AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s complicated.”
“Well, you need to figure out how to un-complicate things before those guys come back.”
It was silent for the remainder of the car ride, and I was relieved. Anger mounted inside me, and I needed to regain my composure before we got to the hospital. My wrist and I were now part of Dad’s lie, and I needed a story that would be both believable and easy enough to remember when I retold it.
When he parked, Dad unclipped his seatbelt and turned to face me. “I really am sorry about this, Charlotte. I never wanted to drag you into my mess.”
I pulled on the door handle and stepped out of the car. I wanted to reassure Dad that everything was okay … but it wasn’t. I had a habit of holding grudges against those who betrayed me. I never thought I would have a grudge to hold against my own father. After my mother died, it was just the two of us. We were inseparable. We told each other everything, or so I thought. What had happened along the way?
I insisted that he stay in the waiting room while I had my wrist x-rayed. I needed to think of a plan, and I could not do it with his guilt-filled eyes on me. He wore the same expression when he told me Mom was going to die. And I would now do the same thing I did then: try to make it all better.
As expected, my wrist was broken and needed to be casted. I had just graduated high school, and now instead of spending my summer in the pool, I’d be spending it in a bright pink cast.
I raised my arm when I returned to my father in the waiting room. “My consolation prize after our fun night.”
He put his arms around me, but I remained stiff.
On the ride home, I gazed out the window at the palm trees as we passed by. Apalachicola, Florida had always been my home. I had friends. I was on the track team. I’d had a normal life. Until tonight.
When I told Dad my plan, he remained quiet. I knew he was trying to think of another way out of this mess.
He pulled into our driveway, killed the engine, and sighed heavily. “That bakery has been in our family since before you were born. Your mother loved that place. It’s all we have left of her.”
I nodded.
“You can say it. I know what you’re thinking.”
“What am I thinking?”
“You’re thinking, if it meant that much to me, then I would not have gotten involved with those guys in the first place. I wouldn’t have put my business and my daughter in jeopardy.”
I nodded again. I could not deny it. Not even for him.
“It’s hard to explain. Sometimes you think you’re making the right choices in life, but those choices can turn out to be the wrong ones, and you just didn’t foresee how badly it could go.”
I looked down at my cast. “Every choice has a consequence. Now we both have to deal with the consequence of your choice.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
I took a deep breath. “My plan is the only way.”
One
Charlotte
“Oh my God. There she is,” Mallory whispered.
I followed the direction of her less-than-discreet pointer finger. Two girls walked through the cafeteria. One had coppery red hair and she bounced when she walked. The brunette she was with had thick curls cascading down her back, and her left arm was cradled in a sling. Everyone’s animated conversations suddenly turned into hushed murmurs as the two friends made their way across the room.
“Should I know who that is?”
“Don’t you watch the news?” Mallory hissed.
“I don’t like to watch the news.”
“The girl with the curly hair—that’s Merritt. She was just in a coma for two weeks. She was in an awful car accident.”
“What happened?”
