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Back When She Returned Save as PDF
Chapters (48)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dad had been texting me pretty much nonstop since he had dropped us off. I quickly tapped out a response, telling him I was going to take a shower, so he would at least lay off it for a little while. We were staying at Extended Stay America, one of those places you could book by the month, so it was more like a small apartment than a hotel room. It was nicer than the apartments we’d seen. There was a queen-size bed and pullout couch. Mom offered to sleep on the couch right away.

She still seemed nervous even though it’d been over two hours since we’d checked in. Shiloh had fallen asleep thirty minutes ago, but Mom was too keyed up to sit down.

“I’m so sorry for all of this,” she said as she paced the hotel room, wringing her hands together.

“Please stop saying that,” I said. She’d been apologizing over and over again, but she couldn’t help that Meredith had freaked out and gotten all superspy on everyone. Nobody would’ve predicted she’d act that way. I hadn’t told her that Meredith left tonight too. She would really feel bad then, and there was no way I was going to do that to her. Besides, Meredith would probably be home in the morning. She’d stormed off one other time when they’d gotten into a fight. Spent the night at Caleb’s, I think, or maybe it was Thad’s. Anyway, she’d been back by lunch the following day.

“Are you sure I can’t make you any soup or tea?” I asked her.

We’d walked down to the 7-Eleven on the corner to pick up a few supplies. I put everything on my debit card. Dad had given me permission to use it however I wanted. He’d never given me free rein on it before.

“I’m okay. I’m really not hungry,” she said, but she’d barely eaten all day.

And then I remembered she was used to going days without food, and this was probably nothing for her. Maybe she was intentionally fasting. She prayed underneath her breath while she walked. It was oddly soothing, and it wasn’t long before my eyelids grew heavy with exhaustion. How was she still standing? Let alone walking around? I kicked off my shoes and collapsed on the bed. It was hard, and the pillow felt scratchy against my cheeks, but I didn’t care. That was how tired I was. I could’ve slept on anything. I fell asleep before I had a chance to say good night.

KATE

THEN