Damaged (Triple Canopy Book 1) by Riley Edwards

Author:Riley Edwards [Edwards, Riley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rebels Romance
Published: 2020-08-24T16:00:00+00:00

20

“Baby?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t sleep in here,” I told Hadley something she knew.

For the last ten minutes, she’d fallen quiet.

I didn’t blame her—it was nearing midnight. Not only that, I’d emotionally put her through the wringer. We’d gone upstairs, she’d changed out of her still damp work clothes, settled us on the bed, then got down to her interrogation.

And she was thorough.

All the while, Hadley had burrowed in next to me. Her leg was thrown over my thigh, her arm rested over my stomach, and her fingertips gently grazed my skin as I spoke.

I was pinned down, and oddly, it was wholly comforting. I’d told her how Nicole and I had grown up, about my parents drinking, and finally about Nicole’s last birthday.

It was hard to talk about. I’d spent twenty years not wanting to face my part in her death. Once my father had us on his boat, I should’ve demanded Nicole put on a life vest. I hadn’t. Partly because I was fuming angry and not thinking. Bottom line was she was nine, I was eleven, and I should’ve been looking out for my sister better.

Hadley had pressed closer when I told her how my drunk father hit underwater debris but was so intoxicated that after the impact he hadn’t stopped. Instead, he’d cursed and shouted and full-throttled the boat, damaging a large section of the hull.

It had taken seconds for the boat to take on water. I hadn’t been paying attention to my sister as she made her way to the bow as the stern went under. It was shocking how quickly a fifteen-foot Boston Whaler can sink. But that wasn’t what killed Nicole. Her feet got tangled in my father’s old fishing net and she fell overboard.

I dove into the water after her. With zero visibility in the murky water, it took forever to reach her. I’d had to come up for air twice. That was two times too many.

Too late.

Impossible to do CPR in the water.

Too fucking long did I float in the water holding my dead sister while that bastard bitched about his boat.

Not once did he ask if Nicole or I were okay.

I wished he would’ve died instead of her.

But through the whole disturbing story, Hadley remained still and allowed me to get it all out.

Now her head was heavy on my shoulder, her palm was over my heart, and her breathing had evened out. And I was completely drained.

I couldn’t chance falling asleep next to her.

Not after all I’d shared. The nightmares would come.

“Babe,” I prompted when she didn’t respond.

“Will you stay?”

“Had—”

“I don’t want you going home alone. Tomorrow, I’ll go with you. I want to see more pictures of Nicole. Tonight was about tragedy, but, honey, tomorrow’s gonna be about sweet memories you have of your sister. She was beautiful. You loved her. And I’ve seen one picture of her and I know she loved her big brother. I know that look because I have a big brother, one I love just as much as she loved you.

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