Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 775(@200wpm)___ 620(@250wpm)___ 517(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
Thirty-one years ago
Isabelle Ashley blinked away her tears, pulling them deep into herself.
She hadn’t cried since Mama died. And she wasn’t going to cry just because of some nasty, stupid boys.
“Aww, the baby is gonna cry!” Teddy said loudly. He’d just moved down the street from where Isabelle lived a few weeks ago. “Waa waa.”
The other three boys laughed. They were all big meanies.
“Shut up, Teddy!” She kicked him in the shin.
His friends laughed harder as Teddy’s face grew bright red.
Uh-oh.
Isa might only be five, but she knew when she was in trouble.
She didn’t even have time to run before he shoved her.
Hard.
Falling to the ground, she bit back a cry of pain.
Do not cry. Do not cry.
Suddenly, she heard a war whoop and stared in shock as Teddy was tackled to the ground.
Another boy was straddling him, glaring down at him ferociously.
It was that wild kid. She wasn’t sure what his name was, but she’d heard her dad talking to Ted’s dad about him, about how he lived up the mountain with his granddad.
“Get off me! Get off!” Teddy yelled. He tried to knock him off, but the boy easily subdued him, pinning his arms down.
“You shouldn’t push girls around, Teddy-bear!” the boy said.
“That’s not my name!”
She stared down in surprise as Teddy started to cry.
“What’s the matter?” the boy asked. “I’m not even hurting you.”
“Get off me!” Teddy demanded.
“Not ‘til you say sorry.”
“I’m not saying sorry to the crybaby! Help!”
All of Ted’s friends scattered.
“You touched a girl. That’s not okay. Say you’re sorry. Say it,” the boy said in a surprisingly deep voice.
“Sorry, Isabelle!” Teddy yelled.
“Don’t touch her again.” The boy let Teddy go.
Teddy was still crying as he ran off. Isabelle didn’t feel sorry for him, though. He was a meanie and a bully.
She glanced at the boy. Walking over to her, he held out his hand. It was dirty, but she didn’t care. Sliding her hand into his, she let him help her up.
“Are you okay?” he asked, bending over slightly to peer down at her.
Isa slid her thumb into her mouth. Her dad would yell at her if he caught her, but she found it soothing when she was scared or tired.
Also . . . she didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t usually shy, but this boy had saved her.
“Did they hurt you?” he demanded.
She shook her head.
“Do you want me to walk you home?”
She nodded.
“All right, let’s go. You have to tell me where to go, though.” He started walking.
But she couldn’t move.
Turning back, he frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”
Isa pointed up into the tree, then she realized she had to speak. Isabelle slid her thumb free.
“They threw Razzie up there.”
“Razzie?”
“My rainbow bear. Mama gave him to me.”
His face darkened, but then he nodded. To her shock, he started climbing the tree. He went higher and higher as she watched on in shock, certain he was going to fall and hurt himself.
However, he got high enough to grab Razzie. “Catch.”
She caught her beloved bear in her arms and then watched the boy climb back down. When he reached the ground, she threw herself at him.
He just stood there, as though unsure what to do, while she hugged him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Hugging you.”
“Oh.”
She leaned back to look up into his face. His hair was too long and he had streaks of dirt on his cheeks.
“Don’t you know how to hug?” she asked.
“Uh. No.”
“That’s okay, I’ll teach you. Mama says I’m a great hugger.”
“All right. You should go home now to your mama.”
“I can’t.” She drew away from him, staring at the ground. “She died.”
“My parents are dead, too.”
Her head shot up. “Yeah?”
“Yep.”
That explained why he didn’t know how to hug. Isabelle decided that she was going to look after this boy. She slid her hand in his.
One day, she might even marry him.
Isa filled her backpack with everything she needed. A change of clothes. Razzie. Toothbrush. Snacks. And her sleeping bag. Then she snuck out her bedroom window and jumped to the ground below.
She wasn’t allowed to climb out her window.
Then again, she wasn’t really allowed to run away, either. But she was doing it.
Walking to the back of the property, she headed through the woods until she got to their spot. Then she climbed the old ladder up into the treehouse they’d created.
Well, Lachie had built most of it. He wouldn’t really let her help. Which had annoyed her.
Boys could be so silly sometimes.
When she got into the tree house, she laid out her sleeping bag. She’d use her hoodie as a pillow. Then she grabbed a packet of chocolate chip cookies out of her backpack. Her stepmom would be mad when she saw them gone, but Isa didn’t care.
She wouldn’t be there.
She’d nearly finished the packet when she heard a noise from the ladder, and then Lachie popped his head into the tree house.