Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89758 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 449(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
He opened the door and walked inside. “She’s a bitch, Bryn. I swear I don’t know how you haven’t thrown something at her yet,” he said, then looked around. “What is it you gotta clean before we can go down to the swimming hole? It’s hotter ’n’ hell out there, and this damn trailer is like an oven.”
“I g-g-got it,” I said, wincing at the stupid stammer.
Aunt Mabel Lynn had said only stupid people stuttered. Maybe she was right. I didn’t feel real smart.
Rio was smart though. He was two years older than me and always made straight As. I struggled to get by with Cs. One day, he’d said he was gonna go to a college far away from here, and I knew he would too. I tried not to think about how sad I would be when he left.
“Either you tell me what to clean or I will just start cleaning it all,” he told me.
I felt bad when Rio came over and helped me. He had his own chores to do. It wasn’t his fault my aunt was never satisfied.
Sighing, I looked back at the sink. “You c-c-could finish th-th-the dishes a-a-a-and wipe down th-th-the kitchen, and I’ll g-g-go clean h-h-h-her bathroom and bedroom.”
“Done,” he said, striding toward me. “We can get this knocked out in no time,” he assured me, then winked.
I liked it when he winked. Almost as much as I liked his dimple when he smiled.
“Th-th-thank you,” I said, wishing I spoke normally so I could say more without it taking me forever to get it out. My cheeks were red enough already. No need to embarrass myself more.
I hurried in the direction of my aunt’s bedroom.
“Hey, Bryn,” Rio said.
“Yes?” I asked, turning back to look at him.
His hair was dark, but with the summer sun, it had some lighter streaks in it. This year, he had let it grow out, and it was tucked behind his ears. It made it even harder not to stare at him with complete adoration on my face.
“Joey won’t be messing with you anymore,” he said with a scowl. “Wish you’d told me about him. I’d have stopped it already.”
Joey Turner was a bully. He lived in the last trailer on the left, and every time I had to go to the store or anywhere, he showed up to either take the money my aunt had given me, shove me down and laugh at my clothing, or twist my arm just because he liked to hear me beg him to stop. It had only started this summer. I wasn’t sure what I had done to make an enemy out of him.
“It w-w-wasn’t y-y-your prob-b-blem,” I said.
Rio raised his eyebrows. “Someone messes with you, then, yeah, Bryn, it is.”
In that moment, I was sure I’d love Rio March forever.
Turned out, forever wasn’t a real thing.
Chapter One
Bryn
present day
Please don’t let that be Tory.
“Please, please, please,” I whispered my plea to no one in particular. I had stopped praying long ago when my prayers fell on deaf ears. My pleading was more of a way of silently panicking.
“What is it, Aunt Bryn?” Cullen asked from the backseat.
I had hoped he would fall asleep while I drove around, looking for his mother. Unfortunately, he was still awake, and I blamed my sister for that. If she had been at home like she should be, then he would have been tucked in bed at this time, but that wasn’t the case.
“Nothing, buddy. Just lie back and close your eyes,” I suggested, knowing that wasn’t going to happen.
Cullen was wise for his four years. With a mother like Tory, a kid grew up fast. Even if I was doing all I could to give him some semblance of a stable home life, his mother was screwing that up every chance she got.
“Is that Mama?” he asked, leaning forward in his seat.
I winced as Tory took the metal pole in her hand and swung hard, slamming it into the windshield of a Jeep.
Oh God.
No.
Not that Jeep .
I stopped the car behind the familiar Jeep my sister was currently beating the hell out of in the parking lot of a beach bar. She was going to draw attention to herself—if she hadn’t already. She was yelling at the Jeep as if it were a person.
“Do not get out of this car, Cullen. Do you hear me?” I said, looking back at my nephew, who was watching with wide eyes as his mother acted like a psycho.
He nodded his head and looked at me a moment. “What is she doing?”
“I don’t know. Just stay in here. No matter what. Stay in this car. Promise me.”
“I promise,” he replied, his voice shaky from nerves.
With that reassurance, I jerked open the driver’s door and got out of the car and went to stop my sister. “I swear to God, Tory, if you swing that thing one more time, I am going to hit you with it,” I told her as I advanced on her.