Page 26 of Riddled Deceit (Tattooed Hearts Duet 1)

I have a joke for you. I’m going to pretend you answer back for this to work.

Knock knock. (Now you say, who’s there?)

Cow says. (Now you say, cow says who?)

No, silly. Cow says Moo.

Are you laughing? I hope you’re laughing. I’m horrible with jokes, but I saw that one and it made me think of you. You mentioned Kentucky once and I feel like you must have cows in your backyard or something. I don’t really see them on the west coast, so it interested me. Read into that if you will, but yes, I do think of you at times.

Thank you for your last letter. I’m sorry to hear your peers are cruel. Sometimes, family things make life difficult, but they're family, and that’s important. At least I feel that way. Some days I do question my sanity.

I tried your trick with the stars, and I was surprised, not that I doubted you, but yeah, I was surprised it worked. So, thank you for that.

Your answers? Very clever, Nox. I didn’t think about the bath part. I’d like to edit my answer as well.

I’ve never been in a tornado. Weather phenomena do interest me, but I doubt I’d enjoy it if I was in the middle of a cyclone. I need to get you a thunder shirt. It works for my dog.

I’m glad we agree the best season is Fall. We can continue to be pen pals now.

In response to your questions.

Pizza all the time. I don’t know how you could have a different answer. Seriously, I’m debating being your friend now. I’ll have to convince you.

No, I don’t think I’ve been in love, not really. I feel like there’s a story to your answer. I want to push you to spill, but I won't do that. But you can, you know… spill. It’s kind of the beauty of pen pals. Sharing secrets with someone you’ll never meet.

Hobby? I also like art. I draw almost every free second I get and it doesn’t matter where. Now my parents and teachers have different opinions about that, but it doesn’t stop me. I also like music. I fiddle with the guitar, but I would never play in front of someone.

My questions:

Would you rather have feet for hands or hands for feet? I think I’d rock the double hand syndrome. I definitely could get more done.

When did you first realize your parents aren’t perfect? I was ten. I caught my mom cheating on my dad. I told my dad, and everything fell apart. I regret saying anything. I often wonder if I hadn’t if my family would still be together.

Favorite color? Mine is... Okay, don’t laugh, but I really love purple. I mostly wear black, but if I could pick, it would be purple.

I’ll be staring at the stars, Moo.

Blaze

Bed rest passedby agonizingly slowly, and death almost seemed preferable by the time the official all-clear came. It had been nice to spend time with Noah and my parents, but the constant questions and checking-in reminded me why I’d moved out. I loved my family, but preferably, in more of a few streets over and weekly dinners kind of thing.

Waving to my mom, I walked to my apartment building. After the appointment, we went to lunch and then went shopping. It was supposed to be a quick trip, but it turned into a few hours. Now, exhaustion coated me, and I was ready to be back in my space.

Unlocking my door, I was surprised when I didn’t hear Simon. He typically had Sundays off, and we spent many of them binge-watching on the couch together. Walking through the whole place, I didn’t find him in any of the rooms. Nothing looked out of place as I scanned it. Now that I thought about it, Simon had been quiet all weekend.

After dinner the other night, I hadn’t seen or heard from him. Typically, we texted all day long about every mundane thing. Opening my phone, the last text I received from him was two days ago.Fudge! Dialing his number, it went straight to voicemail. Panic started to crawl up my chest, and I raced out of the apartment to find him.

Something was wrong, I just knew it.

When I got out to the parking lot, I remembered my car was still at the shop. I’d forgotten to make sure to drive it here. Except as I frantically searched for the Lyft app, I saw my car parked in its usual spot. Simon must’ve brought it back for me. Warmth filled my chest at the thought.

No time to get weepy about it, though, and I raced to it and flung open the door. The hinges creaked, and I started my ritual of praying my car would start. Smoothing my hands over the cracked leather of the steering wheel, I gave it a soft caress. Turning the car radio to 88.7 FM and the defroster on, I lifted the emergency brake, and turned the key halfway, then back, and then all the way.

It might sound ridiculous, but this combination of things never ceased to fail me. Betty roared to life just as expected, and I kissed my fingers and placed it on the rearview mirror.

Take good care of your girl, and she’ll take good care of you.

Backing out, I tried to keep my anxiety away from my gas pedal to not disturb the acceleration. Making it over the last speed bump, I sighed in relief at making it this far. Typically, if Betty was going to break down, it was in the first five minutes. Her continued purr was a good sign for the drive.

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