Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Like I said, weird as fuck. Wasn’t she supposed to be happy? The father of her daughter and her brother, finally getting along?
She peppered Blake’s face with kisses. “What do you say, sweetie? Tacos at Uncle Ellie’s house?”
“Yeah, we already decided that,” Blake giggle-sniffled.
It felt like an eternity passed before we drove up the hill to Elliott’s ranch.
Memories struck like blows to the gut. Last time I’d been here, I’d almost broken down. My whole world had disappeared.
Blake felt it too. She squeezed my fingers tightly as Piper pulled in next to Elliott’s truck.
The man himself was somewhere behind us in a rental that we were returning tomorrow.
“Are we sure there are no bad men here now?” Blake asked uncertainly.
“They’re all gone,” I promised her. “You’ll never see them again.”
I was suddenly extra glad we were here, because I didn’t want her to be scared of Elliott’s home. She’d loved it here the few times she’d visited before the actual moving trucks showed up. Because, swimming pool. Uncle Ellie, pizza, and swimming pool. She’d been set.
“I wanna see what pajamas Uncle Ellie bought.” Blake unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out of the car, having evidently found her courage.
Piper couldn’t look away from her, so I carried all the food to the front door. Since all of us hadn’t fit inside Piper’s little sedan, we’d decided to split up to complete our errands quickly. We’d bought the food, and Elliott had stopped to pick up comfy clothes and some stuff at CVS.
I frowned when I spotted a note on the door.
It just read “Elliott.”
I took it down and turned it over.
We miss you at work, but this is clearly where you belong. Welcome home. (Don’t take too long to invite us for a barbecue.)
/E & D
E and…
Emerson and Danny.
“Elliott!” I called.
“They’re coming, Daddy!” Blake hollered. “Calm yourself!”
I laughed and shifted the bags of food in my arms. “Okay, I’ll calm myself.”
Piper trailed up toward the house, all while sneaking glances at Blake every few seconds.
I knew the feeling. It was like missing a limb when Blake was out of sight.
“I have keys,” she offered.
“Oh. Cool.” I wanted keys to his house too. Just saying.
She dug out her set and seemed hesitant to speak.
Was it about Elliott and—
“This is going to sound bad because I know she’s obviously not all right,” she said. “But is she all right? Like, how bad is it? Will she recover? What’s different, aside from nightmares and sleeping poorly?”
I understood what she meant. “I think it’s too soon to tell,” I admitted. “She’s riding a wave of relief from being rescued.”
Piper nodded and unlocked the door.
“I reckon we’ll see more of the trauma manifesting itself in the days to come,” I went on, thinking about the counseling and, down the road, Blake starting school again. Her summer break hadn’t been like anyone else’s, and we had to be ready. “Nightmares and separation anxiety so far—she won’t go to the bathroom on her own. She’s afraid of the dark too.”
“Understandable.” She opened the door, visibly distraught. “I wish I could take it all away from her.”
Yeah, me too.
I walked into the house, noticing something different. It’d been hard to miss the moving trucks last time, and now—maybe that was it. Emerson and Danny had carried in all the moving boxes and furniture? They’d spread out Elliott’s belongings without interfering with how he might wanna arrange everything.
I peered into the home office, and the desk and chair were in place, same with the shelves. Then the rest of the boxes were stacked against a wall, each one labeled “Study.”
“Daddy, where are you?” Blake demanded, her tone shrill.
“I’m sorry, baby. I’m right here.” I stepped into her line of sight in the hallway, and she relaxed and hurried to me. “Let’s leave all the food in the kitchen.”
“Okay.” She stayed close to Piper and me.
The kitchen faced the back of the house and had a spectacular view of the ocean down the hill, and same thing here. Danny and Emerson must’ve put all the boxes labeled “Kitchen” in here. Dining area in order, table, chairs—but I didn’t know how much had been accomplished before the attack. My memories were hazy and obviously centered around Blake.
I saw Elliott through the window as he ushered the boys to the house, and I asked Piper to go help him with the shopping bags. Knowing him, he’d made that the quickest shopping spree. In and out, grab whatever looked comfortable, perhaps check the sizes, then get out.
“Daddy, come look!”
I left all the takeout bags and the drinks on the counters, then turned on the oven before I followed Blake into the living room—
Oh hell.
“There’s no fire,” she said.
No fire, no, but also nothing burned. I had to walk closer. The deck outside—it was brand-new. So were the table and the chairs. This had to be Emerson and Danny’s gift. They’d removed all traces of the fire and built a new deck.