Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79211 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“So no one can track you up here? No one knows where you are?”
“They’d know I’m at my house but no, no one would know I’m up here. And I don’t bring any electronics up here.”
I sit back on one of the patio chairs, built large enough for a man like me, and flick on one of the outdoor heaters. In the colder months, the vibrant greenery lies dormant and the roof becomes frost-kissed. I almost like it better this way. A splash of color from evergreens and hardy winter shrubs are nestled amidst padded benches and a trellis. It can be cold without the heaters and it’s sometimes dusted with snow, but it’s beautiful and quiet.
Harper perches on the end of my chair, hands sinking into the cushion, her legs stretched out in front of her. “This is amazing, you know. Truly amazing. It’s a secret garden. Your secret garden.”
“Now yours,” I say softly, reaching for her. I drag her sideways onto my lap, and she nestles in comfortably.
Her eyes reflect the night sky as she marvels at the outdoor furniture and carpet, the oversized plants and small waterfall that trickles over rocks, glimmering under the moonlight. I’m not a romantic guy, but this moment feels like poetry. Her mere presence somehow warms the air around us.
Harper’s voice is filled with awe when she whispers, “This is like something out of a fairy tale.”
We don’t have fairy tales in my world, but she can have hers.
I’ve always seen this as a place to escape, where I can shrug off responsibilities for a little while and just be me.
“I bet you don’t feel like yourself up here,” she says, as if reading my mind.
“This is my sanctuary from the world below.” My only one.
“I understand. I’m the same way. I’ve always had my little sacred spaces. When we lived in a tiny home, I had a closet I made my own. Cleared a little shelf. I would sit there and doodle and color and shut the door when my parents fought.”
I nod. I get that, fully. My parents rarely fought, but my father had a temper, and we weren’t immune to it.
“I knew that eventually, one day, my parents would marry me off. And I decided that I’d make sure I always had a place of my own. In one home, it was a huge maple in the backyard with a flat patch of grass in front of it. In another, it was a kitchen nook that no one used. I understand why you’d want to keep this a secret, though. When you let someone in, it isn’t just yours anymore.”
I nod. She knows I let her in.
“Yeah.”
She holds my hand in the quiet. Stars twinkle overhead. The heater hums.
“We’ll come back another time. I have to go back down and call Aria.”
A shadow passes over Harper’s face. “Did she tell you why?”
I shake my head. “Not sure but she said it’s urgent, so I have to go.”
I shut off the heater and we head downstairs. There’s something magical about being up on the roof… something transcendent. When we return indoors, we’re only mortal again.
Harper heads to the kitchen to grab some food and I call Aria.
“Aleks. I did some digging. Don’t hate me.”
“There are no conversations that end well after beginning that way,” I tell her. “What?”
“Remember how I said that Harper’s family felt… off. There was like a mirage? That it felt like they had a filter in place?”
I don’t want to hear it. Whatever she is going to tell me, I don’t want to hear it and yet I know that I have to.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a breath.
“Yeah. Did you get past that filter?”
I can hear her swallowing on the other end of the line. “I did, yeah. What do you know about Harper? What has she told you?”
I know that she was used by her parents to make them money. I know that she wasn’t allowed to go to college or do anything normal girls her age should do. I know that she was sexually assaulted and that she doesn’t know who did it.
“Not much. Spill.”
“I was at my checkup today with my OB. We have them weekly now. And you know how my mind works, Aleks. You know how I see codes and numbers and patterns.”
“Yeah.”
I do, because I’m the same way.
The hair on the back of my neck stands up. I know she’s going to tell me something big.
“I noted there were code words for tests they took, and I remembered that I came across a few when I was doing Harper’s background check, only I didn’t think much of it then because they led to nothing. So I looked harder. Deeper. I spent all damn day because fuck it, I don’t want you hoodwinked. I don’t trust them.”