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Chapter Fourteen
Ethan
The shock was wearing off, and I was sitting on the front porch staring out into the darkness. All of us were here at the house, well, all except Mom. None of us wanted to go home—none of us wanted to leave Dad.
What kind of world would it be without my mom in it anymore? Cara was seated in the glider beside me, Evan on her other side. Carmen, Candy, and Coral were inside doing something with Dad.
Cara sighed, and the sound was heavy in the night air.
“You had no idea, Cara? They never told you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I had no clue. I think the only ones who knew besides her and Dad were Riley and her mother.”
“Why did they know?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t wanted to push Dad to talk too much yet.”
“Jesus, if Riley knew, she should have told me,” I muttered back.
Cara snorted. “Like you two are talking these days. I noticed that she bolted right after you arrived. Did you even talk to her?”
“For a moment, she said she was tired. She looked it, too.”
“She’s the one that called the ambulance. Henley is the one that pronounced Mom.”
“Shit.” I rubbed my forehead. I had a massive headache.
“So what’s up with this Sam girl you brought back?” Evan asked.
“She’s just a classmate. She called a little while ago to say she got an early flight back to Georgia. She’s going to let me know what they say when she gets back.”
“Why did she come up here in the first place?” Cara queried.
“Because she didn’t have anyplace else to go,” I replied.
Cara frowned. “She doesn’t have a home?”
“What’s with all the questions?”
Cara shrugged. “Just weird that you bring a woman home with you.”
I laughed. “Why is that so weird? I’ve brought other women around that I have dated.”
Evan grinned. “So youaredating her?”
“No, I didn’t say that.” I sighed heavily. “Sam and I have an arrangement.”
“You’re using each other for sex,” Cara stated with a raised brow.
“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”
She snorted. “Ethan, when are you going to learn that you can’t do that to avoid feelings? Your relationship with Riley started that way too, but look how that turned out.”
“Riley and I don’t have a relationship,” I stated harshly.
“I think she missed you while you were gone,” Evan added.
“I doubt that very much, but why would you think that?”
