Page 21 (1/1)

Aood father and husband Never once had I seen him cheat on Henrietta, his wife of forty-five years His ultie, Charlie, and Frank They were all younger than ten, and A stories about them He hat I believed a real man should be I respected hioodscent, I laid ainst the seat and closed randsons, Ae enter that art contest?"

That was all it took for Amish to distract low of pride in the man’s words That hat a kid needed to succeed in life To grow and achieve so beyond the shadows

I only knew the shadows Nan would never see ret and soon forget My existence would slowly fade, and I’d be back in the shadohere I dwelled without need of eh, the weight on s was al at the private airport where Nan would land or going to her house, but I figured both would give away the fact that I knew she was headed ho hurt didn’t sit ith ht To show her I could be what she needed Other girls weren’t even appealing right now I didn’t like the man I’d turned into when I’d lost her This tiet DeCarlo’stime on Nan She didn’t need this in her life I wanted to know she was safe I wanted to see her truly happy Fuck, rong with me?

I was not in love with her Jesus, why did I sound like I was? I needed to fucking focus

Slacker De I was hidden in ered on ot into her vehicle and got home safely Then I’d text her Check on her Get back into her heart I wasn’t sure what Cope had done to send her running hoht h ed froray fitted pants and a white blouse that was cut low and hugged her waist tightly She always looked expensive and sexy all at once Never uptight or trashy She found the happy medium and made it work I loved how she dressed

Rush walked up to her I hadn’t expected hi for her Daa for her I scanned the rest of the area for any other details I had e Rover was parked behind the fence that ran along the peried hihtly, and he held her in his ar he said He pulled back, wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and walked her toward his vehicle

I hoped this didn’thome with hiave the them Rush didn’t turn toward her house but instead headed toward his Motherfucker This was going to suck

Nan

Rush pulled his car into the garage and cut the engine, then reached over and squeezed my hand "Blaire has smoked saloat cheese, and creamed spinach It’s all healthy and shit You’ll like it Co us"

Blaire wasn’t a fan of mine I’d not done un on er and bitterness toward the life I’d been given had needed an outlet I’d needed someone to blame, and I’d chosen Blaire Maybe because she was the perfect little blond girl I thought my father had chosen over , since she and I did not, in fact, share the same father I’d been lied to by my mother about that

Maybe it was the fact that my brother, who had loved me most in the world, had fallen in love with her, and she’d become his number one I had always found comfort in the fact that Rush loved me Even when my mother didn’t act like it and my real father didn’t claim me, I knew my brother loved me Blaire had stolen hi Rush with his faave his wife and child the life he’d never had--ood parent, yet he was a fantastic one I had finally corips with his love for his wife It didn’t mean he didn’t lovehi Blaire and being buddies and shit, though

"Nate is looking forward to seeing Aunt Nan He’s been talking about it ever since I told hi for dinner He expects you to sleep in his rooiven life to a little boy who loved me I didn’t have a lot of love in my world My nepheas special He loved me without fail, and I, in return, couldn’t hate his mother I adored that kid

"I’m sure whatever Nate asks me to do, I’ll do," I replied honestly He owned me