King~A Power Players Novel by Cassia Leo

Author:Cassia Leo [Leo, Cassia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gloss Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-03-20T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Where did you learn to cook like that?” I ask while sucking buttery herbs off my fingers.

Steve takes my finger licking as her cue to sit next to my feet and wait for leftovers.

“I did a lot of fishing and hunting as a boy in Tennessee,” Colton replies, placing his clean plate on the tray with the used foil. “My mom took us camping a lot as kids, but she and my sister didn’t like it as much as I did. So I used to go with friends and cousins, and sometimes I’d go alone. Pretty much taught myself how to hunt and cook my own food. Maybe I should take you hunting.”

“Even after seeing what a spectacularly awful fisherman I am, you still want to take me out into the middle of the woods with a loaded gun? Are you suicidal?”

He smiles as he shakes his head. “You’re telling me your dad never took you fishing or hunting?”

I swallow hard as I pass Steve a roasted potato. “My dad wasn’t allowed to own guns. He had pretty severe PTSD from his time in Iraq.”

His smile evaporates. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“How would you know?” I counter, then I let out a loud sigh. “Sorry, that was rude. It’s still hard to talk about it, I guess.”

“How old were you when he passed?”

“I was…twenty,” I reply, keeping my attention focused on handing Steve another potato, so I don’t have to look Colton in the eye.

It’s nerve-wracking and exhausting trying to keep up with the adjustments I make to the truth. Now I have to remember that my dad died nine years after he actually did. I have to come up with a method to simplify this. Maybe I should keep a spreadsheet.

A spreadsheet of lies. What would my father think of what I’ve become?

I don’t know the answer to that question, but all I can think — as Colton watches the fire in silence, probably trying to figure out how to respond to the news I lost my father at such a young age — is how much I want to tell him the truth.

Maybe if I tell him my dad died eleven years ago, and it was eleven-year-old me who found his dead body, it will bring Colton and me closer. Maybe then I won’t feel so alone in this new town. Maybe then Colton will understand what brought me here, should I ever decide to tell him about the suitcase.

“Must be tough,” he begins, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, “losing a parent at that age.”

I decide not to acknowledge the part about how old I was, instead opting to share one of my favorite memories of my father. “When he was still alive, my dad used to say that when he died, he wanted to have an open casket wake, and he wanted us to put a sign in his cold hand saying: See ya soon!”

Colton smiles, but it seems a bit forced.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.