Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
It actually felt like a physical ache to stand by and watch as Rhys leaned over the counter and pointed at the stuffed toys as the guy winked in his direction.
Palms clammy and heart beating out of his chest, Emerson looked behind him and spotted the Ferris wheel. He remembered that feeling of being away from the world the higher it climbed—which was probably the extent of his daredevil antics as compared to Rhys.
“We’re just gonna head over here…” Emerson trailed off when he realized Rhys had barely responded, let alone looked in their direction.
Huh, guess that was what a freaking crush looked like.
Emerson had never taken an interest in any girls yet, so he didn’t get why the hell this bothered him so much. Given the option to take it or leave it, he’d leave it in a heartbeat. He wouldn’t want to act that ridiculous.
Stupid Rhys. Fuck, his stomach was throbbing.
He ushered his siblings toward the Ferris wheel, wanting to get the hell away from the raw emotions pelting his chest.
The line was short, and he handed the tickets to the guy running the ride and climbed onto the seat beside his siblings, even as Audrey protested not asking Rhys to join them. As soon as the ride swooped him into the air, away from…well, everything, he felt calmer. If a bit queasy.
When the Ferris wheel paused at the top to let more riders on down below, he shushed a chattering Sam and finally glanced over the side toward the ground. He could just make out Rhys near the games. They looked like specks of sand, and that put it all in perspective for him. He reminded himself that the world was bigger than him, and someday soon he’d be an adult and free to figure stuff out on his own. Maybe he’d even go out of state to college, if he was able to get a scholarship or some financial aid.
Rhys said he planned to take a year off between high school and college and go hiking in every national park he could think of or maybe travel to Europe. Bet he would’ve liked to be on the Ferris wheel with them. Now he felt guilty. He shook the thought from his mind. He was being stupid and selfish. It was inevitable that one of them would eventually crush on someone. Didn’t mean their friendship was over.
He felt way better by the time they got off the ride and saw Rhys waiting for them near the ticket taker, holding the pig for Audrey and the monkey for Sam. Damn him. He looked flustered, like maybe he’d been searching for them. Remorse wormed its way inside him again.
“Why’d you wander off?” Rhys asked, kneeling down to give the kids their prizes.
“Looked like you were busy.” Emerson glanced back to the basketball booth, where Rhys’s new friend was eyeing him with a shy smile.
“What? I wasn’t—” A blush crawled across his cheeks.
“It’s okay. I get it.” Or he would. Someday. Right?
Three Years Later
Rhys
“You smell like a monkey and look like one too!” They were celebrating Sam’s seventh birthday. Rhys purposely sang the loudest, in a goofy voice, trying to keep the family’s attention away from the empty seats around the table.
The year after the accident that took Emerson’s mom’s and stepdad’s lives was brutal. They’d just graduated high school, and Emerson was going off to college to get his nursing degree—and they would’ve been apart for the first time in their lives, which had made Rhys feel all sorts of melancholy. Still, he wouldn’t wish what happened next on his worst enemy.
Rhys had begun a summer course at the community college to earn a degree in exercise physiology while he worked at Flying High, an adventure sports shop, when he got the phone call that would forever give him nightmares. One minute Emerson’s parents were there, and then they were just…gone. The semi that collided with their car on the freeway took the trucker’s life as well, and the authorities suspected he might’ve fallen asleep at the wheel.
The way Emerson had sounded, like he was numb and horrified all at once, was something he wouldn’t soon forget. He’d dropped everything to be with the Rose family, hanging out with the kids while Emerson and his aunt made the funeral arrangements and Rhys’s mom cooked their meals with plenty of leftovers.
The first month, Rhys had slept in Emerson’s bed some nights, either watching over him or holding him while he sobbed into his shoulder, getting snot all over him, but Rhys didn’t care; his heart was broken too. Sometimes the kids would wander in to climb beneath the covers, some variation of scared and sad and confused, or he’d volunteer to sleep in a chair in Sam’s or Audrey’s rooms.
The summer went by in a blur before blending into the next two seasons. There was no question in Emerson’s mind that he would raise his siblings and keep them not only in their routines, but also in their childhood home, so he promptly withdrew from college and got a job in the billing department of a hospital, most likely assuming it was a decent compromise of his goals. And whereas Emerson was pretty adamant on that front, he was in a numb fog in all the others. He usually appeared to be going through the motions, while his aunt Janice helped with getting his parents’ assets organized and everything else that went along with losing someone unexpectedly. She had a family of her own but still came every weekend to assist with going through their things and making piles for donations that Rhys helped drive to a local charity.