Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
I stifle a laugh. “I think they're best friends.”
As Hella leads me away from a grave I know my father isn't physically beneath, a weight finally lifts from my shoulders that I didn't realize I was carrying.
Closure.
I swing my leg over the bike, helmet in hand. Just as Hella’s about to turn the bike over, my phone starts vibrating in my pocket, and I quickly answer it, thinking it’s Riley.
“Everything okay?” I say, and Hella turns a little, waiting for me to hang up.
“Lissa?”
Time stops, including my heart. “Millie!”
Hella flies off the bike, standing directly in front of me.
“Are you okay?” My throat constricts.
She sighs, but the line is uneven. “Yes, I’m fine. Listen, I can’t talk right now but I wanted you to know that I’m okay.”
“Millie…” words fail me. It’s like I’ve spent too much time obsessing over what to say that now that I need to say it, it doesn’t come.
“It’s okay, Melissa. I see you opened in Devonport?” Her tone is casual, too casual. Ever the queen of deflection.
Annoyance bubbles beneath the surface. “I’ve been worried, Millie. I thought—I—”
“I’m fine. It’s too complicated but when I can, I’ll come see you and Olive, okay?”
I don’t answer.
“Melissa.”
There was a time I thought she was dead. I’d take this over feeling that pain again, so I exhale, looking up at Hella. “Fine. You’re an asshole.”
She chuckles. “I know. Tell Hella to get back on the damn bike. He needs to chill a little.”
Laughter ripples off my chest, and then dies. “Wait, how’d?”
The line goes dead.
I stare down at my phone, flicking through the recent call history.
“What’d she say?” Hella asks, but I’m too focused. Unknown caller. Of course.
My hands land on my lap and, for the first time since we were both taken, I feel that final bit of darkness release itself from me. “That she’s fine.” He doesn’t need to know the last thing she said. It would only make him try to find her, and clearly, she doesn’t need to be found. “Take me home.”
He swings back onto the bike and peels us away from the curve. I breathe in every corner, stare at every glow of lights illuminating from the city. I have known loss, pain, and trauma, but I’d go through it all again if it took me to the exact place I am in this moment. On the back of Hella’s bike, heading toward our daughter, and—my smile spreads over his cut as he drives us through familiar streets, completely oblivious.
Carrying his baby.
The End