Page 59 of Keeping Her Safe

“Sorry I ran,” Zephyr said.

“I think we all understand. Hart’s have a hard time with happiness,” Zoey replied with a laugh.

“I wish we had been contacted when you were twelve. I would have raised you. Evie would have raised you,” Della said.

Sitting up straight, Zephyr took her hand in hers. “I don’t. I know now that if I had gone to Minnesota or even if Brian had adopted me, I wouldn’t be here today. I mean, I would be somewhere, but not here. I needed to be me without restrictions that good parents would have put on me.”

“Did you act out and get in trouble like me?” Zoey was curious.

“No, Zoey. You went outward, and I went inward. You acted out, and I shut the world out.”

“I don’t know which would be worse,” Della said

“Neither is worse; neither is better. I am who I am because I could just do what I wanted to do.”

“Write?” Zoey asked and pulled out some folded pieces of paper from her pocket and threw them on the table. They were the story she had started at Evie’s house. “I read it. It’s very good.”

“I thought the hospital had thrown it out. Yes, I write, since forever. I love it, and I don’t want to do anything else, and I don’t have to. But Della, you would have had me hospitalized if, at sixteen, I had stayed in my room all summer just writing in notebooks. But in foster care, nobody cared, and I wrote my second book that summer. Start to finish, editing included,” Zephyr stated, looking at her sister.

She continued, “Evie would have forced me to graduate from high school even if I had just received an advance on my first three books. Instead, I took the GED test and got out of school when I was eighteen. I didn’t need a diploma. I was never going to college.”

“So, you are not working on your doctorate?” Della asked.

“No, Zachary lied about that. I was just working on my last book.”

“Last?” Zoey asked

“Sorry, last in the series. I’ve started another one already.” She smoothed the papers on the table in front of her. She was already twelve pages beyond these words.

“But wouldn’t a loving family have been better than that?” Evie asked.

“Yes and no. I realized that you three received all of Kate’s great features. Some I had forgotten over the years. Evie and Della sound just like her. I can shut my eyes and see her talking when I hear you. That’s why your yelling got to me so quickly for no reason. Zoey has her energy, which was mostly gone when she died. The day I was shot, Evie, you walked by me and touched my hair. I had forgotten that she did that. I had forgotten so much of the good but remembered so much of the bad. You guys reminded me of that.” Zephyr looked up at the sky, trying not to cry.

“And why ‘no’?” Evie asked.

“Because then I wouldn’t have Zachary today. And I want Zachary.”

“All for a man,” Evie said wistfully, and the other two groaned at her.

“Was your book really on that USB drive?” Della asked.

“Yes, but it was actually two books. Thank you for taking that. If I was dead, he would’ve looked for it on me, but not you.”

“Okay, dead. Was it worth it to kill you?” Della asked.

“Yes,” Zephyr said. After seeing the contract offers, she had realized how much she was worth; how much Ken had actually stolen from her over the years.

“And we’re your heirs?” Della asked.

“Yep. You get everything except the house.” She pointed to it behind her.

“Why?” Della pushed.

“Because you’re Kate’s girls. I may not have been raised with you, but you were raised with me. We celebrated all your birthdays and holiday’s as if you were there. Every event I had was compared to an event you guys had already had. She talked about you all the time. I know you better than I know myself. Did you find the letter I left? I thought that you guys would want to know more about her and how she thought of you and wanted to come back.” Zephyr wanted to know, and Evie nodded.

“But she didn’t, did she?” Zoey stated.

“No, she didn’t.”

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