Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Not too hard,” I say, “since you found me.”
“Funny,” he fires back, not laughing. Emmett started with me at the beginning of this. I hired him to be in charge of everything, not thinking that I would make this place my home, but then I ended up staying so the two of us could work side by side. He’s been my right-hand man for the last ten years and one of the closest friends I’ve ever had. He tells me when I’m being a dick, which is more often than I care to admit. He’s seen me at my best, and he’s definitely seen me at my worst.
“What’s up?” I ask, taking a bite of my burger.
“I heard.” He just looks at me, and my eyebrows pinch together.
“I’m sorry, you are going to have to give me a bit more than that.” I laugh. “Is this like a code word or something?”
“I was in town this morning,” he states, and again, I just stare at him. “Jesus, you’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”
“I’m going to have no choice but to have you say it since, for the life of me, I have no idea what the fuck you are trying to say.” I pick the burger back up.
“Autumn,” he says her name, and I drop the burger onto the wrapper. My blood goes ice cold. “Someone saw her in town this morning, grabbing donuts.” I chew the food in my mouth, the taste is suddenly sour as I grab the bottle of water to wash it down before I throw it up. “I see you haven’t heard.”
“Didn’t need to hear,” I finally say, leaning back in my chair. “Saw her last night.”
His eyes about come out of his sockets. “Excuse me?”
“Ran into her last night at the crash site,” I explain, and he hisses. “Welcomed her back with open arms.”
“I bet you did,” he sneers. “I heard about the last time you met, so I could just imagine.” I shrug, and all he does is shake his head.
I watch him walk out of the room, and I think about the last time we met. I was walking through the forest, stumbling mostly. My goal was to go to the crash site, but instead, I ended up at her house. The darkness of the house loomed as I walked up the steps and pounded on her door.
The minute she opened her door and stepped outside, I roared in her face, “You fucking knew he was drunk!” The shock and horror on her face should have stopped me, but nothing could stop me. I saw red. “You did this.” My face went into hers so she could see the damage she caused. “You could have stopped him!”
“I tried,” she finally said, her voice cracking. “I tried to get him to give me the keys.”
“You didn’t try hard enough.” She winced when I said that as if I hit her. “It should be you in that grave, rotting in hell with him.” I turned and stumbled back into the forest. Looking over my shoulder for a second, I watched her fall to her knees.
She left town after that, and now she was back. For what? I have no idea, but I know one thing. I never want to fucking see her face again.
Walking out of the house after dinner, just as the sun is going down, I look around, seeing that no one is left working in the barn. My horse is outside waiting for me as I get on him for my after-dinner ride. Pushing him to go faster and faster as we go down the trail, which I can probably do with my eyes closed. I’m a sweaty mess when I finally get him back into the barn and get him water before walking out into the black night.
I debate whether to shower before I make my way over to Jennifer. Instead, I head towards the forest, Deciding that I would shower when I got back. My feet make their way down the beaten path as I think about where I will go today. It’s one of two places: the crash site or the cemetery. My thoughts going back to last night and the confrontation with Autumn, I opt for the cemetery.
Walking through the forest, listening to the sounds of birds chirping and twigs snapping as I mindlessly make my way over. Pulling open the black cast-iron gate, I hear the squeaking as I step up the two steps and follow the pebbled path.
My head down as I walk towards her, and when I look up, I see a figure on their knees in front of the tombstone. My body going tight, my blood turning to ice. “You’ve got some fucking nerve.” The words are out of my mouth, echoing in the night. Autumn looks up and over at me, and I can see the tears in her eyes, making me even angrier. “What the fuck are you doing here.”