AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I should not allow a man to have this kind of effect on me, but it’s hard not to be bogged down by negativity and questions. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had known it was only going to be a one-night stand. But everything was pointing to it being so much more; he made me believe it was so much more.
By the time I make it to my aunt’s house, I really wish I could just go home and fall into bed. I can’t even do that when I’m done here because I have some sketches that I need to do from the two consults I had today. But, fuck, I wish I could just drift off into slumber.
Not that it would do much to help me. I haven’t been sleeping very well for the last three months and I refuse to analyze why that is.
Nope. Fucking refuse!
Before I can even get to the front door, it swings open, and I’m being engulfed in arms I’ve always found soothing and comforting. It’s no different now and the fact that I’ve been avoiding this woman for far too long doesn’t matter at all. For a moment, one blissful moment, all the feelings from the last three months since I woke up alone melt away.
I soak up the sensation and I sink into it.
“It’s so good to see you, Emery.” I’m pushed back slightly, and look into my aunt’s eyes.
And, just like I knew would happen, my aunt assesses me. And I can’t hide from her. Nope, Dot Bisby sees everything. She always has.
It serves her well at the high school where she works in the front office, but it’s not doing me any favors right now. I’m sure there have been many teenagers caught in lies and half-truths because of the way Aunt Dot assesses them.
But I’m not a child.
“I’ve missed you,” I chirp. It’s not a lie, but my tone is a little forced.
She narrows her eyes at me but doesn’t push as she pulls me into the house and toward the table. My stomach growls as I get a whiff of the meal she’s prepared and the light laughter that comes from her, even though the sound I produced is horrendous, makes me feel warm from the inside out.
Sitting down with her at her table, she doesn’t push me to share what is going on with me. I’m grateful even though I know that she knows there’s an elephant in the room. But she lets me have my privacy. I’ll take it and run with it because I do not want to talk to Aunt Dot about Kade.
Not even a little bit.
As we talk and she fills me in with how the school year is wrapping up and how she’s been doing, guilt starts to settle around me. I shouldn’t have pushed her away just because I didn’t want to talk about a man. How ridiculous can I be?
“You know you can talk to me about anything,” she reminds me gently. I sigh heavily because I should have known I wouldn’t get through tonight with a little something being said. Before I can say anything, she holds a hand up to stop me. “I’m not going to force you because it’s clear you don’t want to talk about whatever has been bothering you, and I won’t push.”
The look she shoots me has a heavy side of an implied ‘yet’ in there, but it only makes me smile. Genuinely smile.
“I know, Aunt Dot,” I promise her.
And I do know.
She nods once and looks down at the piece of Chantilly cake on her plate. There’s a tightness around her eyes which isn’t normally there. I’m instantly on edge.
Panic starts to seep in and I almost shout, “What’s wrong, Aunt Dot?”
Her head snaps up and her eyes soften, but the worry remains wrapped around her. “I think Jen’s in trouble,” she whispers.
It feels like she drops a bomb into the middle of the small table we’re sitting at. It tears through me with worry, but it also has me going in so many different directions.
I haven’t been close to my sister in years. If she were in trouble, she wouldn’t come to me. Sadly, I’m not sure I would help her.
I try and keep my voice even, “I didn’t know you were still speaking to her.”
Aunt Dot reaches over and grips my hand, grounding me and reminding me that I haven’t been abandoned or pushed aside by all my family. “It doesn’t happen often, honey. But I try and keep up with her as best I can.” The way her shoulders slump has me wishing I had a better relationship with Jen, even if it only means I can give my aunt some peace of mind. “I’ve heard from her less and less over the last few months and then the last time she called she sounded scared, while trying to hide it.”
“Did she need money?” The question slips past my lips before I can think twice about it. I hate how jaded I sound, but I need to know.
“No,” the defeat in Aunt Dot’s voice guts me. “Nothing like that. She was whispering and wouldn’t tell me where she was or what she’s been doing.” Her eyes meet mine and there’s so much devastation there that my heart cracks open. “That was two weeks ago now and I haven’t heard from her since. I’m worried.”
I put aside my feelings—not an easy thing to do, but the right thing to do—and ask, “What can I do?”
“I think I know somewhere I can go to get some help finding her. Will you go with me to meet them?”
