Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
An hour later, Anne walked into the house and found me curled up on the couch with Sadie stretched out across my lap.
“How did it go?” She dropped her purse on the end table and sat down on my right.
“She’s kind of horrible.” I dragged my fingers through Sadie’s fur. “Caroline, not Juniper.”
“I’m sorry.” Anne’s face fell. “I shouldn’t have forced you. I wasn’t thinking, just reacting.” She stroked Sadie’s head. “What do you want to do? I’ll support whatever choice you make.”
“Today? Quit.” Every cell in my body felt drained, like the life had been sucked out of me. “Ask me tomorrow.” My phone buzzed on the coffee table, and Anne reached for it. “If it’s Kenna, hit Decline.”
“You can’t keep avoiding her.” She picked up the device and handed it to me.
“Watch me.” I took it, and my chest clenched at Hudson’s name above the text message.
Hudson: I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but my mom is inviting you to a family beach day to make up for today’s shit show.
I showed it to Anne, then let my head fall back against the couch. “Yes, please, sign me up as Caroline’s dartboard again.”
Anne sighed, leaning her shoulder against mine. “Are we wrong? Do you think Lina would want us to leave her alone?”
The thought cut into my heart like the tip of a dagger. “I’d give anything to be able to ask her.”
“Me too.” Anne kicked off her shoes and stretched her legs out, resting her feet on the coffee table. “Why didn’t she tell us? Before this, I would have sworn we didn’t have any secrets from each other.” She paused. “Should we tell Eva?”
“God no.” I shook my head. “Not yet. She’s not exactly known for her discretion.” Plus, if there was anyone Caroline loathed most in our family, it was Eva.
“Good point.” She scratched Sadie behind the ear, and I stared at the text from Hudson, debating exactly how much torture I could take. “Who else knows? Lina had to have told someone, don’t you think? Juniper’s father?”
Juniper would want me to go to the beach. Hell, she was counting on me.
“No clue,” I said quietly, grasping my phone with both hands. “All I know for certain is Lina loved to dance, and if her daughter wants to dance, then we owe it to her to help, even if it means I have to wear Kevlar over my swimsuit.”
Allie: I’ll be there.
Chapter Twelve
Allie
Mtn2Creek: Man, I’m glad I never did ballet. That looks like torture, not training.
The sun peeked over the horizon, changing the white walls of my bedroom to delicate hues of pink and orange as I opened my eyes. My room had the best view of the sunrise.
But Hudson was right. I preferred sunset, preferred the anticipation of those hours when I’d been able to sneak out to see him, or sneak him in here. The irony wasn’t lost on me that we’d gone from completely concealing our friendship to faking a romance.
I groaned in frustration, realizing I wanted to see him, that my eyes had been open exactly fifteen seconds and I was thinking about him.
Sadie huffed in my ear and wiggled closer.
Right, she was why I’d woken up. “Another half hour. Come on, you know you can hold it.” I threw my arm over her back and snuggled into my pillow.
She. Licked. My. Face.
“Another fifteen minutes?” I begged. Sleep had become my greatest friend, and maybe, if I was being honest, a coping mechanism that was quickly turning into addiction. In unconsciousness, there were no ankle injuries, no rehabs, no decisions to be made about how hard to push myself and when. There were endless possibilities and zero consequences.
The mattress jostled me as Sadie jumped down, shaking her head and jingling the newly minted tags—one for her vaccinations and the other with her name and my number—on her new pink collar at a decibel my head immediately disliked.
“Five minutes?” Was I seriously negotiating with a puppy?
She whined from the door, warning me to get out of bed now or clean up the mess she was going to bless me with.
“Okay, okay.” I forced myself out of bed and shucked off my pj’s, then slipped quickly into my usual morning workout gear, sliding my phone into the side pocket of my leggings. An object in motion stays in motion. That’s what my mother always preached, and the Rousseau girls were never allowed to stop moving.
Sadie pranced, and I opened my door as quietly as possible so I wouldn’t wake Anne. She’d been up late with the planning committee for the Company gala. The Fourth of July was only a month away, and she was in crunch mode.
There was no point tiptoeing down the hall when Sadie took off at a run, her nails clicking against the hardwood as she bounded down the front stairs. I detoured only long enough to snag a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then walked Sadie down the long central hallway, past the dining room, office, and family room to the back door, groggily remembering to put in the alarm code before opening the door.