Tears well up in her eyes, and in mine. Soon enough, we’re both holding each other through sobs.
The Cranes are my second family. I started dating Matthew when I was eighteen years old, but we knew each other long before that. We were a trio—me, Matthew, and Tia. We were best friends long before any romantic feelings surfaced. Matt and I dated for four years, until we graduated college and decided to end the relationship. Before that, everyone thought we would get married, but I knew better. We probably wouldn’t have lasted so long if we hadn’t gone to the same college.
Change was hard for me, but I knew I needed to focus on law school, and like Matt said, we weren’t really going anywhere. The relationship didn’t have any sparks anymore, and we were too young to have such a boring relationship. I haven’t been home to Arcola in more than a year. I hate that I came home to witness such tragedy.
Sam falls asleep a few minutes later, and after tucking her under the covers, Matt and I leave the room.
“Thanks for that,” he says once we’re outside.
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You comforted her, Chrissy. You’re here. Thanks for being here.”
I get on my toes and ruffle his long brown hair.
“I’ll always be here,” I assure him.
“I know. You think you could work that magic on Mike?”.
I sigh. “I already tried. He doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to anybody. But you could try harder.”
I stare at him. “Why are you so sure he’ll open up to me?”
“Because even though he’ll never admit it, he respects you. You’re great at putting him in his place.”
I flip my hair over my shoulders.
“I put everyone in their place.”
“Exactly. Maybe you can get through to him. He needs someone right now, Chrissy. Please?”
He gives me puppy-dog eyes, and I groan. He knows I can’t say no to him.
“Alright, fine. I’ll see what I can do. But if he yells at me, I’ll yell at you in turn. After I’ve yelled right back at him.”
Matt throws his arm over my shoulders. “Whatever you say, weirdo.”
This is a bad idea for a plethora of reasons. The biggest one being that Michael Crane is the only person with the annoying ability to unnerve me. I used to look up to him, and I will never admit this to anyone, but I may have had a crush on him in middle school and some of high school.
He’s three years older than Matt and me, so he never hung out with us, but we used to talk. Then I started dating Matt and everything changed. I think he was scared I would hurt his little brother. And in the end, I proved him right.
MICHAEL
6 YEARS AGO
Aloud knocking at the door disturbs the only sleep I’ve managed to get in two days. I groan and get to my feet before clenching my hands. I am going to kill whoever’s out there.
I put on some clothes before stalking toward the door. I wrench it open, and the annoyingly perfect face of Christine Lawson is waiting for me on the other side.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask.
“I’m not sure where you learned your manners, but you’re supposed to say ‘hello’ or ‘hey’ when you see someone,” she states, pushing past me and barging in.
“Nice place.”
“How did you even know about this house?” I ask, trying to keep my mounting anger at bay.