Page 94 of Wanted You More

I’ve seen him study for the past hour, and he’s never been less astute in his life. “Whatever you say, Mr. Kingsley.” Picking up one of the notecards I made, I slide it over to him. “Okay, next one. Hit me with it.”

He scans the card. “What are the Brontës most famous novels? There are three answers to this. One for each sister.”

Nose scrunching, I tap my pen against my face to think about it. “One isJane Eyre. I’m pretty sure that’s by Charlotte Brontë. I watched the newest movie the other day because the book was so dry I couldn’t get past the first twenty pages.”

Noah snorts. “Of course you did.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll CliffsNotes the book before the test since it’s probably different from the film,” I reassure him, making him roll his eyes. “The second book has to do with heights. I hope there’s a movie for that one too, because I don’t know if I can stomach another boring-ass book.”

He deadpans, “Wuthering Heightsis one of the classics, Austen. How do you not know it’s a movie? Most high schools teach the book in English and finish the lesson with the 1939 film.”

“Ha!” I stick my tongue out at him in victory. “The second book isWuthering Heights. That one is by Emily. Why can’t I remember the third sister’s name? She must not be as famous.”

His head drops. “Her name is Anne Brontë and according to your study card, she’s best known forThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall.” His mouth twists as he rereads that. “To be honest, I don’t think I know that one.”

“See,” I remark, gesturing toward the cards knowingly. “Poor Anne is the black sheep of her family. She probably just wanted to follow in her sister’s footsteps since they already had books out or something.”

All he does is shake his head.

“Did you know they died of tuberculosis? They were, like, young. Well, Charlotte lived to be a little older. Apparently, that was a huge thing back then. It’s nuts.” Leaning back in my chair, I look at a few more of the cards and add, “Thank God that’s not a thing anymore.”

When I’m met by silence, I lift my gaze to see Noah blinking at me. “TB still exists, Austen,” he tells me slowly. “People have to get tested for it all the time. I had to get tested before I started work.”

Cheeks flushing, I sink into my chair at the news I didn’t know. “Oh. You don’t hear about it anymore so…”

He doesn’t embarrass me or call me dumb for not knowing something plenty of people probably do. “Most deadly diseases are still around. We just have the medication and know how to treat them. Did you know the pneumonic plague that killed millions of people in the Middle Ages is still around?”

“Isn’t that the one that was carried by rats or something? Gross.”

Noah’s eyes brighten with amusement. “I can’t say that’s necessarily the case now, but yes. Back then, rats were a big spreader. They’d get on ships that traveled for trade reasons, causing it to go airborne in more areas.”

Huh. “Thank God for science then,” is all I can say. I can’t imagine what it would be like without the medicine we can take nowadays. “Why do you want to be a lawyer? You’ve already got a great job that you like a lot.”

I’ve asked him that in the past, but the random question catches his interest now. “To help people who need it.”

“You do that now,” I point out. “I guess I don’t understand why you’d put yourself through law school when you already have a great career. It doesn’t make sense.”

I know he wanted to make a difference, just like his dad, but it seems like his motivation is bigger. He doesn’t want to just save people, he wants to make their lives arebetter.

“Let me ask you this,” he counters, setting my cards down. “What do you want to do with your life?”

Licking my lips, I stare down at my notebook and highlighters before sighing. “Most of my classes have been boring. My journalism class is interesting, and I got a good grade on the first article we had to write. So maybe something in that?”

He nods. “I’ve always known I was meant to do something good in life,” he tells me, lifting his shoulders in a casual shrug. “You know, I considered joining law enforcement, but it felt like it’d be impossible living up to my dad’s reputation. I’d have more attention put on me while people compared us than attention that was better off elsewhere. On other people.”

He would have big shoes to fill. “You seemed passionate when you got certified to be an EMT.”

“I was.” He thinks on it. “Iam. But being around certain kinds of trauma can really hit you after a while. It took a toll on Dad. He never could forget the night of the shooting. I think he still has nightmares about it. I’ve never seen him like that before. When he came home the next day…Well, it changed everybody.”

It’s rare we talk about this. “I never had dreams about it,” I admit, feeling the weight of my wound like the bullet is still there. “I used to think that was weird because you’d think I’d have nightmares all the time, right? The therapist I went to said it was a coping mechanism my brain was subconsciously doing to protect me from reliving it.”

There are times I’ll wake up in a sweaty panic and know I’ve dreamt of something, but I’ll never remember what. I could be crying and hyperventilating, knowing something bad happened, but my brain would never allow me to know what it was.

“I guess my brain is broken,” I tease with a heavy heart.

My eyes dart to my hand, which Noah covers with his own. “Hey. Don’t say that. You went through some shit and are dealing how you need to. Trust me, it’s not a bad thing that you don’t remember. Dad…He saw a counselor at work for a while after that night. All the officers on duty had to. He doesn’t talk about it, but I know you saved his life as much as he saved yours.”

I blink. “What? How?”

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