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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

“Shut up.” I punched his thigh. I didn’t need to ask how he knew where to find me. For years, it’d been my secret spot—the one me and Mom used to go to on Sundays whenever we were letting Dad sleep in. I’d never told Dad about it because it was the only place where I had a memory of Mom that was all mine. All his memories were of the two of us or him watching her while she interacted with me. The one thing he couldn’t give me was what it was like when it was just the two of us. It was only a piece, a sliver, really—just a flash of me on the swing with the sky above me and the feel of her hand on my back for a brief second—but it was something, and it was where I came to feel close to her. I’d shared my spot with Dean after he’d lost his brother in a motorcycle accident, hoping it’d bring him the same peace and comfort it’d brought me.

“Did he tell you what happened?” I asked.

“He said that all of you were arguing and you’d gotten upset and left. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

I shrugged, exhausted and spent from the day. “I found out Mom abandoned us, and Dad’s been keeping it a secret from me all day. That’s pretty much it.”

“Sounds like a lot to me,” he said.

Dad was supposed to be my rock through all of this. How was I supposed to deal with any of it if I couldn’t trust him? I didn’t have any experience with not being able to trust him. He had never come close to betraying me. It was one of the things I liked best about our relationship. “Dad promised to always tell me any information he had on Mom.”

“Promise not to bite my head off when I say this?”

I cocked my head to the side. “That depends.”

“You’re not going to like it, but you might have to cut him a break on this one. It’s not like he waited weeks to tell you. I mean, you didn’t even give him a day. Those are pretty high standards, don’t you think?” He squeezed my arm, pretending he was going to pinch me until I couldn’t help but giggle. “My two cents?” I nodded. “Maybe you’re mad at your dad because you got left out of an important moment this morning? I totally get that, and, honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t think to wake you up. I should have, so if you’re going to be mad at him, then you’re going to have to be mad at me too.” He smiled at me while he shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Did I miss anything else?” I asked.