Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“I was flat-out terrified,” she confessed, smiling at the memory.
“What changed your mind?” I asked.
“A lot of things,” she replied. “Finn, being the easiest answer—just Finn. I knew there was no one who would take better care of my heart than him, that he would never give up or walk out on me. But it wasn’t just about Finn. It was about how I felt when I was with him. I was safe enough to have an adventure. With Finn, I’m the Savannah I want to be. The best version of myself. Does that make sense? I don’t have to diminish my dreams to fit his. I don’t have to be less for him to be more. And for me, that was what I needed. I don’t know what you need, Sterling. Only you know that, and only you know if Forrest has it inside him.”
I dropped my gaze to stare at the beautifully set table, letting Savannah’s words settle. “And what if he does have what I need? Then what do I do with him?” I asked, thinking of the way Forrest had reacted to me breaking his father’s code, intended for him. He hadn’t been jealous or annoyed. He’d admired and encouraged me. Never once had Forrest made me feel less.
I jumped a little as Savannah’s arm wrapped around my waist in a quick side hug.
“You’ll figure it out,” she said on her way out of the room.
Hawk and Savannah were a lot more confident in my emotional maturity than I was. Didn’t they remember the mess I’d been when Prentice died and everyone came home? Unemployed, mooching off my father, drunk more than I was sober. That girl was me just as much as the person I was now. I’d fixed my life, mostly, and managed to maintain the improvements for over a year. I had a job, paid my bills, and was acing my classes. But hot mess Sterling was still inside me. How was I supposed to trust her with my future? With my heart? No way.
I sank into my chair at the table in the empty dining room, crossed my arms over my chest, and closed my eyes, letting my mind drift to that peppermint tin. As impossible as this new cipher was, it still made more sense than the emotional hurricane inside me. I pictured the patterns on the card inside the tin, the lines and shapes pulsing in my head, arranging and rearranging themselves. Nothing made sense. I was missing something.
I needed the key. So far, every cipher had a key or a clue to a key. Where was the key for this one? No matter how much I turned the code over in my head, I couldn’t work it out. But it still felt more productive than continuing to obsess over Forrest Powell.
My family started to trickle into the dining room. I kept my eyes closed, pretending to nap. If the key wasn’t in the peppermint tin, where was it? Had we missed some clue in the boathouse? Had the key been destroyed when the Murrells renovated? I couldn’t figure it out. Probably because my head kept drifting back to Forrest. So far, the clues had been connected to his family, his father, and his childhood. To him. Did he have the code in some buried memory and didn’t realize it? Or in something his father had given him?
Yeah, and maybe I just wanted to call Forrest and was looking for an excuse so I didn’t have to admit to myself how much I wanted to see him. And how much that want had nothing to do with the cipher. I wanted to be with him. To talk to him. To watch a movie with him, to strip him naked and— Damn it!
I could just call him. Maybe we could go out and get a drink. Or an ice cream. Why was it so hard to admit to myself that I missed him? That I wanted to be with him?
Across the room, I heard my sister Avery shout, “Quinn! Oh my God! Quinn, let me see!”
I looked up to see Quinn holding out her hand, light glinting off the diamond on her ring finger. Avery’s dark eyes were wide with excitement. Hawk stood behind both of them, arms crossed, the tiniest hint of a smile on his face as he watched Quinn. His eyes were glowing with love. Damn, I liked seeing that. They both deserved this happiness so much.
I rose and rounded the table, sending Hawk a wink before grabbing Quinn’s hand myself and admiring the ring. “Quinn, it’s gorgeous,” I whispered, pulling her into a tight hug and rocking her from side to side.
“Hawk said you’d do all the planning,” she said, raising her eyebrows in question.
“If you want me to, absolutely,” I said, and Quinn laughed, her dark hair sliding back off her shoulders, her face radiant.