Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“So no, Kanan. Randall dying was not your fault, and it sucks that you’ve been living with that guilt when you shouldn't be. I know it’s easy for me to say, but you have to get your shit together. That girl loves you. She needs you, and you can’t use this as an excuse to give her up. You have to figure this shit out, Kan. Don’t let them assholes take this from you too.”
I lean back in my chair, taking it all in. I don’t know how long we sit there, but eventually, Elias gets up. “I’m going back to bed. I was up hacking most the night. Stay as long as you want.”
He gets as far as the door to his bedroom when I call out to him. “Thanks, Elias… for everything.”
He nods. “No problem, man.”
He disappears into his room, and I sit here, replaying the events of that night two years ago in my head and trying to figure out if I should have done anything differently. There’s a thousand regrets I have, but this is one I’ve carried with me for two years. Will Emerson see me as the man that tried to save her dad… or his killer? I’m sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I can’t lose her… I just can’t.
CHAPTER 22
EMERSON
I wake up with a jerk and am surprised to see the light streaming through the curtains. I sit up, and every muscle I have reacts to the sudden movement. Looking around the room, I sit quietly waiting to see if I hear Kanan anywhere in the cabin, but I realize pretty quickly that I’m alone.
Climbing out of bed, I grab Kanan’s T-shirt off the floor and slide it over my naked body. I take care of business in the bathroom and then start the search for my phone.
It’s not next to the bed like usual, so I go into the living room area and see it on the kitchen counter plugged in.
As I reach for it, I see the piece of paper with Kanan’s handwriting on it. I grab it and start to read.
Emerson, I turned off your alarms. I thought you needed your rest. Take the day off and I’ll see you when I get back. We need to talk. Before anything else, we need to talk about a few things. Please know that I love you. No matter what happens, I love you. Kanan.
I reread the note, and a sick feeling goes over me.
He’s doing it again. He’s going to push me away and tell me we can’t be together. Over and over he’s going to come up with asinine ideas of why we can’t be together.
As if I’m in a trance, I go to the bedroom and get ready. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but I do know that I need to get away and think.
I open the app on my phone and order a driver to come and get me since I haven’t got a car yet.
I throw my journals in a bag and then walk outside. It’s clear it’s been raining, and I’m surprised I slept through it. I walk toward the parking lot, hoping I don’t run into anyone.
I could call Brooklyn, and I know she’d come running, but that’s a hard situation since her husband is Kanan’s boss.
When my ride arrives, I get in and ask the driver to take me to Red’s Diner. Everyone has talked about this cake they have, and when I ate there the other day, I was too stuffed to try it. Well, today’s the day.
The ride into town is short, and when the driver drops me off in the front of the restaurant, I’m a little overwhelmed by the amount of people watching me through the window.
I walk timidly in the door, and there’s a woman at the hostess stand. “Hey, honey, just one?”
I nod, and she grabs silverware and a menu. “Follow me.”
I follow behind her, ignoring the looks from the patrons around me. I’m not sure what they’re looking at, so when the waitress asks what she can get me, I whisper to her, “Why is everyone staring?”
She leans down. “Because you were dropped off by one of them Uber things. Nobody calls crazy Hank for a drive. He’s been driving without a license since he failed his vision test and refuses to get glasses.”
“Crazy Hank?”
She laughs. “Yeah, but I’m not making fun of him. He calls himself that. He’s some kind of daredevil around here and is always doing stuff.”
“Stuff?”
She nods. “Yeah, like just last week he set up a palm reading table at town square.”
I lean forward. Palm reading? Heck, I could use some help on figuring out my future. “Oh yeah, does he read palms?”
She laughs again. “Not at all. As a matter of fact, he told every customer that they would be donating to the Crazy Hank fund in the near future and then tried charging people ten dollars for the reading. The sheriff had to put a stop to it.” She points to the menu. “You know what you want?”