Page 54 of Don't Fall

And I’m a shit trade off. She really should have swung a few more times at me with that umbrella. If for no other reason than it would probably do her some good to beat the shit out of something.

“So that’s why seeing your sister this morning was so important. She’s still with your mom.”

She nods. “We only just got in touch a few months ago. Riley hasn’t had it easy and I just want to do the best I can, to do for her what my aunt did for me, you know?”

I do.

“What about your brothers?”

She turns her gaze downward, fidgeting with the corners of the pages in her book. “No idea. They weren’t big on keeping in touch. Not that I blame them. The way we grew up, it was every man for himself, push forward and don’t look back, or else that’s it. You fall, you go under. You don’t come back up.”

I nod slowly, trying like hell to keep my expression blank, to not show the fury rising inside me, or the ache spreading in my chest as I start to understand the weight she carries with her, the reasons she is the way she is, but it’s damn hard. “So that’s why.”

“Why what?”

Our eyes lock and all I can hear is the pounding of my own heart, thundering against my ribs. “You don’t fall.”

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