Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 109086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Bun? What bun?
In the oven?
They’d been baking this whole time?
My mind was too scattered to make sense of what she was saying.
She winked at me, but her smile faltered at seeing my face. “Oh, Sawyer. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” She started for me again.
I wasn’t sure about the change of her thoughts, but Oliver cut in. “Yes. Not so we get off track, but yes. We were told lots of things at their new friend’s house. That we stayed in because the cops needed to go through our brownstone. Secretly. Because the whole operation was undercover.” He stared hard at me first, then at Blake.
My mom and my aunts were all beaming. Except Maude. She looked disgruntled.
That was her resting face.
Oliver added, “Maybe we could have this conversation somewhere else?” His eyebrows were raised.
“Yes. An eatery. I’m famished.” Clara was nodding along.
Bess’s smile brightened. “Food’s always good when the family gets together.” Her gaze caught on Maude, and her smile went rigid. “Or most family.”
Maude sneered at her. “That attitude right there. Why do you think my boy moved away and my girls—”
“Mom!” Graham interrupted this time, his tone sharp. He and Oliver both looked strained and his voice had an edge to it. His patience was thin. “Stop talking on my behalf in the future. Also, everyone back into the minivan. Sawyer, do you and your friend, here, uh—”
“Her name is Blake, and yes. She’ll come with us.” I’d decided.
Blake hadn’t, though. “Uh. What?”
My smile was forced but had an extra meaning in it. “Yes. You’re coming with us.”
Blake tentatively took a step backward.
My eyes flashed. Sorry, but I knew the card to pull. I turned to all of my aunts who had moved back to the minivan. “She grew up in the foster system, and she recently moved to the city here. She has no family.”
Blake was horrified. So were Graham and Oliver.
My aunts were not.
My mom’s reaction was instant. “She has no one?”
Clara grumbled, scowling, “Not anymore, you don’t. You hear me?”
Bess chimed in, “You are never alone anymore.”
They swarmed her. Even Maude went with them, blinking back tears.
“Come here.”
“You’ll come with us.”
“A good family sit-down is what we need.”
“You’ll tell us all about yourself, Blake. First, though, what’s your favorite kind of food? Do you have a certain kind of pie you like?”
“Did you grow up eating casserole? A good Tater Tot hotdish has to be experienced. Did you go to a potluck with any of your foster houses?”
My aunts were speaking over one another as they pulled Blake into the minivan with them.
Bess looked her over, frowning. “Where’s your car keys, hun? We can put them behind one of the tires and call a mechanic to come get your vehicle. That’ll need to be fixed. Clara’s got Triple A. She can call for you.”
“Oh. Uh . . .” Blake cast me one last look before she was tugged into the back seat.
Maude crawled in first. My mom went after Blake. Clara and Bess took the two middle seats. Bear jumped up inside, his tail wagging so hard he was hitting Clara and Bess while his nose was turned toward the back end.
Pooh clambered up so she was standing on top of Bess’s thigh, panting, and waiting for her dads.
Oliver remarked under his breath to Graham, “I’m pretty sure that car was stolen.”
Another screech of brakes sounded from the street, this time closer.
An engine revved loudly.
I turned toward it. That sounded just around the corner.
“Honey, get in the car.” Graham was talking to Oliver, who stiffly hurried around the side of the minivan.
I started to go with them, but another screeching sound made me turn around.
That sound was now so close.
A vehicle careened around the corner, fishtailing so it could turn into the same parking lot that we were in. It didn’t make it, braking suddenly, and reversing.
My feet were already moving before my brain was catching up that I needed to move.
The SUV was barreling at me, bearing down at a fast pace.
Time slowed because I saw what was going to happen. They were here for us.
I was too far away.
It was too late for me. It was not too late for my family.
I began yelling at Graham. “Go! Now! They’re here.”
“Who is that?”
Oliver was yelling.
My aunts were shouting.
The dogs were barking.
Graham started the engine, giving me an agonizing expression, but I made a decision. I’d made my decision long ago. Me or my family? My family every goddamn time.
They needed more time to get away, so when the doors of the SUV opened, I ran toward them. I could still hear the minivan behind me, but I screamed, the sound curdling my blood, “Go! Please!”
One of the men reached out to me to catch me, but I evaded his touch. The man behind him caught me, but I grabbed for his holstered gun and ripped out of his arms, using a sudden burst of momentum that he wasn’t expecting.