Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
She giggled. “That’s what you get for stealing my car.”
“I borrowed it. Kinda like how you borrow me for manual labor and eye candy.”
She threw her head back, laughing. “Damn, you figured me out.”
Suddenly, there was a stampede on her stairwell, and I turned in time to see Nate leap from the third step, tripping over his own feet as he stumbled through an imaginary finish line.
He fell dramatically to the floor, panting as he asked, “What was my time?”
Grinning like a fool, I looked down at my watch.
It read: four minutes and thirty-eight seconds.
Carefully moving Gwen from in front of me, I jumped to my feet. Throwing my hands over my head, I spoke in my best sports announcer’s voice and lied. “Two minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new world record!”
Nate pumped his fist from the floor, basking in his victory.
I froze when a flash illuminated from the corner of my eye.
It wasn’t gunfire.
It wasn’t Folly.
It was Gwen, her phone held high, snapping pictures of her son—and me. Memories trapped forever, all because I finally walked out of my house.
For that alone, I celebrated my own victory.
Rushing toward her, I bent low and folded her over my shoulder. “And the crowd goes wild!” I roared, carrying her around the kitchen.
Nate rolled in hysterics as Gwen slapped me on the butt, demanding I put her down. She joined me for the chorus of Queen’s “We Are the Champions,” so I figured I wasn’t going to be in too much trouble as I added another lap around the living room.
Nate cheered.
Gwen laughed.
And I felt a piece of my soul heal for the very first time in eighteen years.
A timer sounded from the kitchen, ending our celebration, but the evening was just getting started.
“Did your tattoos hurt?” Nate asked, chowing down on a chicken wing.
“Some of them did,” I answered, my fingers sticky with the most delicious spicy citrus sauce ever to be invented. People weren’t just going to be wrapped around the building; they were going to be wrapped around the city.
“Which one’s your favorite?” He spoke around a mouthful of food.
Gwen patted his arm. “Finish chewing before you talk, please.”
He nodded and then peered at me expectantly.
“Oof, that’s a tough question,” I replied. “I got them at such different times in my life that it’s almost like a history book about me. But I guess, if you forced me to choose, it would be this one.” I wiped my hands on my napkin and then lifted the side of my shirt.
Nate hurried around the table and then squatted so he could get a better look at my side. It was a tiger, its head three times the size of the rest of its body, and a pink squiggly line acting as a tutu was wrapped around its stomach. There were only four black stripes on its entire orange body, but at the end of each stick leg were large silver dots meant to be sparkly shoes.
Nate’s mouth fell open. “Is that Fiona Iona?”
Then my mouth fell open. “How do you know that?” When Gwen giggled, I craned my head back to look at her. “How does he know that?”
“Hey, bud. Take Truett to see the playroom while I start cleaning up.”
He excitedly tugged on my arm, and despite the fact that I had two wings left, I was shocked enough to follow him.
He guided me down the hall, past the bathroom, to a closed door. His nose wrinkled as he looked up at me. “It’s kinda messy, but just pretend it’s not, okay?”
Little did he know, I was a master pretender. “Okay.”
He swung the door open, and he was correct. It was a mess, which was most likely why Gwen kept the door shut.
There was a loveseat that took up most of the room, toys lining the floor around it. But on the walls were frames holding children’s art like they were being displayed in a gallery, complete with little plaques beneath them listing the title and artist. Half of them were Kaitlyn’s, the other half Nate’s.
I could barely breathe as I stared at them. All of them, not just Kaitlyn’s.
Gwen kept her alive in a house where there was laughter and happiness, while I’d kept her locked in a home where the only sound for several years had been me waking up screaming from nightmares.
Nate jumped up onto the loveseat, pointing to the top row. “See, Fiona Iona.”
It wasn’t the same exact drawing as the one I’d had tattooed on my side. Different squiggled tutu, a few more stripes, but it was definitely Fiona Iona.
I stood there staring as I felt Gwen appear behind me.
She ducked under my arm and curled into my side. “I told you we didn’t forget about her.”
I drew in a shaky breath. This woman. This fucking woman. “I love you.”