Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94313 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 472(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“They said that you’d gone to stay with some friends from another chapter,” she replied slowly. “To hopefully find a husband.”
Otto scoffed.
“And you believed that?”
“No,” Noel muttered defensively. “But it’s not like I could argue.”
“Yeah, I know.”
The weight of my parents’ influence on their children was suffocating. If it hadn’t been for Becka, I would’ve never had the courage to question the status quo. Noel didn’t have that.
“I thought you must’ve gotten in trouble or something,” Noel said quietly. “But no one talked about it.”
“Well, you weren’t wrong,” I replied dryly. “I told them I was pregnant.”
“How did you get pregnant?”
“Please tell me you know how babies are made,” I blurted, staring at her in disbelief.
“Of course I know that,” she snapped, her cheeks turning pink as she glanced at Otto. “With him?”
“Hi, I’m Otto,” he said as he held out a hand for her to shake. “I’m Esther’s husband.”
“Your what?” she yelled, dropping his hand like it burned her.
“My husband.”
Noel’s expression shifted from disbelief to confusion to horror in the space of a heartbeat. I wasn’t sure if it was the relief of finally seeing my sister again or the shock of having her standing in Otto’s house, but I found myself fighting laughter. If someone would’ve told me a year before that I’d be married to Otto Hawthorne and pregnant with his baby, I was pretty sure I would’ve worn the same expressions.
“They didn’t send you away?” she said slowly, taking a step backward as she glanced around the house. “You took off with him without telling me? You’re disgusting!”
“Hey,” Otto barked. “Watch it.”
“That’s not how it happened—”
“I thought you were dead.” She huffed. “And all this time you were just living down the road with this—this atheist?”
“Mom and Dad did send me away.” I took a step forward, hating the look of betrayal in her eyes.
“Never been called an atheist as an insult before,” Otto mused behind me. “Has a nice ring to it.”
“Oh, and they sent you to him,” Noel replied sarcastically. “Yeah, right.”
“Otto found me.”
“Esther,” Otto said, his voice full of warning.
“They took me out to a cabin and left me,” I continued, my voice wobbling. “In the middle of nowhere, Noel. It didn’t even have electricity.”
“Esther,” Otto said even louder, his hand coming down on my shoulder.
“Well you probably deserved it,” Noel retorted, gesturing at my belly. “Obviously.”
I staggered back against Otto. Noel was angry, and she was confused, and I knew that she was trying to make sense of everything she was learning, but her words still punctured a small part of me that I’d been protecting.
“Shut your fuckin’ mouth,” Otto growled, making Noel’s eyes widen in fear.
“What’s goin’ on?” Titus asked, bursting through the front door.
“Better get a handle on your girl,” Otto replied, his arm wrapping around my chest. “Or I’m gonna toss her out on her ass.”
“What did Noel do?” Titus asked, letting out a grunt as she threw herself into his arms.
“Talkin’ shit to Esther.”
“It’s fine,” I whispered, watching as Titus rubbed my sister’s back comfortingly. “She’s just upset.”
“Doesn’t mean she can be a bitch, sugar.”
“Don’t call her that,” I ordered.
“I won’t—if she stops actin’ like one.”
“Why don’t we all sit down?” Titus led Noel to the couch.
“Dad headed here?”
Titus nodded.
“Why is your dad coming here?” I asked dumbly, still watching my baby sister.
It had been so long since I’d seen her. Just like everything else I’d compartmentalized, I’d put away the ache of missing her into a small box in the back of my mind. Now that she was sitting just feet from me, that box was wide open. I couldn’t get enough of the sight of her. The long blonde hair, the slim shoulders, the wide brown eyes that tilted up a little in the corners, just like our mom’s. I could’ve stared at her all night.
“Why are you fighting with her?” Titus asked Noel quietly. “You missed her so much.”
“She lied,” Noel whispered back stiffly.
“I didn’t lie,” I interrupted, not bothering to pretend that I couldn’t hear them. “I never lied to you.”
“You left me!”
“Not by choice,” I shot back. “I didn’t have a choice!”
“You could’ve kept your clothes on.”
“You’re ridin’ the line, kid,” Otto growled.
“I’m not a kid,” Noel scoffed. “You’re like three years older than me. Shut up.”
“Knock it off, Noel,” I snapped, raising my voice a little. “Don’t talk to him like that.”
“Pretty sure I’m not hurting his feelings,” she mumbled.
“If I could’ve stayed, I would’ve.” I glanced at Otto. “No, that’s not true.”
Noel scoffed.
“If I could’ve told you that I was leaving, I would’ve,” I clarified, softening my voice. “I didn’t get a chance. You weren’t there when Mom made me pack a bag and they forced me to leave.”
“You could’ve left a note,” Noel argued. “Anything.”
Memories of that morning flashed through my mind. My dad standing in the doorway, telling us to hurry up. My mom pulling dresses out of the closet, neatly packing them into my suitcase. The dress I’d worn for Thanksgiving hanging over the back of my desk chair. Noel’s bed, neatly made across the room from mine.