Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
All the teasing had left Grace now, and we hiked along silently for a moment before she said, “He started projecting his dreams onto you.”
“You’re good at this game.”
She shook her head, pausing when we hit the top of the ascent. We could see the creek now, which was more like a river, the water flowing beneath us.
“I don’t fault him,” I said as we started hiking down toward the bridge. “I can’t imagine having everything taken from me like that. He’s come a long way with surgeries and rehab and physical therapy, but… he can’t walk, let alone skate. And if it wasn’t for him pushing me the way he did, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far.”
“I’m sure it was hard,” Grace said softly. “All that pressure.”
The way she said it — it was as if she could relate.
And when I thought about what it would have been like growing up with Vince Tanev as an older brother, I imagined she probably really could relate in her own way.
“He started drinking on top of it all, and when he’s drunk? He’s a fucking monster,” I said. “To me, to Mom, to anyone around him. And then he’ll sober up and yell at you like you are the crazy one, like you’re the problem. And the cycle repeats.”
Grace stayed quiet, listening, and I didn’t realize how much I needed to talk about this — not until more and more words tumbled from my lips like they’d been waiting to get free for decades.
“The funny thing is, the better I get, the further my career progresses… the angrier he becomes. He gets raging mad when I don’t perform at the level he thinks I can, but then when I do perform…”
I swallowed, my body physically not allowing me to say anything more than that.
“And your mom?” Grace asked.
That made my jaw harden. “I don’t even know who my mom is, past the shell of who she became taking care of my father. She has nothing but empathy for him, and she stands by him no matter what.” I breathed a laugh. “As much as she can with the flimsy backbone she has, anyway.”
My nostrils flared, but even as good as the words felt to say, my stomach soured. I loved her, and I didn’t want to talk shit.
But she could have saved herself, could have saved us both — and she chose not to.
“True love,” Grace said quietly, pausing at the foot of the suspension bridge.
“If that’s love, then I don’t want it.”
She nodded, and then before I could prepare for it, she launched herself into my arms.
Her hug was ferocious for the tiny thing that she was. She crushed me to her like she could shield me from the world, and I stiffened only a second before I was hugging her back. My grip was soft at first, hesitant, but then I wrapped her up, closing my eyes when she rested her head against my chest and squeezed me with all her might.
My throat was tight for a completely different reason now.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been hugged.
“Thank you for sharing all that with me,” she whispered, her voice just barely reaching my ears above the sound of the creek rushing below us.
“Thank you for listening.”
She squeezed me tight one last time before pulling back, her eyes a bit glossy when she looked up at me. But she smiled despite whatever she was feeling, the kind of smile that spanned her whole face and lit her up like a Christmas tree.
“Last one across the bridge has to jump in the creek!”
She took off like a lightning bolt, absolutely zero fear as she sprinted across the swinging bridge. She didn’t care that it looked old and dilapidated, that it shook precariously the farther she got toward the middle of it. She just ran and laughed with her hands in the air, ponytail swinging behind her.
She was freedom personified.
I bit back a smile as I watched her run, hands hanging on my hips. I couldn’t believe how much I’d just shared with her. It had me feeling a little crazy, like I didn’t want to calculate all the risks before I made my next move.
So, I sprinted after her, following the sound of her laughter and silently praying the rickety boards of the bridge didn’t give way. But I had a feeling it’d hold steady.
I was lighter than I’d been in years.
Favorite Sound in the World
Grace
A cool breeze rushed across the top of the creek, sweeping up and over my slick skin. I sighed, instantly cooler, closing my eyes on a smile and tilting my face toward the sun streaming through the trees.
There was nothing like this.
It was easy to get swept away in how urgent everything seemed in life — get good grades, graduate college, go to work, pay your bills, find a husband, settle down, buy a house, make babies. It seemed we always had our eyes cast on the future, on following the grand master plan.