Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 96178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
“Do you know where this homestead is?” Chris asked, pulling Edward from his thoughts. “It’s taking everything in me to not pack up tonight and go there.”
“I know generally. At least,” Edward said, “I know it’s in Idaho. I know they go to a farmers market in Latah. There’s a five-and-dime near them…. I think I could probably narrow it down based on some of the descriptions she gave me.”
Again, his phone vibrated in his pocket, three rapid pulses. Begrudgingly, he pulled it out to see texts from his father.
Answer your phone, Edward
Explain what the hell is going on
If you don’t answer this phone right now I’m canceling your cards and
He stopped reading and stood. “I’m sorry. I need to make an urgent call.”
Chris stood, too. “Is it her?”
“No, sorry, it’s my father. I’ll be right back.” Stepping out onto the porch, Edward pressed the contact for his dad. He picked up on the first ring.
“Edward, tell me where you are right now.”
He frowned, glancing down the block. “I’m in Georgia. It’s a long story.”
His father was incredulous. “Geor—? You know what? I don’t even care. But I would like you to explain to me why the financial office at Corona called to tell me there’s evidence that you’ve violated the terms of your scholarships and have one week to appeal your expulsion.”
His heart came to a violent, shuddering stop. “Violated? What evidence?”
“I don’t think they have it yet. Apparently, some girl caught you cheating. Her mother called the school.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, his stomach dropping. “Dad, this is absolutely not what you’re thinking.”
“Save the fiction, Edward. I don’t care what scheme you’ve got going or how you fix this, but that’s what you’re going to do. Straighten this mess out, because if you get expelled, I’m not pulling strings to get you back in. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” His heart lurched forward before tumbling over a beat, faster and faster, as his father’s words rolled around in his head.
Ren didn’t do this—Gloria did. He knew it. If Gloria kidnapped her own daughter twenty years ago, she wouldn’t leave anything to chance. This was a warning shot: Stay away from Ren and stay away from Christopher Koning, or you lose everything.
She didn’t know that Edward was already there, that he already knew who she was, and that he’d throw everything away in a heartbeat if it meant he’d get Ren out of her hands.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
REN
Once their old truck turned off the asphalt, Ren knew it was only another five minutes until she was officially home. She’d been on this dusty stretch of road more times than she could count. She’d climbed the trees that wrapped it in shade, she’d ridden her bike over its rocky surface and shoveled enough snow to build her own mountain. She knew every bump and curve, but it all felt different. Ren felt different.
They’d landed in Lewiston just over an hour ago. The old Ren would be babbling nonstop about her first plane ride, about being on board an actual 737-900 aircraft, about the sheer scale of the Atlanta airport. She would have begged for the window seat and pointed out every visible landmark; she would have made friends with the flight attendants and marveled at the free snacks and been bursting with excitement.
Instead, she felt numb with shock. Sadness ate at her belly until she was burning from the inside and had to excuse herself to the tiny airplane bathroom to lose the water and meager bites of food she’d managed that day.
Now she barely remembered the flight or the short layover in Salt Lake City. She barely remembered the drive to the homestead or the occasional murmured conversations happening around her. She was trapped in her head, tangled in thoughts about what had happened that day. The revelation about Gloria’s first husband; the revelation about Fitz’s criminal past…
But as Ren sat with it all day, something in the timeline didn’t feel right. The idea of Gloria being married before Steve itched at her brain. Gloria had told Ren that she and Steve met in college, and Ren knew Gloria had her when she was thirty-six. So had Gloria left Steve at some point, married Christopher Koning, had Ren, and Steve and Gloria rekindled their romance after Ren was born? Or did she and Steve not meet until they were older and they only told Ren they’d met when they were younger, wanting to erase this Christopher Koning from their history? Ren wanted to ask but knew it was too late. Her window for those questions slammed shut the moment she agreed to come home.
And worst of all was the way Edward’s eyes from his mug shot haunted her. Dark and bleak, they’d initially looked so foreign and unfamiliar that the menace in his expression had scared her. Sitting on the curb in Atlanta, she’d felt like she was looking at a stranger. But the image lingered in her mind, just as vivid every time she closed her eyes. The more she saw it, the younger Edward looked, the more desperate. He’d been only fourteen, still a child, and Ren hadn’t even let him explain what it all meant.