At the Quiet Edge: A Novel by Victoria Helen Stone

Author:Victoria Helen Stone [Stone, Victoria Helen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2022-05-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

He’d tried to have fun with Josephine tonight, but anytime he relaxed just a little, his brain would jolt back to anticipation. You need to get home. You need to check your messages. Your dad is waiting.

He kept telling his brain to shut up. Dad hadn’t been on Discord this morning or this afternoon, and Everett didn’t want to get his hopes up, because maybe he’d walked away again.

When he did manage to tamp down his own thoughts, he would eventually relax, and then his brain would escape his control and snap right back to Dad again.

He and Josephine had gone to the library to look up school yearbooks, and they’d found all the girls, even Tiffany Miller. But Everett had barely been able to pay attention. He’d just wanted to be back at his computer.

A soft metal click told him his mom had locked the bathroom door; then the rushing roar of the pipes filled the hallway when she turned on the tap. Everett raced to the desk and dropped into the chair to log on.

He hated himself for doing it. Hated that hope buzzed through his muscles. And he really, really hated that he still believed his dad would show up.

But then . . . he did.

Hey, LM, it’s me.

LM. Little man. It was a code, kind of, that didn’t give him away. Everett flushed hot all the way to his scalp. He checked the timestamp.

The message had come in only one hour before, and Everett felt furiously glad that he hadn’t stayed home all afternoon waiting for it. What was his dad busy with, anyway? Stealing cars and robbing old people?

Feeling immediately bad for that, he shook his head as he checked his dad’s username. It was just a bunch of letters and numbers. Everett added him as a friend.

You still there? he messaged back, unwilling to act excited to finally hear from him. When the rush of the pipes abruptly cut off, Everett jerked back in fear, then craned his neck toward the bathroom. He waited, holding his breath, until he heard the faint shushing sound of his mom shifting in the water.

He’d just relaxed back in his chair when a new message arrived. Yes! Still here! Sorry it took so long. Things are complicated, and I had to find a safe place to stay.

Where are you? Everett wanted to ask, but he knew his dad couldn’t give that away. So he typed, Is everything ok? instead.

Everything is great. I’m talking to you!!!

Everett couldn’t stop the smile that popped onto his face. He didn’t even want to. His dad hadn’t disappeared again. He’d kept his promise. It was a small thing, maybe, but it was something good.

Another message arrived. Can you talk on the phone? Or here on Discord?

I can’t, he wrote back with a glance toward the bathroom. Not alone.

Got it. No worries. I’ve been feeling guilty about the call anyway.

Why?

You’re too young for me to ask you to keep a secret this big.

That’s not true, he wrote back immediately.

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