What a horrible existence, to be surrounded by people yet feel so alone.
“Are you okay?” Kennedy asks, tilting her head to the side to study me.
“Yes,” I reply quickly; then the guilt over my lie has me shaking my head. “No. I’m not.”
“Let’s talk about it.”
Bradyn is back in their bedroom, likely getting himself cleaned up after the long day, but I glance around anyway to make sure he’s not near. Not that I wouldn’t want to share anything with him, but when it comes to Dylan—I just can’t. I know they struggle with who came back from that deployment too.
“It’s just a lot,” I tell her. “I wish I knew what happened to Felicity after she helped me escape. Then there’s?—”
“Dylan,” she finishes.
“Yes.”
“Bradyn said that he’s the one who went after you. Tucker tried, but Dylan insisted that it had to be him.”
I nod. “He told me that he can’t stomach being touched. Is that true?” The tears fill my eyes now, and my throat constricts. “Did everyone know that but me?”
“It’s true,” she says sadly. “The occasional hug from his mom or his brothers seems to be okay, but aside from that—it costs him in ways we can’t understand.”
“Doesn’t that break your heart?” A tear slips down my cheek.
“Absolutely,” Kennedy replies. “But God is the only one who can help him, and Dylan seems pretty set against going to Him for help.”
It’s honestly a surprise to me that he’s struggling with his faith. “Why? He’s in church on Sundays.”
“Sure. But he doesn’t go because he’s seeking God. He goes because he knows it’ll break his mother’s heart if he doesn’t.”
Which is so completely Dylan. He would never want to do anything to hurt her.
“I just wish—even if it’s not with me—he could find happiness. He deserves it, and he doesn’t think he does.”
“I feel the same.” Kennedy covers my hand with hers. “We all do. But you can’t make someone surrender and seek peace. He has to want it for himself. And right now, Dylan’s familiarity is in the pain. He doesn’t see a way out.”
After a night of sleep riddled with nightmares, I’m sitting at Ruth and Tommy’s dining room table, a steaming mug of coffee in my hands. My stomach is full, thanks to the delicious breakfast Ruth made for all of us, but all the pancakes in the world can’t fill the hole in my chest.
Especially in those moments when I’d glance over at Dylan, only to find him staring down at the plate of food he barely even touched. Did he sleep at all last night? Or was he troubled too?
“Okay, it’s time for me to head into town.” Mrs. Hunt dries her hands on a towel, then hangs it back up before crossing over to me and kissing me gently on top of the head. “I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see you sitting here at this table.”
Forcing a smile, I look up at her. “Me too.”
She smiles happily, then leaves the kitchen. With her gone, it’s the brothers and me, along with Nova and their dad, Tommy. I know what they want from me, and I’m prepared to tell them everything. Especially if it means I get to go back to my normal life as soon as possible.
“Any idea about when I can go back to life as usual?” I ask Bradyn, hopeful that they already have a plan.
According to what Bradyn told me last night, we still can’t let the town know I’m back. Gibson is the only one who is privy to the truth. Everyone else has to believe that I’m still missing so that, if Gio comes looking, he finds nothing. It hurts my heart to know that my friends are going to suffer, thinking I’m still missing, but if it keeps everyone safe, then I’ll do it for as long as necessary.
“I’m not sure,” he replies. “Felicity Karver said something about keeping you safe until the first of November. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but she made it sound as though the threat to you will be over by then.”
“She said the same thing to me,” I tell them.
“How could she know that?” Nova asks.
Bradyn shrugs. “There seems to be a timeline on whatever plans Gio had for Emma.”
A timeline? And then it hits me, along with stomach-churning nausea. “The wedding.”
