Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
No matter how hard I pull, the window doesn’t budge. I learn why when a gust wafts up the curtains. River propped the window open with his tablet, which is odd considering it’s one of his most valued possessions. I can still recall how misty his eyes went when I gifted it to him on his birthday. I’d pre-downloaded all his favorite shows so he could watch them anytime he wanted. He didn’t need to wait for Knox to be finished with the television.
My brows stitch when I notice a Post-it note stuck to the screen of his tablet.
Nicole’s eyes only.
When I peel off the Post-it note, I find a second message.
Open it.
I can’t hold back my grin when I spot his password hint written at the bottom of his message.
He’s older than me and a lot taller, but I will always be the best-looking Howell.
With shaky hands, I type “Laken” into the password box of River’s tablet. My heart rattles against my chest when it opens on the notes app.
Nicole,
It’s my fault. Laken did it for me.
Please don’t hate him because he loves me.
He loves you, too. Maybe even more than me. He just has a hard time showing it since our mother didn’t teach him how to love like he taught me. She forgot to tell him that the people you love aren’t meant to hurt you the most.
Laken has never hurt or yelled at me. He is the best big brother I could ever ask for. He taught me how to ride a bike and promised when he got a car, he’d teach me how to drive too.
Then he went away to keep the promise he made to me when our mother left.
I begged him to come back, and after a long time, he finally did. But now they’re trying to take him away again.
I can’t let that happen. He is my brother, and families are meant to look out for each other.
Please don’t be upset I left.
Laken will take care of me. He always has.
Rivadlfkjaijier.
He must have gotten interrupted because a string of letters ends his note like he had to store his tablet away in a hurry.
“Oh, River…”
As my guilt doubles, a message pops up on the screen of River’s tablet.
Emily:
Thank you for the update, River. We recently spoke to Nicole, and she does seem better today, but are you okay? Your voice sounded a little croaky in your last video. I hope you’re not getting sick. Em xx
When I click on Emily’s message to open it, I learn how River kept them updated on my heartache’s progress. He took video blogs. In almost every video, I’m sleeping, but a handful see me begrudgingly eating some of the food wheeled into my room each day.
A broad smile creases the corners of my eyes when River gives a running commentary of my every move in a video that saw me gulping down unsweetened coffee since I was too lazy to go into the kitchen to fetch sugar. “She’s like a bear with a sore head, forced from hibernation by the very people wanting to hunt her.”
I realize Emily wasn’t the only one he was communicating with when I scroll down his contacts list. My parents were given daily vlogs, and he’s been in contact with Petra for longer than I’ve been heartbroken.
They talk about the weather, flowers, and rainy rooftop concerts while exchanging a handful of pictures. Laken and I feature in most of them.
It’s weird looking at our dynamic from the outside in. Almost surreal. He seems completely different from the man his criminal record depicts.
He’s humble and sweet, even occasionally shy.
And the adoration he expresses when looking at his brother can’t be denied.
He’d do anything for River.
Anything at all.
As words River wrote circle through my weary head, a shadow fills the door of his room.
“What are you doing in here, Nicole?” Knox asks, his tone suspicious.
“River left,” I reply while shaking his tablet.
“What?” I can’t tell if his voice is shocked or relieved. “Are you sure he’s gone? He might have just popped out to grab some sarsaparilla. He’s notorious for wandering off when hungry.”
“He hasn’t gone out for a soda. He left me a note.”
“Where is it?”
His eyes stop darting in all directions when I shake the tablet for a second time. Then he snatches it from my grasp so fast he almost cracks the screen.
“It’s fucking locked,” he mutters before tossing it onto the bed. Too impatient to acknowledge I couldn’t have read his note without the passcode, he asks, “What did it say?”
The unexpected fear in his voice has me speaking slowly. “That families are meant to have each other’s backs and that Laken needs his help.”
“Is that where you think he’s gone? To find Laken?”
Nodding, I stray my eyes to the phone book that announces River’s investigative skills.