Page 72 of Gather the Storm

We took a seat at one of the tables by the window and Cassie brought over Ruth’s caramel macchiato and a slice of blueberry cream cheese pound cake.

“On me,” Cassie said, probably because she didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire of a Hammond sister showdown. Bram was her only sibling and I’d never once seen them fight.

Ruth slipped the lid off her cup and took a sip.

“Why are you being weird on text?” I asked.

“I’m not. I’m just busy.”

I sighed. “Can we skip the whole ‘nothing’s wrong’ thing and get right to why you’re freezing me out? Because I thought we were okay when I left the house.”

She sat back in her chair and picked off a piece of the pound cake. “Not like I had a choice,” she grumbled.

“No, but we could have talked about it more,” I said.

“I thought it would be okay,” she said. “But it’s weird without you there.”

I nodded, feeling a surge of sympathy for my little sister. It had been hard enough getting used to Blake’s absence. He and his friends had filled up the whole house, their laughter and shouting and music and arguing and video games echoing through the cavernous rooms.

Now Ruth was alone there. My dad was hardly ever home.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Have you been hanging out in the kitchen with Joan and Lenny and the others?” I asked. “Won any games of gin lately?”

I was trying for lighthearted but Ruth just glared at me. “I’m not five. Playing cards with Joan doesn’t make up for the fact that I’ve basically lost my whole family.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Our mom and Blake were dead and I’d bailed to find out the truth about Blake’s murder.

For the first time, I started to doubt my plan. “You haven’t lost me. I’m less than fifteen minutes away. You can come stay with me anytime.”

I said it even though it was hard to imagine Ruth in the old house with Jace, Wolf, and Otis now that they were hot as fuck and I was in a state of constant horniness.

She picked another bite off the pound cake and sulked. “Dad knows.”

She didn’t have to elaborate for me to know what she meant. Word traveled fast in Blackwell Falls and my dad was well connected.

I figured he'd find out I was living with Blake’s murderers eventually, but I’d hoped to get up the courage to tell him myself before it happened.

“Shit,” I said.

“Yeah, he’s pissed.” There was a hint of triumph in her voice, but she sounded more like her old self. That was the thing about family: staying mad just wasn’t practical. “But in that quiet way he gets.”

I knew exactly what she meant. It was better when our dad showed his anger. Then you could deal with it, try to pacify him, like I’d done when I’d told him I was moving to the old house.

It was when he was quiet that you had to worry.

“Great,” I said. “When did he find out?”

“I’m not sure,” she said. “But he asked me about it a couple of days ago.”

“What did you say?” I asked.

She frowned like I was stupid. “I told him I’d thought you were staying with Cassie. This was your decision. I’m not going to take the fall with Dad for keeping the secret.”

I wasn’t exactly surprised. Ruth was nothing if not logical.

“What do you think he’s going to do?” I ran through the possibilities in my mind.

He could freeze me out or have Calvin bring me home (I doubted my dad would set even a foot inside the old house he hated).

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