Page 67 of After Our Kiss

- Chapter Twenty-Four -

Georgia Mary King

––––––––

Emily had been starved so severely that she needed medical care for a week.

Conway was with her every day, and I was grateful he let me join him. Neither of us pushed her for details about her ordeal. When the police came to collect information, we chased them off, insisting she wasn't ready yet.

The truth was... she'd never be ready. But she did want to tell Conway and myself first.

Alone.

“Lonnie reached out to me a few months ago,” she said, staring at the ceiling. She looked so small in the hospital bed. “I was shocked. I was... happy.” Her hands crushed together in her lap. “I was living in an apartment off of my campus in Pennsylvania. Lonnie said he'd been looking for me forever. He had no clue that our uncle—mom's brother—had whisked me out of the country.”

“What?” Conway asked, stunned.

Her smile was apologetic. “I wanted you to come with me. I was too young to have any say. Uncle Mett, he was scared of Dad. I think Mom must have told him some stuff, and I think she was planning to run with all of us kids.” She shrugged weakly. “I'm the only one he could get out of there, and then Dad went off the grid. He must have known the authorities would take all of his kids if they got in contact.”

“But how did Lonnie find you?” I asked.

Her cheeks went crimson. “It was my fault. When I heard on the news about you, Georgia, I had to know if Conway and Lonnie were okay. I needed to know how bad it was.” She rocked side to side. “Uncle Mett was afraid of Dad locating me. Still, I convinced him to arrange for a postal box here. I said I missed my old friends terribly, that I'd be careful not to tell them where I was while writing them letters. Reluctantly, he helped me set everything up. He had no idea who I was really talking to.”

A spike of venomous guilt attacked my body. I hugged myself tighter.

“Lonnie found your old address,” she said. “The current owners had some of my letters you'd never received. They gave them to him, I guess, because he used them to find my campus. I'd gotten bold and said where I'd be attending college when I returned to the states.”

I shivered and struggled to stop. “That's how he knew about the book I liked.”And the damn lemonade.

Her eyes were shining with unshed tears. “Yes. It's all my fault. I'd asked for those details, but I never thought someone else would read my letters. I'm so sorry.”

“You couldn't have known,” I said quickly. I ached to soothe her guilt.

Conway reached over, grasping her hands in one of his. “Lonnie would have found another way to hurt us all. You're not responsible for his actions. I'm just grateful you're alive, Emily.” He hung his head, fighting down a wave of emotion. “He tricked all of us.”

“What will you do now?” I asked her.

Emily looked out the window. The sun made her light skin glow. “I'll go back to college in Pennsylvania. I was close to finishing my last semester. I'm going to become a social worker, help families that really need it before they end up like ours.” She looked fondly at her brother. “And you?”

“If you're living in Pennsylvania, then so am I. After all this time apart, I'm not losing another day.”

She laughed—it was the sweetest sound. “Georgia, do you mind living in Pennsylvania?” she asked it knowingly.

“No. Not if that's where he's going,” I said, sitting closer to Conway. “I'll figure the rest out as it comes.”

He stared at me for a long minute. I was ready for him to argue against my plan. Conway was the type to deny we could be together, or to try and make me think it over twenty times because it was too rash.

His hands wrapped around mine firmly as two trees that had grown together. “We'll figure it out together.”

****

“They're calling you the ‘Lightning Strikes Twice Girl’,” Chelsea said, showing me the website on her phone.

The news was having a field day with my story. One girl kidnapped twice by the same family. It was messed up—people loved messed up stuff. “Isn't lightning striking twice supposed to be a good thing?” I asked, clicking my tongue.

“Why would it be? It's lightning! That stuff kills!” The second she said “kills” she went pale. “I'm sorry. Oh, that was insensitive.” Jumping on me, she gave me a huge hug. I'd gotten used to this treatment. Chelsea hadn't stopped tiptoeing around me since I'd returned.

Apparently, she blamed herself. I'd assured her multiple times that none of what happened was her fault. But she still felt responsible since she'd been the one to coerce me into going to the party.

---