Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
I grinned. “Well, I hope you learned your lesson.”
“Is the lesson that you used loaded dice?”
“Possibly.”
He barked a laugh, but his eyes were serious. “We need to talk, Thea. You’ve been hiding for long enough. Nora’s been calling the house nonstop.”
I looked at my laptop and absently clicked through the million tabs I had open. “Nope. Not happening. I have nothing to say to Nora yet.”
“Thea, come on. She’s your sister.”
I leveled him with a glare. “She’s not my sister. She’s Ramsey’s sister and we all see where their loyalties lie.”
“Is that what this is about?” He stepped into the room, shutting the door. Misty must have come home with him. No use in dragging her into this mess, though over the last few days, she had been pretty skeptical about why Nora hadn’t been around.
I curled my lip. “What the hell did you think it was about?”
Shoving the folders aside, he sat at the foot of the bed. “You’re upset that Ramsey chose Nora over you?”
No. That was just the emotion of the hour.
Over the last three days, I’d been on a never-ending rollercoaster.
There was confusion and hurt, anger and bitterness, guilt and frustration.
I hated Ramsey and Nora.
I missed them.
I loved them.
I blocked their numbers.
I never wanted to see them again.
I went through old pictures.
I made my father tell me every single detail about what had happened when Nora tried to kill herself.
I cussed him out for not allowing me to be a part of her healing process.
I hated them some more.
I was too exhausted to hate them anymore.
I wanted to shake Nora.
I wanted to slap Ramsey.
I cried.
And cried.
And…cried.
Ramsey and Nora were my people. My family. My team. Even when Ramsey wanted nothing to do with me, because of Nora, he was still a huge part of my life.
Why hadn’t they trusted me? They’d made decisions that had changed my life, so I should have gotten a say.
And yes, at the moment, I was pissed to all hell and back that Ramsey had essentially chosen Nora over me.
I shut my computer and set it aside. “If he loved me as much as he told me he did, he never would have taken that plea bargain. All he had to do was tell the truth. Nora probably wouldn’t even have gotten in trouble after what Josh did to her.”
He rested his hand on my foot and gave it a squeeze. “Nora tried to tell the truth. His dad was the mayor. The cops didn’t care about the truth. They threatened to arrest her for obstruction of justice. We’d have ended up with both of them behind bars.”
“She should have tried harder. I took out a billboard to make people see what Josh did to me. She could have gone to the police station at least twice.”
He crossed and then uncrossed his legs. “Okay. Let’s hypothetically say she did convince them to take her seriously and she was the one who ended up in prison. Do you really think Ramsey could have just gone on about his life, traveling the world, having a grand old time while his sister sat in prison?”
I clamped my mouth shut. No, Ramsey wouldn’t have been able to do that at all. Stupid, loyal Stewarts.
“Exactly. He would have been a mess, and I’ll be honest, I don’t think you two would have been able to make it through that.”
“You don’t know that,” I hissed. “And thanks to her, we never even got the chance to try.”
“She was a kid, Thea. A troubled, terrified, naïve kid. Just like Ramsey. And just like you. I’m not saying it’s okay. But this is what happens when dumb kids make grown-people decisions. I struggled like hell when I found out what happened. I was torn in half by my heart and my conscience. That poor kid sitting in a cell for something he didn’t even do.” He shook his head when emotion clogged his throat. “It was why I went to see Ramsey in prison. I needed to understand. And you want to know what he told me?”
I didn’t want to care, but I was desperate to make sense of this mess. “What?”
“He told me he didn’t know how else to fix it. Like any of this was ever his to fix. I swear that boy’s heart is bigger than his brain, but that’s not the worst quality a man could have.” He blew out a ragged breath. “He didn’t choose Nora over you, Thea. He chose the person he loved who needed him the most at the time. Trust me, Ramsey would have rather spent the last twelve years with you instead of showering with a bunch of naked men.”
A laugh escaped my throat, but tears filled my eyes. “Why is everything so hard, Dad?”
His face got soft. “Now that I can’t answer. But hard doesn’t equal impossible, baby. You have to decide what you’re willing to weather and what you’re willing to quit.”