Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
“That’s because you freakin’ blocked me, bozo!” she screeched, her hands clenching into fists.
I opened my mouth and then closed it. “I didn’t block you!”
“Give me your phone,” she ordered.
I did, having nothing to hide.
She furiously went into my phone, tapped around a bit, and then whipped the phone around toward me so I could see.
And sure enough, there was her number.
Blocked.
“I…” I paused. “That’s not your number. Yours has a three in it.”
She was already shaking her head. “No. This is my number.”
I pulled my phone out of her hand, then went into my messages.
I pulled up her thread—which was still pinned to the top of the page—and then showed it to her.
“Then who is this?” I asked.
She looked at it, a frown marring her brow.
“I don’t…” She paused. “This isn’t my number.”
Worry started to niggle at my brain.
“That’s the only number I’ve ever had for you. I literally gave you my phone to put your number into it… and then that’s the only person I’ve ever texted since,” I told her bluntly.
She started poking around in my phone, a frown marring her brow.
Then she pulled out her own phone and called me.
My phone rang instantly.
My heart sank.
“That’s my number,” she whispered. “Let me call Folsom.”
I waited as she placed the call, using speakerphone so we could both hear.
“Hey,” Folsom said. “What’s up?”
Val dove right into an explanation.
“And my picture that I put as my contact is in his phone. The phone number is one digit off of mine. And my number was blocked,” she said. “He has no knowledge of doing any of that.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, the cold starting to leech into my bones.
“Come inside,” I urged, just now realizing that my feet were beyond freezing at this point.
“Hold on and let me search up the number,” Folsom said.
I led her into the kitchen where I’d been preparing dinner. And since I didn’t know how to cook for just one person, I had enough to feed her.
I checked on it in the oven, then turned around to study Val who was waiting impatiently, her eyes taking in the kitchen.
“So did y’all finally make up?” Folsom asked. “I mean, this has to mean that y’all talked and are figuring it out, right?”
Guilt ate at me.
I needed to tell her about how I’d found her.
“Yes,” she said. “And I already know you helped him find me.”
I blew out a breath. “How?”
“Because my information was hidden by Folsom. There’s no one who can find that without her knowing about it. And her not telling me about it meant that she was being sneaky and thought to hide it from me.”
Well, when she went all logical like that, it did make sense.
“Ohh, ho!” Folsom clapped. “You’ll never guess who that number belongs to.”
A sick feeling of dread started in my stomach. “Who?”
There was some keyboard clicking, and then my phone blinked.
I glanced at it and then my heart sank.
The photo that had once been Val was now… Tammy.
“What?” I barked. “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope,” Folsom said. “That’s Tammy’s phone number. She has two on her account. That number that’s close to Val’s, and her number that’s already in your phone.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I’ve sent that number hundreds of texts, called it probably a thousand times.”
“I can forward you everything,” Folsom murmured. “There, sent. You should have everything he’s sent in the last few years, Val. I’m sorry I didn’t think of this sooner.”
Val looked at her phone, her face leeching of color.
“I don’t even know what to say,” she murmured.
“I’d say that you need to get rid of that best friend, Felix,” Folsom said. “Gotta go. My kid wants food, and my husband thinks she needs Sonic.”
I couldn’t muster the energy to say goodbye.
I just kept staring at the picture of Tammy pinned to the top of my message screen.
All this time…
CHAPTER 16
Do I hate everyone, or just need a little snacky snack?
-Val’s secret thoughts
VAL
Then
“You’ll call?” he rasped.
I nodded, my heart in my throat. “I’ll even come visit anytime we’re close enough for me to drive. I’ve already looked up the schedule, and there’re at least three shows coming up that are less than a five-hour drive. I’ll be back, Felix.”
He nodded, then turned his head on the pillow to face me.
How many times had he done just that? Had we talked about our lives, and what we wanted out of it?
So many times, I couldn’t even count.
And now I was leaving, and everything that I’d wanted from my life was being put on hold, yet again, because of my father.
I moved until my face was buried in the crook of his neck. I could feel his pulse against my lips.
“It’ll be okay,” I assured him.
Felix wasn’t usually so clingy.
But with all the stress he was under…