Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
We’re both quiet as I pull around the compound and into the parking lot of the rehab center. It’s all lit up, and Emerson is leaning up to look out the front window. “Where are we? What is this place?”
I might as well tell her all of it and get it out in the open. I pull into a parking spot that is close to the path that leads to the cabins and apartments. When I turn off the truck, I start to talk. “All the guys are here. I didn’t know if you knew that or not, but I don’t want you to be surprised or caught off guard. Everyone that was on that last mission with your dad is here now. Well, except Zach. He’s still doing missions.”
Her mouth falls open, and she looks at the rehab center sign. She shakes her head. “I don’t understand. How did you all end up here?”
I shrug and try to explain it in the simplest terms. “Walker.”
She scrunches up her nose. “Walker?”
I nod and look out at the property. “Walker did all this. And after two years of us throwing our lives away, Walker brought us all here. He’s brought in therapists, specialists, everything he can do to help us get back on track.”
She points with her thumb over her shoulder. “So you all live here?”
I start to nod and then stop. “Well, Davis moved into Abby’s house. Jason and Olivia live at the apartments. I have a cabin here.”
“Cabin?”
I nod. “Yeah, the cabin came with the job.”
She looks confused. “So you work here?”
I laugh. “Yeah, I take care of all the grounds for the rehab center and the compound.”
“Compound?”
I nod because I don’t know how else to explain it to her. “Yeah, the place we just left.”
She nods and looks out the window. She’s thinking, and I don’t want to interrupt her. When she turns back to me, she looks so sad, I wish I could pull her into my lap and hold her, but I know I can’t. “So are you guys okay? Are you getting better?”
There’s so much I could answer her with. I could tell her that Davis will never get his leg back, that my arm will always be mangled and sometimes be useless, or that Jason will never get his eyesight back. Elias will have to live with the scars on his face for the rest of his life, and we have no idea how Colter’s brain injury will affect his future, but I know that compared to her and what she’s lost, I can’t tell her any of those things. “Yeah, we’re okay. We’re doing better.”
She nods. “That’s good. My dad would want you to be okay.”
As soon as she says it, she’s climbing out of the truck, and I just sit here with what feels like a swift kick to my gut. She’s right. I know she’s right. Regardless of everything else, Randall would want us all to be okay.
CHAPTER 4
EMERSON
Two years have gone by, and you would think it would get easier. And in a lot of ways it has, but then there are some days that the emotions are so overwhelming all you can manage to do is breathe to make it through.
As I get out of Kanan’s truck, I try not to let myself get caught up in it all, but it’s overwhelming, to say the least. I walk to the back of the truck and try to reach my suitcase, but even after going to my tiptoes a few times, I can’t quite reach it. Kanan comes up beside me and grabs it and then points at a gravel path. “We’re down that way.”
I follow behind him and keep my head down, looking at the path as I go. When we get to the clearing, Kanan keeps walking, but I stumble to a halt. “Kanan.”
He turns instantly as if he expects something bad to be happening to me, but I’m pointing at the pond. It’s huge with a dock, and the moon showcases the mountains behind it. There are apartments to one side, and the cabins on the other give off a beautiful homey feel to it all. “Wow. This is where you live?”
He laughs. “Don’t get too excited. I mean, the cabin is nice, but it’s small. There’s only one bedroom and one bathroom.”
My stomach does a little flipflop. There’s only one bed.
We move along the path, and he stops at the very last cabin. After standing to the side, he points to the steps. “This is it.”
I walk up the steps, and his voice booms behind me. “It’s unlocked. You can go on in.”
“You leave it unlocked?”
He laughs. “This place is full of veterans. Trust me, you won’t be safer anywhere else.”
I push open the door and take it all in. It’s an open concept with the living room, kitchen, and dining room all in an open space. There’s a door off to the side, and I assume it’s the bedroom and bathroom. I walk across the living room to the back of the cabin and look out the window. “Oh my God!”