AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Jenna, go to your room!” my mom snaps.
“I’m not done with dinner.”
“Take it to your room.”
“Why? What are you guys gonna talk about? And why can’t I be included?”
“Do as your mother asked,” my dad says in a forceful tone. “Take your dinner up to your room.”
Jenna looks at the three of us, then shoves up from her chair and stomps out of the dining room, leaving her dinner behind.
When she’s gone, my mom looks at my dad. “We can’t have her talking about Easton that way. This needs to stop.”
“We’ll handle her later,” my dad says. “Or maybe we should send her to that counselor Easton went to. I’m sure this behavior is caused by her inability to process the news about Easton.”
“Counseling,” I huff. “Is that your answer to everything? Just send your kids to a counselor to deal with so you and Mom don’t have to?”
“Easton, that’s not what we did,” my mom says. “Counseling was supposed to help you.”
“But it didn’t.” I drop my fork on my plate and sit back. “What would’ve helped me more than anything was to see Nova again, or talk to her. Knowing she was okay is what would’ve helped me, but instead, I was left wondering what happened to her.”
My dad sighs. “Easton, you need to let this go. It’s been 12 years.”
“Yeah. Twelve years spent looking for her, having nightmares that something happened to her.” My eyes bounce between my parents. “Do you have any idea what that’s like?”
They don’t answer.
“And now it’s happened again.” I let out a harsh laugh. “You happy? You got what you wanted.”
My dad’s brows draw together. “What are you talking about?”
“Nova took off, and I have no idea how to find her.”
“What do you mean she took off?” my mom says.
“She moved. She left town.”
My parents look at each other, then back at me.
“I don’t understand,” my dad says. “Are you saying she’s no longer living with her grandfather?”
I stare back at him. “Ted died. That’s why she came here to see me on Thanksgiving. He died, and Nova didn’t know what to do. I didn’t help her and now she’s gone.”
“Oh, Easton.” My mom reaches for me. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah right.” I roll my eyes. “You’re happy she’s gone. You both are. Now we can all go back to our lives and I can go back to playing the role of the perfect son.” I shake my head. “I was finally starting to feel like myself again, but who am I kidding? I’m Easton Voss. Sean died as soon as you adopted me. You both made sure of that.”
“Honey, that’s not fair,” my mom says. “We were just trying to give you a new life, a better one.”
“Better according to you, not me. I’m not even going to argue about this. What’s the point? Nova’s gone and I’m back having to pretend to be someone I’m not. I wish I’d never found her again. It would’ve made things a lot easier.”
Only part of that is true, the part about it being easier to go on with my life never having felt what it’s like to be Sean again. But it’s Nova who made me feel that way and I’m happy I found her. Saying I wish I hadn’t is a lie. It’s killing me to know I may never see her again, but I still don’t regret having her back in my life, even for just a short time.
“I’m sure there will be a funeral,” my dad says. “She’ll be back for that.”
“Ted’s not getting a funeral,” I say like he’s crazy. “Nobody would go. Everyone hated him, especially Nova. He was horrible to her. He wouldn’t even let her eat the food in the fridge. He put his fucking name on it.”
My mom glances at my dad, but he doesn’t look back at her.
