Page 274 of Mountain Grump

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I don’t deserve even that.

Not yet.

“I’ll be back.” I lift my hand and stroke it down Quackers’s back. “I’m going to fix this.”

Then I stand.

And in a body that feels too heavy, I stagger to my truck.

Chapter 155

Tilda

Light presses against my eyelids.

But I’m not ready.

Not for being awake.

Not for the day.

Not for facing my emotions.

I’m not ready for reality.

It’s already too hard.

I woke up earlier, in the middle of the night.

I took my dress off.

I cried in the bathroom.

And I can’t do that again.

Not yet.

So I roll over.

And I pull the blankets up over my head.

Chapter 156

Ethan

My phone blaresfrom somewhere nearby, and I sit up with a gasp.

My eyes feel gritty.

My throat hurts.

And it takes a second.

Only one second.

Then I remember.

I remember every awful moment of yesterday.

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