Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Fuck. Ernie.
I never go anywhere without him, but obviously I couldn’t take him with me to Larson’s place. He’d have caused a ruckus. I left him closed in my room and hoped he wouldn’t make any noises to wake up Mom or Uncle Bobby. Clearly, he hadn’t.
“He’s around,” I say. “Excuse me for a minute. I’ve got to take a leak.”
I slip out of the barn, my heart pounding. I have to get to Ernie before he decides to start scratching at my door to be let out. If Mom hears him, she’ll want to know why he isn’t with me. I all but run across the yard, into the house, and to my room where I left Ernie. To my relief, the dog is sleeping peacefully on my bed, his tail thumping lightly against the mattress as I enter.
“Good boy,” I murmur, petting his soft head. A wave of guilt washes over me—for leaving him alone, for lying to Uncle Bobby, for what we did at Larson’s place...
But I shake it off.
What’s done is done, and I need to keep a cool head. We won’t meet to divvy up the cash until tomorrow. Let everything settle first. If all goes as planned, Larson won’t even know he was robbed.
I slide my hand over the pocket of my jeans, where my secret keepsake from Larson still sits. I take it out—his pocket watch, the one he liked to show off with a smug grin. I don’t know what it’s worth, but I wasn’t drawn to its value. I took it because it was Larson’s pride and joy. After all, the bastard took a shot at Ernie once. He deserves what he gets.
I flip it over. There’s an engraving on the back.
Grace is the true wealth.
I can’t help a scoff. Seriously? That mean old bastard who doesn’t trust banks and buries thousands of dollars in cash in a metal box? Who struts around showing off his gold watch?
What a crock.
It’s probably just gold paint. I shove it back in my pocket when my phone buzzes.
It’s Jake.
“Yeah?” I say into the phone, keeping my voice low.
“Riv, thank God.” His voice is agitated.
“What is it? Did you get home all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. But Marnie’s gone.”
“Wait. What?”
“She came here last night after she had a big fight with her mom and stepdad. They want her to get rid of the baby, and she doesn’t want to.”
“So you just left her there? Fuck, that’s why you and Seb were late.”
“Yeah. I told her Seb needed me. That his mother came home from a bender and passed out, and...”
“Does your mom know where she is?”
“My mom isn’t home.”
“Did you try calling her?”
“She’s not answering. What if she went after me?”
Chills slither up my spine. Despite the run-in with the bear, everything went off without a hitch. We got the loot. And now...
“She wasn’t there, Jake. It was just us. I watched the whole thing from Larson’s window.”
But even as I say the words, a feeling of dread comes over me.
This isn’t done.
Not by a long shot.
EPISODE 143
PAST AND PRESENT
Sienna
I hate hospitals.
But I’m here. I’m here to see Lavonne Robinson, the woman who—until Leroy cheated on me—was like a second mother to me.
Leroy sits in the waiting area of the ICU, and despite myself, I gasp in a breath at the sight of him. He’s formidable, as always, with his dark eyes and perfect body.
But something’s different. His eyes are sunken and sad, and his lips are trembling.
“See.” He stands and embraces me in an awkward hug. “Thank you for coming.”
“How is she?”
“She’s hanging in there. She really wants to see you.”
“I would have come last night, but my plane got delayed, and I...”
He taps my lips with his fingers. “It’s okay. You’re here now.”
I nod, swallowing the lump that’s formed in my throat, his touch still lingering on my lips. The echoes of our past, the sweet memories of our togetherness—it all comes rushing back with an intensity that makes me feel surprisingly weak.
“I should warn you,” he says. “The accident took its toll. Her face is lacerated, and she still may lose her left eye. Multiple rib fractures with a punctured lung. There was damage to her liver and spleen, which they had to remove. But she made it through the night, so things are looking up.”
I pull back, steadying my legs. “Where’s your dad?”
“He’s in there with her. He won’t leave her side.”
Tears well up in my eyes as I imagine Bob Robinson, Leroy’s father and Lavonne’s husband of nearly forty years, keeping vigil by her bedside.
“Can I see her?” I ask, my voice hardly a whisper.
Leroy nods and takes my hand as we check in at the nurse’s station where Leroy fibs, saying I’m his fiancée. Once they buzz us back, he leads me through a maze of white corridors. Different rooms blend into one another, merging into a single picture of pain and sadness.