Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Jayden nodded slowly and slipped a hand underneath his jacket to scratch his shoulder.
“Adeline knows me,” Gray murmured pointedly. “She’ll be on your side. On our side.”
Jayden hummed and rested his side against Gray’s chest. “Jonas liked you, right? He trusted you.”
Gray held his breath, unsure of where this was going. “Yeah? We would take care of the younger guys together.”
Jayden nodded once. “I wanna live with you when your bad dreams are gone.”
Hugging the kid to him tightly, Gray let the determination flow through him, and he stated the honest truth to himself and the voices of doubt that’d taken up residence in his head since last fall.
I won’t quit. I’m making this little punk mine one day.
Admitting it to himself, despite fears and obstacles he had to overcome before any of this was even possible, cemented the future. It was one thing he knew for certain. One thing he could work toward, one thing that shouted louder than the voices that yelled that he was crazy. You? A parent? Come on! He pressed a kiss to the top of Jayden’s head. You’re only twenty-one! What the fuck do you know? You’ve lost it! It would work out.
It would work out.
Twelve
Gray took a deep breath as Darius drove them past a familiar sign that read Welcome to Camassia Cove.
He hadn’t been home in almost six months.
Darius rested his arm along the back of the bench and gave Gray’s neck a gentle squeeze.
Jayden sat between them, curious gaze wandering around them. So far, it was just forest.
Dusk wasn’t the prettiest angle of Camassia, especially when it was raining and the meteorologist on the radio was predicting a week of high thirties and low forties at best.
Emerging from the forest, the first thing they saw was the truck stop where Canadian truckers could be treated to the “best poutine south of the border.” Then more forest, before a cluster of big-box stores opened up the landscape with their massive parking lots. There was Mom’s favorite shoe store, the Target Gray was taking Jayden to tomorrow to pick up some things he needed, an Old Navy, Staples, and all those other usual stores
Darius continued north, past the exit for Cedar Valley where Gray had grown up, then into another patch of forest that made Jayden chuckle. He evidently remembered their conversation about the districts being separated by wilderness.
“City forest,” he laughed.
Gray grinned and ruffled his hair.
They drove past Camas next, which was just south of Downtown.
“My restaurant’s that way.” Darius nodded at the sign for the marina in Downtown. “Gray will have to bring you down for dinner one night soon.”
Jayden nodded and looked up at Gray. “You have to.”
“I promise.” Gray was torn between amusement and nervousness. Ponderosa was next, meaning they were out of time.
Adeline was expecting them. Gray had called her earlier when they’d stopped for lunch.
They went up the mountainside, and while Jayden gazed out of Darius’s window with wide eyes fixed on the view, Gray envisioned the road ahead of them getting shorter and shorter. They passed one lavish architect’s wet dream after another. Eventually, the ground leveled out, and they circled the private high school Gray had attended, the minor league hockey arena he’d thought he’d fallen in love with his coach in, and the lacrosse field. Signs pointed residents to the locations of the private marina, the country club, and a retirement home. Mom and Aiden’s house was to the right. They turned left.
In the end, the signs blurred together, and Gray swallowed his nausea.
Farther up the mountain, the grand homes came few and far between. Gray flicked a glance at the Hayes residence, where he had visited Abel thousands of times over the years. It was a big house, though only Abel’s parents, Adeline and Lincoln, and baby sister still lived there.
“Look how high up we are!” Jayden pointed at the view between the trees.
“You said you like mountains,” Gray murmured with a smile. “Now you’ll live on one.”
Jayden smirked. “Cool. And I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“Absolutely.” It wasn’t the first time Gray had reassured him. It was the only sign indicating Jayden’s own nervousness. He’d been forced to grow up way too young; he’d been taught not to show weakness, but maybe his shell was cracking around Gray and Darius. “I’ll pick you up at ten.”
“Okay, good.” Jayden’s hand twitched next to Gray’s on the seat.
Gray covered the kid’s hand with his own and gave it a squeeze.
Jayden let out a breath.
At the very end of the road, they arrived at a small parking lot. There was a tiny picnic table area too. This was where they did pickups for field trips. Right in front of them loomed a big, white house with high walls surrounding it.
Gray recognized Adeline’s husband’s truck in the lot. Either he was visiting Adeline, which happened, or she’d borrowed his vehicle.