AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Page after page, we are hit with memory after memory from our childhood.
“I can’t believe you still have this.” Lo laughs as we flip to a page that has Eli flexing his barely-there muscles about to jump into our pool. He must be around ten years old in the photo. The next image on the page is of the splash his jump made that caused our alligator raft to flip over.
“I found the book in mom and dad’s attic not that long ago. Mom and I spent that evening dying with laughter. I just had to take it home. Just wait, it gets better…”
On the last page, there're photos of the play we all did in our backyard. We performed our rendition of Hansel and Gretel. It was quite the production with props and costumes. We even made all our parent’s tickets to see the show. Eli was the stage manager—refusing to dress up for a role. Quinn was the witch and Wes, and I were Hansel and Gretel. Sloan insisted on a major role, so we made up a third sibling for her, Hilda. Brayden was too young to care what role he played, so he wound up animating the cardboard props we crafted. I think he even played the oven.
“You know Hansel, Gretel, and Hilda could have been big.” She laughs out while running her fingers over the hand crafted ticked pasted on the page.
“We killed it… I'm surprised we never went on to do anymore shows. That was so much fun.” I say, closing the book and putting it back on the table.
“Did you forget what it was like having Eli boss us around? The power position got to his head. We all refused to work with him again.”
Sloan stands from her position on the floor and stretches. We’ve been on the floor for what feels like hours, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Sloan and I needed this; we needed this reconnection.
“Man, I'm getting old. My back is fricken killing me right now.” She says, rolling her neck. “What time is it, anyway?”
Reaching for my phone, I see that it’s already six-thirty in the evening, wow we really were on the floor for hours.
“It’s six thirty,” I tell her as I attempt to stand as well.
“Shit, are you serious… Can I shower and get ready here?” She asks and walks to her suitcase that was abandoned at the door when she got here.
“Of course. What time do you need to be there?”
“I need to be in the upper east side by seven forty-five.”
“Shit, you better hurry girl,” I tease as she hurries to my bedroom with her stuff in tow. “Towels are in the bottom right cabinet under the sink.”
She scurries out of the room and gives me a big hug. “Thank you Mads. I'm glad we did this. I mean, I wish it was under different circumstances, but I’m happy nonetheless.”
Hugging her just a bit tighter, I say, “Me too, Lo, me too.”
I feel as if a weight has been lifted off me. At last, the air is clear and I'm able to move forward without carrying around the guilt from all those years ago. Not sure why it took so long, but I'm happy with where we are now.
Eighteen
Quinn still doesn’t know where Sloan’s at. She keeps reminding me that Lo can handle herself and she probably just needs to clear her mind before talking to me about everything.
I call Eli and explain Lo is in New York and we had a misunderstanding that now has her pissed at me. Deciding my history with his twin isn’t just my secret to tell, I don’t go into details about why she’s upset. Luckily, he is too hungover and has his own shit going on to really question me. Eli says he hasn’t seen or heard from her, so I ask him to call his parents and casually see if Sloan went there.
I would hate to show up at their house when Sloan is upset with me, but at this point I don’t care. I need to explain that what she saw this morning was definitely not what she’s thinking.
But Eli confirmed she wasn’t there either.
Eventually, I am unable to sit still any longer with no answers, so I take a walk around the block. Every brunette I see has my heart dropping when I quickly realize it’s not her.
I even call Julie and ask her to run the show again tonight at King’s Hideaway. Just telling her that I am going to extend my vacation by a few days. She reassures me not to worry that managing my bar is what I pay her for.
Thankfully, Quinn takes pity on me and shares that Sloan checked in with the girls via their group message mid-afternoon. At least I know she’s safe. Unfortunately, the message didn’t have any details of her whereabouts, or at least Q said it didn’t.
As the sun starts to go down, I consider going to some of the local hotels to see if she checked in there. Maybe I’ll be able to sweet talk some receptionists into giving me information.
Recalling the hotel she was booked at for her conference last month, I decide to head there first.
When I hop in the cab, my stomach rumbles for the first time since Quinn’s phone call. I have had zero appetite. Every unanswered phone call and minute that passed just made me more and more anxious.
I cannot lose her.I refuse to let Maddie come between us again… I held back for years because of the respect I had for Sloan and the love she has for her family. But this is one big misunderstanding and I won’t let it destroy us.
