Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Later that day, I pressed my hand over my heart, hearing the paper crinkle and the rush of pain and sadness that went with it.
A thousand jelly beans.
That was our promise between sisters. When we were little, the one thing we loved above all was the once-a-week treat our mother brought home after work—a bag of jelly beans, so what else could we swear to keep our secrets on?
A thousand jelly beans that I wouldn’t tell Mom Winter accidentally broke her great-aunt’s vase. A thousand jelly beans that Winter wouldn’t tell a soul that I snuck out of boarding school to go to a Bruno Mars concert. A thousand jelly beans to hide how much we disliked our stepfather at first, so we wouldn’t ruin Mom’s chance at real happiness.
Eighteen years and so many promises, I’ve never broken a single one... until now.
“I couldn’t keep this one,” I whispered. “Everyone who hurt you. Who drove you to...” I trailed off, eyes welling. “They’re all going to pay, Winter. That I can promise you. They’ll regret every single second of their existence if it’s the last thing I do.”
“Did you say something, sweetheart?”
I shook myself, coming back to reality. The cabbie squinted at me in the rearview. “Are you sure this is the place?”
I fixed on Bowden Manor. All thirty-six acres, tennis court, swimming pool, greenhouse, and three stories of it. “This is the place.”
He dropped me at the gate, leaving me to trudge the stone path alone. I let myself in and went straight upstairs, searching out the west wing master bedroom. A still mound lay among the pillows and red satin sheets. Slowly, I padded over to her.
“Mom? Mom, it’s me. Luna.”
The mound moved. Otherwise, there was no response.
Rounding the mattress, I climbed on, gently tugging the sheet down. Dry, scraggly hair appeared first—once my mother’s crowning feature. A sallow cheek came next, and as I brushed her hair back, Mom’s red-rimmed eyes.
She blinked at me. “Luna?” she rasped. “Is... that you, baby?”
“Yeah, Mom. It’s me.” I whispered as if a loud word could break her. I wasn’t so sure it couldn’t. “How you doing, Mama? Can I get you anything?”
“My beautiful girl.” Bony fingers stroked my cheek. “My baby.”
My eyes stung. Throat closing, I forced out, “I’m going to make your favorite. Oolong tea. Why don’t we snuggle up on the couch and watch Pride and Prejudice while we drink?”
I tugged the blankets down farther. She snatched them short of her knees and pulled them back up. “I can’t have tea right now, sweetie. I’m too tired.” Her eyes fluttered shut. “I’m going to take a nap. But don’t go.” Mom laid her hand over mine. “Please... don’t go.”
“I won’t.” I lay down next to her, listening to her breaths even out. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I don’t know how long I stared up at the textured ceiling, sinking in the rare stretch of alone time with my mother. Since Winter’s funeral, this was what we did. I lay next to her wishing up ways to get her out of bed, the whole time knowing there was only one sister who could do that, and she wasn’t here.
“Luna.” My stepfather filled the doorway. “Your mother is resting. Give her space.”
That’s all Mom does is rest, and that’s all we do is give her space. It’s been months. How long until we get her help?
I swallowed the reply. Jack insisted he was taking care of Mom and getting her everything she needed. When I pushed and asked how exactly he was doing that, he turned it around on me and said she needed to grieve in her own way, and my pushing her wasn’t helping. I don’t know if it wasn’t helping, but it certainly wasn’t working.
“Come, Luna. You have to get ready for the party.”
My teeth clenched. Mom wasn’t the only reason I came to the manor that night. I should be unpacking my room and then crafting my plan to get to the other guys in the note. Instead I was participating in my stepfather’s ridiculous charade.
I closed the door behind me. My head came up to Jack’s chin. Four years ago, he seemed so big and imposing with those unsmiling, thin lips and coldly handsome face. The only time I saw a spark of happiness in him was when he looked at Mom. He wanted Eloise Sinclair bad. The two kids she came with—not so much.
“Jack, I know I said I’d do this—”
“—and I will honor our agreement,” he finished. “I hope that is how you planned to end that sentence. Luna, you refused to apply to another university even though your mother locked herself in our room for a week and a half after you got your acceptance to Regalia University. We begged you not to go, and then when I refused to pay the tuition, you said you’d do whatever I asked to change my mind. This was the deal,” Jack said, voice hard. “If you renege, it’s a simple matter to call the registrar and tell them I’m canceling the payment.”