Page 1 of Angels Fall

Chapter One - Maddie

NINE YEARS AGO

The call ends and I just stare at the phone for a few seconds, lost in the news. The party going on around me disappears as I retreat into my thoughts, seeking solitude to process.

“Hey,” Scotty says, coming into the kitchen with a few empty plates. He stacks them in the sink while I remain quiet, then looks at me with a funny grin. “Why so down, Red?”

I smile back. Because he’s so… Scotty. Smiling is his default setting. “I had a birthday present for you,” I say. “But looks like it’s not gonna happen.”

He comes over, pulls me into one of his warm big-brother hugs, and kisses me on the head. “I got everything I need from you today, Maddie.”

I let out a small laugh. “I didn’t even give you anything.”

He leans back, but doesn’t release me from his hug. “You’re here, right?”

I roll my eyes.

“That’s all I need.”

“Yeah.” I sigh. Because I feel the same way about him when it’s my birthday. As long as he’s there that day, I don’t need a present. “But… it was Tyler.”

“Oh,” he says. Then he pokes me in the ribs, which is my most sensitive tickle spot, and that makes me double over laughing. “Sneaky Pete. Good one, though. What happened?”

I wriggle out of his grip. “Flight got messed up. He just called,” I say, waving my phone at him.

“Well, that’s how it goes in the military, right? They tell you what to do and where to go. Maybe next time, eh?”

“Sure,” I say, not feeling it. “Yeah. Maybe next time.”

“Jeez, sis. You look like someone killed your kitten. We’ll see him again.”

I nod, inhaling a deep breath of air, then letting it out, saying, “I know.”

Scotty leans down into my face to get a better look at me. “Yeah. So… Is something else going on?”

“Like what?” I ask. Probably too quickly.

“I dunno. You tell me. But you look pretty upset.”

I feel pretty upset too. But I’m not sure why, exactly. I was really looking forward to this surprise. And not just because of Scotty. I mean, I want to make him happy and seeing Tyler again would turn his twenty-first birthday into something really spectacular. But… I was looking forward to Tyler. He’s been gone for three years. And I just… miss him.

He was a fixture at our house ever since his mom died. Practically one of the family. I hated him when I was smaller. He was forever teasing me about my hair. Or making comments about how much I liked to read. Or playing jokes on me in front of my friends.

He was a jerk.

And then that last day, right before he went off to basic, he came over from next door to say goodbye, and I stayed in my room and refused to come out. I was so sad that day. It made no sense, but every time I thought of him leaving to join the military, tears would well up in my eyes and my throat would get all tight and…

He opened my door and said, “Yo. Gotta go now, Mads.” A nickname he called me for as long as I could remember because I have the proverbial fiery redhead temperament. A nickname I hated. Until I didn’t. “You planning on saying goodbye?”

I just shrugged.

“Okay, firecracker. I’ll see you when I see you then.” And he shot me one of those lopsided grins and then gave me a salute as he closed the door.

“Tyler!” I called.

He opened it back up again. “Yeeesss?” he said, still smiling. Like he knew I wouldn’t let him go off to war without saying goodbye.

But I had no intention of saying goodbye. I whispered, “Please come back.”