Kai steps forward. "Is—" He too stumbles over his words.
Do we even want to know?! How fucking horrible are we to second guess if we actually want the update we've been waiting for all these years?!
Henry swallows repeatedly like he can't get his voice to function.
Will breaks the tense silence with soft understanding. "Are you all there?"
To my surprise, Ridge steps forward, not even taking a moment to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "Where is Nina, Mr. Solace?"
Silence. Then there’s quiet murmuring before Will finally responds. "Can we meet? Please. We're in town and can go wherever is easiest."
I frown. "Where are you?"
"Provo," comes Will's immediate response.
"We moved a year ago. We're in St. George," I explain.
"About three and a half hours away," Henry mutters trying his damnedest to rip his hair out of his skull as he paces.
"Henry?!" Meg makes herself known again. "Oh my...I've missed you."
Henry looks like he's about to shatter completely when Kai swoops in to give him a giant hug of support.
Cursing draws my attention back to this nightmarish conversation.What aren't they telling us?!
Ridge seems ready to snap, so before he can, I bolt around the counter and place a heavy hand on his shoulder. He's our short fuse and I'm our rock.
"Drink," I state, not giving my cousin room to argue when I shove a bottle of Gatorade into his trembling hand. It's time I take charge; it's what I do best. What Ienjoy.
"Tell me, Will. Now."
My fingers dig into Ridge's shoulder when the silence drags on. A sputtering breath and another whimper sound from my phone.
"It's Nina..." Will whispers because he knows our world’s just imploded. "She's?—"
My throat closes over, ready to save myself from digesting the worst possible news.Did they find her body?The police always were quick to assume she was dead after so many years of a cold trail.
"Nina's..."
"WILL!" I shout, my emotions erupting in a bout of frustration and fear. "Where is our Nina?!"
"In Provo," Will gasps out like he too can't hold himself together any longer. "She-she needs you."
Kai lunges for the phone and asks what we've been wondering for so fucking long. "Nina's alive?!"
The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here, and I'm not ready to live it because what if the person I've loved most in the world is gone? And what if she isn't? What then?
Will stutters over his life altering words. "Y—" My heart thumps an extra beat, then another until I'm all but hyperventilating and giving Ridge all my weight. "Yes. Nina is a-alive."
ALIVE! OUR NINA IS ALIVE!
Chapter 10
Ridge
"Ridge..." Trevor's tone holds enough warning to draw my attention. "You need to calm down."
"Calm down?"CALM DOWN?!"The fuck you mean I need to calm down?" I snarl. It takes a tremendous amount of effort not to attack him right now and the only reason I haven't yet is because he's the one driving the fucking truck.