Page 4 of Reid
Stepping out of the office, River gave me a thorough tour of the store.Once Mila finished with the customer, she joined us by the fall collection at the front window display.For the most part, she’d stayed quiet during my interview but had thrown in a few questions of her own.She wasn’t prickly, just more guarded than River was from my perspective, and I could respect that.
“I was waiting for you to be an official employee before I said anything because this will sound creepy and maybe a little stalkerish,” she said as she glanced out the window.“Your eyes are beautiful.I just want to look at them for hours and hours.”
Laughing, I shook my head at her.“We get that a lot, actually.It’s central heterochromia, which is a mutation in our genes.It’s not as rare as having the type of heterochromia with two different eye colors, but it still freaks some people out.”
“We?”River asked with a curious frown.
“I have an identical twin sister.You’ll see her around since she’s a student at Trinity.”
“Christ, I’m not even surprised,” River snickered.“Creswell Springs is starting to be full of twins.When Luca and his family visit for holidays, we are overrun with twins everywhere you turn.”
Mila stuck out her tongue at her friend.“Only cool people have a twin, and I’m the coolest because I got a brotheranda sister out of it.”
“You didn’t think it was so cool when you were bitching about being pregnant with twins.Twice,” River reminded her with a laugh.
“Speaking of which, I have to go.It’s my day to pick up the girls from school and scare all our boys into walking home straight after football practice.Otherwise, they conveniently forget and always find themselves on the wrong side of trouble.”Mila rolled her eyes before turning to River.“You good?Need me to bring anything back after I drop the girls at Mom’s?”
“We’ve got this.Love you.”
“Love you!”She gave me a wave as she walked toward the office and, I assumed, the back entrance.
For the next few hours, I got lost in work and getting to know my new bosses.Day one and I was already loving the energy.I was well aware that not everyone could have that first-day experience.While I was in college, I worked part time at my great-aunt’s store on Melrose.It was a different chaotic headache every other day there.I hadn’t hated it, though.Customer service wasn’t for the weak, and I kicked ass at it.That was why I thought WomanLand was the perfect job for me.
Aunt Mildred had offered me the chance to take over her store full time when I graduated, but I wanted a fresh start with Evie.Somewhere we could put down roots without overwhelming my twin.
Glancing at my phone, I saw that I had missed a few texts from my sister.
Evie: Made a friend in class!
Evie: She invited me out for a girls’ night.I think I want to go.
Hope and excitement raced through me.Creswell Springs must have had some kind of magic in the air.I wasn’t surprised Evie was making friends so quickly.People gravitated toward her.But that she was coming out of her shell so easily convinced me yet again that we had found our forever home.
Everly
Creswell Springs didn’t havemany options for places to host a girls’ night out.There was exactly one bar in the entire county, Hannigans’.From the packed parking lot with the eclectic blend of Harleys, overcompensating-for-something exotic cars, clunkers, and everything in between, I was sure this was going to be one night out that I remembered forever.
Finding a spot at the back of the lot, I watched Evie check her makeup and fluff her hair.She was nervous but hiding it pretty well.Then again, she’d become a pro at masking her emotions.That was one of the things that had helped her survive twenty-one years of being trapped in a house with our dad.
Herdad.
Even thinking of that man as my dad made me twitchy.The day he died was the day I got Evie back.I saved her.Not a single part of me regretted what I’d done to get her away from that monster.What I’dhadto do.
William Adams had been nightmare fuel for many little girls, not only my sister’s.With Evie, he’d kept her locked away, completely isolated from the outside world, except for on our birthday.The judge who’d overseen our parents’ divorce would probably never know that they had been saving lives by including that requirement.With William’s death came the end of one of the West Coast’s biggest human trafficking rings.
Evie didn’t know that about the man who’d raised her.It wasn’t until I was in my teens that I found out, and only then because of one of my mother’s many alcohol-fueled tirades.It sickened me that my mother knew William was a monster and she didn’t give a single fuck that her daughter was trapped under the same roof as him.
I was only thirteen when I found out the truth, scared for my sister but unable to do anything.Not even talk to Evie about it.My biggest fear had been telling her what I’d learned and never seeing my twin again.I had to live with the knowledge for years without being able to fix it.Unable to trust a single soul because it might place the person I loved most in danger.
In my young mind, I didn’t even know whattraffickermeant.After Googling it, I’d had nightmares for weeks, wondering if I would ever see my sister again.Our contact was limited to our birthday only.No emails, texts, phone calls.What if I said something, and Evie didn’t get to come to our next visitation?What if William sold her?
I started researching my sperm donor back then, but then I got a message from some unknown number, telling me to stop messing around.And that sent me spiraling in terror for Evie.When I finally got to see her again on our fourteenth birthday, I hugged her extra hard and didn’t let go for a long, long time.
Shaking off the bad memories along with the anger that always accompanied thoughts of William and Mom, I nudged Evie.When she turned to look at me, I booped her on the nose.“We look hot.We are going to go hang out with your new friend and her girls.You’re going to get tipsy and have the best time.I’m the designated driver tonight, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
She nodded, her smile slow to build, but as soon as it was fully formed, her shoulders relaxed.“Okay, I’m ready to get my fun on.”
Laughing, I opened the door.“Let’s go.”
