Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
When they arrived, I pulled them both into my room and carefully tiptoed around what Josh had done without specifically naming Nora. She’d trusted me with her secrets, and I’d never betray her. But somebody had to know. Josh couldn’t get away with what he’d done while my Nora suffered in silence.
Not surprisingly, my tiptoeing wasn’t nearly good enough, because Nora’s name came up almost immediately. She was, after all, the only girl I knew.
My mom hugged me and said it was okay to be jealous of my cousin.
My dad lectured me on beating up a family member over a girl—then winked.
I did enough yelling for my grandparents to get involved.
My grandpa said something about boys being boys.
And my grandma asked me who else I’d told.
My aunt and uncle showed up about an hour later, and after a hushed conversation, they berated me for making up such a heinous story about their sweet little angel.
While Dad loaded up my bags in the car that night, my mom assured me they would take care of everything.
And for some asinine reason, I thought it included Josh. I should have known better. The Caskeys were infamous in Clovert. One black sheep and the entire name would be tarnished.
They never made it more clear than when Josh was killed.
They knew about Thea Hull. They saw the pictures from the hospital. They heard what she’d told the investigators. For fuck’s sake, they had actual DNA evidence of what the piece of shit had done to her. And instead of admitting any possible culpability on Josh’s behalf, they asked their attorney to rush through a plea deal for Ramsey so they could avoid the truth coming out during a trial.
You know, priorities and all.
So, no. After I’d warned them about how Josh was a monster and they did not do one fucking thing about it, short of sweeping it under the rug, the only remorse I felt as I stood at Josh’s funeral, listening to my family’s cries, was that I hadn’t put him in a grave two years earlier when I’d found out what he’d done to Nora.
After the funeral, as over half the town congregated at my aunt and uncle’s house, I couldn’t stand being in the same room with those people for a minute longer. So I took off for the only place I’d find any peace. I’d spent entire days out at the Leonards’ creek in the week I’d been back to Clovert. I’d long since given up on seeing Nora there, but I hadn’t gathered the courage to go to her house, either. If being a Caskey had hurt her a few years earlier, it would have slayed her now.
Selfishly, I wanted to see her, to check on her, to help her, but not if it meant breaking her again.
I trudged through the thick grass on my way back to the creek. My church shoes were getting muddy, but I didn’t give one shit what either of my parents would think about it.
I’d just hit the dirt beach when I caught sight of her long, brown hair. My heart stopped and both lungs seized. I couldn’t see her face, but her slumped shoulders and the soft sound of her cries didn’t give me hope for how she was holding up. She was there though, and that alone made it the most beautiful sight in the world.
Sucking in a deep breath, I shoved my hands into my pockets and walked over to her.
She jumped when I sat beside her on the rock. Nerves rolled in my stomach, but I stuck with the familiar.
“Catch anything good?”
“Shit,” she croaked. Turning her head away, she hurriedly wiped her cheeks, but there was no hiding her puffy eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at the funeral.”
I bumped her with my shoulder. “Is it wrong if I’m just happy you were thinking about me at all?”
“Considering my brother is in jail for killing your cousin, I’d say so.” She stood up and dusted off the back of her jeans, ready to bolt.
“Nora, come on. Don’t go. Just talk to me.”
“About what?” She turned around and faced me, crossing her arms over her chest.
Holy shit, I’d thought Nora was all grown up the last time I’d seen her, but now… Jesus, she had to have been a half a foot taller and looked more like a full-fledged woman than the little girl I’d once known. Luckily, I’d done a little growing of my own, so when I stood up and walked over to her, I still had her by a head and shoulders.
“You can talk about anything with me.”
“Mmm,” she hummed, bringing a finger up to tap her bottom lip. “Okay, let’s see, where to start? Ramsey’s gone. Thea is so devastated she hasn’t left her room. I haven’t slept in a week. My house had been egged, the few windows we had left were broken out with firecrackers or bricks, and just last night, our grass was set on fire.”