Page 107 of Risking it All

Dad stood, gave me a one-armed hug, and kissed the side of my head. “So did your mom. She cared when it felt like no one else did. You have her heart, Mace. Never change that.”

“What do I inherit from you?”

He gave me a sly grin. “Don’t you know? You and me, we’re always right.”

I laughed and Dad seemed to enjoy the sound.

“I want to know more,” I admitted. “About what it was like for you in foster care. I also want to know more about your parents.”

“The foster care—I’ll work on telling you more, but it’s not a place I like to visit. As for my parents, I have some pictures of them I found a few years ago. Do you want to see them?”

“I’d love that.”

Chapter fifty-three

Relic

Camila and I didn’t have much. I could not have cared less if I had a thing from the apartment, but there were a few items that Camila wanted, and I needed her to feel secure. I felt like my skin was on fire as Isaiah drove into the parking lot of my apartment complex. Noah sat in the passenger seat, Abby beside me in the back.

“As soon as I get out of this car, someone’s going to call Eric.” I had mentioned this before, but they didn’t seem phased.

“I hope they do,” Abby mumbled, and she hopped out first. Isaiah followed and I sat still, wondering if this was the best idea. Noah glanced at me in the rearview mirror.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said. “I’ll take you back home, you tell us what we need, and we’ll get it for you. Either that or give me a list and we’ll buy it for you.”

I shook my head. “Rent hasn’t been paid for the past two months. They’ll trash everything in there soon. I’m afraid I’ll forget something and then I won’t be able to retrieve it. Camila’sattached to some of her stuff, and I don’t want her to feel like her entire life’s gone.”

“Then let’s go.” Noah exited the car and I followed. Isaiah went up the stairs first, then me and Noah brought up the rear as Abby stayed by the car.

I had gone up and down these stairs hundreds of times, but this time it felt like I had the scope of a rifle trained on my back. The muscles in my neck twitched as the door wasn’t locked, and when I opened it, my stomach cramped. Not that I wanted any of the shit in here, but the place was nearly stripped clean. Everything but my and Camila’s clothes and her small collection of toys and stuffed animals.

I circled Camila and Lyra’s room and noted that not one of Lyra’s things remained. I don’t know why it bothered me, but it did.

“You okay?” Noah asked.

Not really. “I’m mad at her, and she sure as fuck is mad at me, but Lyra’s still my sister. I know it sounds stupid, but I miss her.”

“It’s not stupid. Isaiah felt that way about his mom, too.”

“Does it get better?” I asked.

“Some things are always going to hurt, but you do find ways to be happy. At some point, the happy will outweigh the bad.”

So far, this was one of the things I liked about Noah and Isaiah, they told it straight.

I went to work packing Camila’s clothes that were worth saving and then shoved her stuffed animals and toys on top. I did a walkthrough of my room and took a phone charger, a thumb drive that had pictures of Camila as a baby and toddler, my favorite pair of jeans, my work clothes from Bluegrass Mountain, and two T-shirts. Other than that, there was nothing of this old life that I wanted to take with me into the new one.

Noah waited for me in the living room and, when I walked out, I noticed how he took note of how I only filled one bag. “Got everything you need?”

“I have everything I want,” I responded.

“Good enough for me.”

“Noah,” Isaiah called from the front door. “We’re live.”

“What’s that mean?” I asked.

Noah moved to stand in front of me. “Eric’s here.”

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