Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Is the food almost ready?” he asks, and I look at him. “We made food.”
“What?” I ask, looking at him and then Justin.
“Justin said after a long day at work, it’s good to come home to a home-cooked meal so you know we missed you.”
“Is that so?” I ask, and he just nods.
“Why don’t you go take a bath?” Justin says. “And I can get dinner ready.”
“What?” I step back.
“We can talk about all this after,” he says, and then Dylan’s eyes go big.
“Yeah, Mom, we have another surprise,” he says, and this time, he jumps up and down. “Can we show her? Can we show her?”
“Sure,” Justin says, and I have to stop smiling so much because my face hurts.
“Come see, Mom,” he says, turning and running away.
“Do I want to know?” I ask Justin, and he just shrugs.
“Mom,” Dylan sings my name. “Come on, come on.” I walk out of the room and go to the game room, and Dylan is jumping up and down. “Close your eyes,” he says, and I close my eyes. He takes my hand, and I walk blindly into the room. “Surprise,” he says, and I open my eyes, and I stare at the room in shock.
“What …” I start to say, “is this?” I look around.
“It’s a fort for movie night,” Dylan says excitedly, still jumping up and down. Sheets are tied up to the ceiling and hang down to look like the top of a tent, all around the couch. “Come see inside,” he says, crawling inside, and pillows are everywhere and covers along with snacks are on the table. “Look, it’s a fort.”
“How did you guys do this?” I ask, peeking in.
“We did it after we got home from working out, Mom,” he says so matter-of-factly.
“You guys were just busy as bees today,” I say, and he nods.
“Okay, buddy,” Justin says. “Time to go finish dinner so we can eat.”
Dylan nods at him and walks out of the room.
I watch him with awe. “You …” I say, shaking my head. “You really are.”
“I really am,” he says and grabs my hand, pulling me back into his room and through to the bathroom. I stop dead in my tracks.
“Mother of God,” I say, looking at his bathroom. I don’t know what I was expecting—obviously, it had to be amazing—but I wasn’t expecting it to be so big. Double vanity sinks with marble counters and deep gray drawers under it. But the best is the floor-to-ceiling window with a deep white tub facing it. Right in front of a huge walk-in shower.
“Just take your time,” he says, bending to kiss my cheek. “And we’ll be ready whenever you get out.”
“But …” I start to say.
“I’ll give him a snack,” he says, and I laugh when he walks out of the room. I sit down on the edge of the tub and rub my face. The beginning of the day, I thought I was done, that there was no light at the end of my tunnel. Yet I’m sitting in a room that is all light and no darkness. I don’t know what else is going to come, but I’m suddenly not afraid of the dark.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Justin
Closing the door to the bathroom, I go into the kitchen and see that Dylan is sitting on one of the stools waiting. “You can go play a bit,” I say. “Mom is going to take a shower.” Before he moans that he’s starving, I tell him, “Get a cheese stick.”
He walks over to the fridge and grabs two and then runs back to the room. I grab my phone and dial Matthew.
“This has to be a record,” he says, answering the phone with a laugh, and I hear people talking all around him.
“Yeah,” I whisper and then look to make sure I’m alone. “I need your help.”
“Shit,” he hisses, and all of a sudden, the background gets quiet, and I hear a door close. “What happened?”
“I have a …” I say, pinching my nose. “Let’s say Karrie was living in an apartment.”
“Negative,” he says right away, and I groan. “Okay, okay, fine. Let’s play pretend.”
“She lives in this apartment, and it gets vandalized,” I say the word, and I could swear Matthew stops breathing altogether. “When she wasn’t there.”
“Justin.” He says my name. “I have to say I’m done playing pretend. What the fuck have you gotten yourself into?” I close my eyes. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“What, would you just leave Karrie?” I ask him.
“I love her,” Matthew says, then stops. “Wait.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I say, not addressing the question.
“Dude, you have to just move her shit into your house,” he says. “Just don’t even tell her.”
“What?” I whisper, looking back again.
“Just don’t tell her and move all her things in,” he says, and I look at the phone. “Or I mean, this worked once …” he says. “Just handcuff her to the bed and don’t let her out until she agrees.”