Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71616 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“Hi Rudy,” Blue says, moving toward the male nurse. He’s in his early twenties I’d guess and a big guy. He smiles warmly, enveloping Blue in a bear hug. Blue rests her cheek against his chest and closes her eyes. I watch her relax into him and something tightens in my gut.
She trusts him.
“Hey you,” Rudy says.
After a long moment, I clear my throat and they all turn to me.
“Happy Birthday, Wren,” I say, stepping toward Blue’s sister, offering her a genuine smile.
Her smile falters and she stares up at me, uncertain. She takes a step backward, still hugging that bear to herself.
“Blue?” she asks, eyes on me.
Blue comes to my side. “This is Zeke, Wren. He drove me over here. And he got you these.” She points to the flowers I’m holding. “Didn’t you, Zeke?” I shift my gaze to Blue and see her serious expression. “Didn’t you?” she asks again.
I hold the flowers out to Wren, feeling exactly like the asshole Blue accuses me of being, realizing why Blue grabbed those at the last minute. “Your sister said you like flowers as much as you do balloons,” I say to Wren.
“He’s okay,” Blue whispers to Wren, squeezing her hand. “It’s okay, Wren. He’s not scary.”
Aren’t I though? I shouldn’t be here.
“Would you look at those,” Rudy says, stepping forward to take the flowers as Wren watches me, still wary. It makes me wonder what she remembers of the night that changed her life. If she’s instinctively terrified of men now. Rudy looks like a big teddy bear. He exudes warmth and kindness. Me? Well, I am a different story. “What do you say, Wren?”
“Thank you,” she says, sounding like a child made to do something they don’t want to do. I feel uncomfortable under Wren’s scrutinizing gaze, and, weirdly, want her to trust me. “Where’s the cake?” Wren asks, turning to Rudy, her forehead furrowed. She then looks to Blue. “Blue, did you forget the cake?”
“Oh. Um, I—”
“It’s in the car. I’ll go get it,” I say, remembering the café across from the gift shop on our way in. I hope they have cake. Blue looks up at me, surprised. “Be right back,” I say.
“I’ll go see if I can wrangle up a vase for these,” Rudy says, and we step out of the room together. Once the door is closed, Rudy looks up at me.
“They’ll have cupcakes in the café. Grab the rainbow ones,” he says. “She’ll like those. And I’ll get some candles at the nurse’s station.”
“Thanks,” I say, and we head in different directions. I buy all the cupcakes the café has so she will have her pick and when I return to Wren’s room, Rudy is already back and he’s arranging the flowers in the vase with Wren.
Blue looks at the box of colorful cakes then up at me. She nods once in approval and, for reasons I can’t explain, I’m glad to have it.
“I hope you like cupcakes,” I announce and Wren and Rudy both turn. When Wren sees the arrangement of colorful cakes, her face lights up and she walks over, mouth open in a surprised O.
“I’m going to have this one and this one and this one,” she starts, pointing to the various cupcakes.
Blue walks over and takes the box from me. “Are you going to leave any for us?” she asks and Wren laughs, and, before she turns to follow her sister, looks up at me, that wary expression a little less so.
19
Blue
An hour later, I climb into the passenger seat of the SUV and wave to my sister who is watching from the window of her room as we drive out of the lot. The necklace glints in the sun but I’m not sure she recognized it as being Mom’s.
“Thanks for getting the cupcakes,” I say, watching straight ahead once she’s out of sight. “That was actually nice.”
He nods, his eyebrows furrowed, his attention on merging with traffic.
“She was going to go to medical school. She’d been accepted.” I’m looking straight ahead but see him glance at me from the corner of my eye. “God. I hate this so much,” I say, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes to stop myself from crying.
“Why didn’t you tell the police it was your father?”
“I was afraid he’d hurt her worse.”
“Not if he was in jail.”
“I couldn’t be sure he would be.” I turn to him. “I was sixteen at the time and my big sister suddenly wasn’t the sister I knew. Mom was gone. I thought they’d separate us. Take me away from her since I was a minor. God knows where they’d put Wren.”
“Is she afraid of all men or is it just me?”
I study him. He almost sounds like he cares but I know he doesn’t.
He raises his eyebrows, waiting for my response.