. I sit in bed waiting for him, stifling yawns. He doesn’t appear until it’s nearly midnight and I’m already tossing and turning with the lights out. I wait for him to climb in beside me, amazed at how quiet he can be when he wants to, and roll onto my side to face him.
“Rafe, I want to ask you to do me a favor, and please consider it before you say no.”
He glances at me in the darkness. “What do you need, wife of mine?”
“You know Marnie—“
“I’m aware of her, yes.”
“Well, she’s doing better, but she doesn’t have anywhere to go when she gets out of the hospital. I’m sure Beth will help, but she’s got the business to manage now that I’m here, and I was thinking—“
Rafe puts his hands behind his head. I glance at his biceps and try to concentrate. “You want Marnie to come here.”