Page 30 of Unleash You

The thing was, Anabelle already knew the whole story with Rebecca. She just hadn’t connected the dots yet that Rebecca was the woman I mentioned in my letters.

Dear Charlie,

Sounds to me like your dilemma isn’t much of a dilemma. If you want to help this girl and you have the ability to do it, you should. I feel for her. No one should have to go through all that at the hands of her own dad. I wish I could help. I wish I was there with you right now. I’m proud of you for doing the right thing, even though it scares the crap out of you. Please be careful.

I miss you brother, always.

Anabelle

Ps. Did you read the book I sent you?

I laughed, sounding like a crazy person, all alone in the dark. My exact words had been “I was scared shitless.” I’d never admitted that to anyone. But confessing that to Anabelle had been organic and liberating.

Not a day went by in the jungle that I didn’t fear for my life. That I didn’t fear that everything I saw there would change me forever. It didn’t change me. I had Anabelle to thank for that. Through it all, she was my light, a beacon of hope, a reminder that the world wasn’t such a bad place.

My gaze shifted toward her balcony just as her light went off. Because I was an asshole, my heart raced while my mind thought the worst. How the hell did I go there so fast? I forced myself to stay put and waited until Zack walked out through the kitchen access.

“If you want to see her, go see her, man. Don’t stay out here sulking like this.” He strolled straight to me. Could they see me from up there?

“I need to sort out my thoughts.”

“You’re thinking too much. She wants you. You want her. Go see her.”

“You know it’s not that simple.”

“Why? Go grovel and be done with it.” He plopped himself next to me. “I love Charlie. God knows he had his share of tragedy when he was young. But enough already with this vendetta he has against Anabelle. It won’t bring his parents back. And it won’t keep him immune to this kind of pain.”

“I told her about the letters.”

“Finally. What did she say?”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“It’s not all about you, man.” He punched me in the shoulder. “Right now, she’s mostly concerned with Rebecca. What’s Rebecca’s deal anyway?” Zack slanted a glance toward me, pulling out weeds near his shoes.

“I’d ask you the same thing. What’s with you and her? You seemed edgy before. Rebecca must be the first one to not get starry eyes for you.”

He blew out air, making a weird grunting sound. How could he have an opinion on her? He’d just met her, and he didn’t know her story.

“Well?”

“She kissed me earlier tonight.”

“What? Rebecca kissed you? Why?”

He glared at me. “My guess is she thought I was you. What the fuck is going on Wesley? Anabelle doesn’t deserve this kind of bullshit from you.”

“I know that. Things with Rebecca are complicated. I have no idea why she’d want to kiss me. It’s not like that between us. Did you tell Anabelle?”

“Of course not. But you have to come clean with her before this turns into another letter incident. She’s still hurting about that.”

“So she did tell you.” I didn’t know why that bothered me. If Anabelle kept confiding in Zack, it was because I wasn’t there for her. But that had to change. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow. She deserves the truth.”

“What about Rebecca? Back in the gardens, you were acting like her protector.”

“Like I said, it’s complicated.” I put my arm around Zack. He was being unfair to Rebecca. “Don’t be so quick to judge her. She’s been through a lot.”

“Enlighten me.”

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