“Of course not,” I assure her. “How will you handle the attention at school, though?”
“I can still play the violin.” She lifts her chin. “Everyone else can go to hell. Even Paige.”
“Why Paige? I thought she was your best friend.”
“I only hung out with her because you were with Naomi. She’s changed this year. Once she finds out I’m pregnant, she’ll want to distance herself from me. I know her. She’ll be thinking of her popularity, not me.”
I reach over and take her hand in mine. “Whatever you do, I’ll be there for you. You know that, right? If it’s abortion or adoption or keeping it. I’m here.”
She nods and squeezes my hand. “You’ve always been there, Canny. Always.” Her gaze darts over her shoulder before she brings it back to me. “What happened up there?”
Dread washes over me. I pull back my hand to rake my fingers through my still-wet hair. All I want to do is drag Alis into my arms and assure him we’ll figure it out just like I promised my sister, but I can’t. At least, not yet.
“Me and Alis…” I trail off, shooting her a helpless look.
Her eyes widen. “But you hated him.”
“Back then,” I agree, “but things changed.”
“Apparently,” she says with a snort.
“I love him.” My voice grows hoarse. “He makes me happy. Like so fucking happy. And now.” I swallow hard, dropping my stare to my coffee mug. “Dad and Quinn found out. We knew if they ever did, they’d be pissed. But they’ll get over it, right?”
She furls her brows as she studies me. “They have no choice.”
“They could disown us.”
Her eyes roll. “You and Alis sleeping together have nothing on me getting pregnant at sixteen. Dad’s not going to disown me, so why would he disown you?”
“You have a lot of faith in that man. Even after all he did to us.”
“Which is why I believe he’ll get over it. We moved past what he did, even if it fractured our family beyond repair.”
I like her sensible words. It has me rising to my feet, eager with the need to see Alis. She’s right, though. If we could get past what Dad did to Mom and us, he can deal with this.
“Come on,” I say to her as I load up the tray with our mess. “Let’s get out of here.”
After depositing the trash and dishes in the restaurant, we trek back upstairs. Once inside our suite, I make a beeline for Alis’s door and rap on it. No answer.
“Wonderland?”
No reply.
I turn the knob and peek inside. They’re gone. It makes me wonder if we missed them downstairs or if they went next door to talk.
“Not there?” Carrie asks.
“Nope.” I let out a rush of breath. “Probably in Dad’s room or at breakfast.”
She nods, chewing on her bottom lip. “They’ll be back, and we’ll fix it.”
“I hope so.”
“In the meantime…” She grimaces. “Want to FaceTime Mom with me?”
“Scaredy cat.”
She sticks her tongue out at me. “She’s less likely to yell at me with you beside me.”
Tugging Carrie to me, I ruffle her hair and kiss the top of her head. “They can yell all they want, but we’ll still stick together.”
Mom didn’t yell.
She cried.
Blamed herself.
Cried some more.
It felt like a setback, but by the end of the conversation, we had a plan. As a family. Carrie would finish school where she’s at, have the baby, and after the adoption, move to Orlando with Mom and Uncle Adam to start fresh.
Fuck Dad.
I pace the suite for the next couple of hours, wondering what’s taking them so long. Carrie lies down for a nap, so I rapid-fire text Alis.
Me: You okay?
Me: What’s taking so long? Is he mad? They’ll have to get over it.
Me: I love you.
Me: Where are you?
I doze off on the sofa waiting for him to respond. I’m woken with a start, Carrie standing over me and frowning.
“What are we having for dinner?”
I rub the sleep out of my eyes. “Dinner? What time is it?”
“A little after five. We slept the day away.”
I try calling Alis, but he doesn’t answer.
“What are they doing?” I demand, an uneasiness settling in my gut. “Is he in his room?”
She shrugs, so I peek inside. Empty as I expected. I shove my phone into my pocket and stalk out of the suite. Once at Dad’s door, I pound on it.
“Let me in,” I command, my voice loud enough to rattle the walls.
A few seconds later, Dad answers the door wearing a sleepy scowl. “What?”
I want to punch him in the fucking face, but I push past him instead, needing to see Alis. Quinn is in bed and grabs for his glasses. I skim the room and don’t see my boyfriend.
“Where is he?” I demand, glowering at Quinn.
“What do you mean?” His eyes are hard and angry like before.
“What are you two doing sleeping in the middle of the day?” My voice rises several octaves. “Where the hell is Alis?”
Dad storms over to me, grabbing my bicep. “Calm down. We were napping because you kids have emotionally exhausted us. It was better to sleep off some of the anger than direct it at you kids. Now, what’s going on?”
My knees buckle, and if it weren’t for Dad’s grip, I would’ve hit the floor. Sensing my panic, Quinn leaps out of bed.
“What are you saying? Alis isn’t with you?” His tone is shrill. “Answer me, Canyon! Where the fuck is my son?”
“Canyon,” Carrie shrieks, running into the room waving a piece of paper at me. “Look.”
In Alis’s messy scrawling, he’s written a note on resort stationery.
I’m going back home where I belong. I knew having this life was too good to be true.
“What the hell does this mean?” I croak out, yanking the paper and shoving it at Quinn. “What did you do? What the fuck did you do?”
Quinn’s face blanches as he shoots me a horrified look. “He…He left.”
He doesn’t have to tell me where.
I know.
Deep in my gut, I know.
Alis thinks his dad hates him…
Which means he ran someplace where he thinks he’s wanted.
He went to Colin.
Fuck.
Alister
It’s after three in the morning by the time my plane lands at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport. The three-stop flight to Missouri was long and exhausting, but I didn’t sleep a wink.
Silently, whenever I got the chance, I’d bury my face in my palms and let the tears leak out. You’d think I’d be out of tears by now, but fresh ones sting at my eyes as I deboard the flight.
I’m really doing this.
Abandoning everything I know and love.
Because you don’t deserve that life. You never did.
Bitterness coils in my gut like a snake ready to strike. Me and Canyon were careless. We let our secret get out, and just like I’d feared, it was not received well. Dad’s words still haunt me.