Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 91438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
When I got my first car, it’d been because I’d saved up the money for it since I started working at fifteen.
Although my parents were great, they weren’t the richest folks.
In fact, they weren’t even middle class.
We were the ‘barely making it’ class.
Even now, with me out of the house, they were still struggling to make ends meet.
They did have more kids besides me, so it was understandable.
But it was also probably why I’d be in debt until I was fifty.
Paying for my bachelor’s degree in nursing wasn’t very easy. Thank God for student loans.
Although they wouldn’t be my friends once I graduated.
“Why are you going so slow, Sawyer? I feel like we’re crawling!” Bristol yelled, leaning forward on the console.
“Put your seatbelt on or I’ll pull this truck over,” I said with as much venom as I could.
Neither one of them ever wore seatbelts, and it drove me absolutely nuts.
I heard two clicks, and I turned accusing eyes onto Isaac.
He knew my rule!
“Why is it so hard for y’all to follow that rule? I mean, seriously, it could save your life if we were in an accident!” I growled, turning back when I saw lights flash in front of me.
I couldn’t stop.
A Ford Bronco pulled out in front of me and did it at the exact wrong time.
Under normal circumstances, had he done that, I would’ve missed him.
But I was in Isaac’s huge truck, which was hard to slow because it was so big.
I was also driving at night. In the rain.
So, instead of stopping or even slowing when I slammed on the brakes, it slid.
Then the brakes locked.
The tires squealed.
Isaac, Bristol and I screamed.
And we hit the Bronco with a deafening, blood-curdling crash.
It was terrible.
I saw the whites of the man’s eyes before the truck T-boned him.
Saw the woman in the front seat turn to someone in the back.
Then nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
I couldn’t get my brain to make any sense of what had just happened, and wouldn’t know until days later that I had killed every single person in the vehicle.
And it was all my fault.
***
Six months later
“After considering all of the evidence and hearing the defendant’s testimony, we find the defendant guilty of four counts of manslaughter,” the spokesman for the jury said.
My world came screeching to a stop.
All of my time.
All of my dreams.
Gone.
Every single one of them.
Four counts of manslaughter.
I looked at my mother with tear filled eyes.
She looked back at me with the same sad expression.
I closed my eyes, a single tear slipping down my cheek.
“Sawyer Ann Berry, you are hereby sentenced to eight years in Huntsville. Dismissed,” Judge Abbott declared, finalizing this entire nightmare with the slam of his gavel.
My heart hurt.
I couldn’t breathe.
Eight years.
I’d be nearly thirty when I got out!
“Don’t worry, Sawyer. I’ll get you out. We’ll appeal it. I promise you,” my father’s good friend and my attorney, Donald Barber, promised.
I looked at him and shook my head. “Just…just take care of my parents. They’re going to need you.”
He smiled at me sadly. “I will, pumpkin.”
My only hope, once the appeal was denied, was that I’d make parole.
I looked over at my best friend, who understandably felt horrible, and my boyfriend…whom I hadn’t broken up with because he’d become my rock.
Maybe not so much of a boyfriend anymore, more like a huge part of my support system.
The two of them had become my sole source of strength through this nightmare. I couldn’t have made it through without them.
They’d stayed with me, despite what I’d done.
And I couldn’t thank them enough.
***
Four years later
“Parole denied.”
My eyes closed, and my heart ripped in half.
The last thread holding it in one piece was gone.
Most likely forever.
Chapter 1
If she chooses a day on the back of your bike to a day of shopping, then she’s a keeper.
-T-shirt
Silas
“I’m sorry, Silas. It just happened. I never thought we would get back together. But with Sawyer getting out next week, we started talking a lot again, and we’ve come to the decision that splitting up wasn’t something that either one of us wanted to do,” Reba said softly.
My brows rose.
“Reba, honey. We’ve never really had anything exclusive. I understand that you’d want to get back with your old man. Hell, that’s probably why I never did anything past kiss you and spend time with you. I knew your heart belonged to another man.” I shook my head, but raised my hand to rest softly on the side of her face. “It’s okay, darlin’. It’s time to put you first and not that girl of yours. She’s a grown woman now.”
Reba smiled at me sadly.
“You don’t know Sawyer, though. These past eight years have changed her. She’s not the same bright, happy book nerd anymore. My baby is gone, and she needs me now. She needs her family even more now than she ever did. Plus…when she finds out about Isaac, she’s going to be heartbroken,” she whispered.
“What?” I asked.
I didn’t really want to know, but the fucking brothers had turned me into a fuckin’ gossip whore.
Not to mention that this had been huge for our little community.
Everyone knew what had happened.
Knew Reba, her husband, and their four kids.
Had prayed right along with the rest of the city that what had happened wouldn’t get any worse for the poor woman.
Then Reba had to go on and prove that the loser Sawyer had thought was hers was a big piece of shit.
“Isaac got some woman pregnant,” Reba said, slicking her hair back. “I’ve been telling Sawyer for years that she shouldn’t have expected Isaac to wait.” She shook her hair. “Isaac is getting married to that woman next weekend. The fucking week after Sawyer is set to get out, no less.”
What a fuckin’ chicken shit.
“Well, let me know if you need anything, okay?” I told her softly.
Reba smiled.
“Thank you, Silas. You’re very sweet,” she said, giving me a hug.
I hugged her back and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Gotta go, sweetheart. Let me know if you need me.”
Reba nodded and waved as I straddled my bike.