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Back Undone Save as PDF
Chapters (34)
  1. Cover
  2. undone
  3. Dedication
  4. one
  5. two
  6. three
  7. four
  8. five
  9. six
  10. seven
  11. eight
  12. nine
  13. ten
  14. eleven
  15. twelve
  16. thirteen
  17. fourteen
  18. fifteen
  19. sixteen
  20. seventeen
  21. eighteen
  22. nineteen
  23. twenty
  24. twenty-one
  25. twenty-two
  26. twenty-three
  27. twenty-four
  28. twenty-five
  29. twenty-six
  30. twenty-seven
  31. twenty-eight
  32. twenty-nine
  33. thirty
  34. Acknowledgments

She paused to take a breath. “When I was seven, my mother met a man who didn’t see kids in his future. For three years I lived with my grandmother in Idaho, and my mother claimed to be childless.”

My heart felt like it was an empty beer can in Adrian17’s drunken fist. Shame ate at it like acid. “I had no idea, Lex. I’m sorry.”

“When I see the way your mother looks at you, I know with every cell in my body she’d never allow those things to happen to you. So if she’s making a mistake with this man, maybe she just doesn’t want to drag you into it alongside her. But you’ll have to ask her or you’ll never know for sure.”

“I’ve asked her things before. How many times have I asked her about my father? Why would she tell me the truth about this?”

“Did you ever think maybe she wasn’t keeping your father a secret from you, but maybe she was keeping you a secret from him? There are a lot of men out there who don’t deserve to know their children. To know you. I know you think I always take her side, but quite frankly the odds are in her favor on this one. Besides, when it comes right down to it, you’re right, I am always on your mother’s side, because your mother is always on your side.”

The first words that sprang to my mouth were arguments. But I swallowed them back, realizing they weren’t facts. I didn’t know why Mom had kept so many secrets from me.

“Even if your mom was the reason Kori went to Golden, Kori might’ve still been with Parker that morning. It wouldn’t have been the first time she caught a ride with him. I know you want a reason. But if you had one, would that change the fact that she’s gone?”

“I miss Kori too. I can’t believe she’s gone,” Lexi said softly. “Sometimes my mind refuses to accept it.”

I cut my eyes to her, hoping she’d see the warning and back off. But just to be sure, I added, “You never even wanted me to be friends with her.”

“Where did you get that idea? Serena, I loved everything about Kori. Even the bad things. What I didn’t like was how you stopped loving anything that wasn’t her.” She put her hand on my leg and said, “Like me.”

I stood up and moved away from her. “You have Cole. Who do I have?” My chin started quivering. I swallowed, feeling a knot forming in my throat. “You want to know why I’m trying to be like Kori? Because she was never afraid to be alone.”