Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 38335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 153(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 153(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
My breathing deepens as desperation claws at my throat. I take a step toward her but quickly stop myself. My head and heart are at war, locked in a brutal battle.
Hollis, however, never looks back. She hurries out the front door, leaving my world in shambles.
The pain burns like a slow fire, searing through my organs, especially the one in my chest.
“No, wait! Stop!” Poppy’s frantic voice crashes through my turmoil. She races down the stairs, panic wild in her eyes as tears helplessly stream down her face. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you stopping her?” She pushes me out of the way and runs to the door, flinging it open. “Hollis, wait! Don’t go. Please!”
It’s too late. She’s already gone.
The dagger lodged in my chest twists like a cruel blade, each turn more excruciating than the last.
My sister slams the door shut and whirls around to face me, her grief-stricken expression twisting in anger. Her tiny fists clench at her sides before she rushes over and pummels them against me. “What’s wrong with you?” she screams through her pain. “Why did you let her go? Why didn’t you tell her to stay?”
“Stop it, Poppy,” I choke out the warning, grabbing her wrists to stop the tiny blows.
“No! This is all your fault.” She continues to fight and kick me, her anguish fueling every strike.
“I said stop it, goddamnit,” I bellow, pinning her arms at her sides. “She isn’t ours to keep. She never was.”
“She could have been,” she sobs, ripping away from me. “She could have stayed, and we could have finally had a real family.”
Her words pierce through the fog of pain, each one a fresh wound. “What the hell are you talking about? You have a real family. We are a family.”
“No, Mike. We aren’t,” she cries. “It’s just you and me. Brother and sister. That’s not a real family.” Devastation is in every syllable she breathes, inflicting its wrath upon me. “It wasn’t supposed to end like this. She was supposed to stay, but you ruined it because you’re too scared to admit the truth.”
I want to deny it, to tell her she’s wrong, but it would be a lie. I am scared, scared of the rejection that would inevitably come. I’m helpless against her despair and my own.
Without another word, she spins away from me in a flurry of sparkles and runs up the stairs back to her room, slamming her door for good measure. Punctuating the words she just spoke.
It’s just you and me. Brother and sister. That’s not a real family.
Those words resound like a distant thunderclap, resonating through the hollowed emptiness of my chest. The world around me shatters yet again, leaving me within its ruins. Each fragment a reminder of what could have been, suffocating me with my own regret.
Hollis
“This is a joke, right?” Shane’s voice echoes through the receiver, his surprise expected and warranted for the bombshell I just dropped on him.
“It’s not a joke,” I whisper, my grip tightening around the crumpled tissue in my hand as I dab at my tear-streaked cheeks. “I want to buy the store.”
The decision has been brewing for some time now, but I thought I would have time to decide. Clearly not, but I don’t need it anymore. I know with every fiber of my being what I want and where I truly belong.
“Please, tell me this isn’t because of some guy you managed to hook up with up there,” he says, his words stinging like salt on an open wound.
“No,” I respond hastily. “I mean…yes, but no.”
A chuckle escapes him. “Which is it?”
I release a shuddering breath, my heart still throbbing from the weight of countless tears I shed tonight. “Yes, I met someone. Someone I really like.”
I more than like him. I’m in love with him. Even though he’s a stupid, mean asshole.
“But he’s not the reason I want to buy the store,” I add, my voice filled with determination. “I love it here, Shane. I mean, truly love it. I adore the town and the community. I’ve made incredible connections with people, friends that I don’t want to leave behind. I also love running the store. It’s…magical.” The awe in my voice is unmistakable. “I spent time looking through the annual reports and it does really well, even in the off-season.”
“I know. Why do you think I bought it?”
Disappointment crushes me. It’s always about the money. He doesn’t understand, and perhaps he can’t. Not when he hasn’t experienced it firsthand. Not when he hasn’t witnessed it for himself.
“This store means something to people,” I continue, my thoughts drifting to Poppy. “It means something to me. For the first time in a really long time, I feel like I’ve found my place. Like this is where I’m meant to be.”
“Does Abe and Lydia know about this?” he asks, referring to my parents.