Page 62 of Never Letting Go

Or she was getting too tired to make any sense. She’d known she’d be up late, but nobody could’ve expected any of this. Except the killer.

“Are you okay?” Bella asked.

Rita turned to her baby sister who sat on the bed where Rita had slept earlier. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

Bella frowned. “I’m sorry your wedding weekend turned out like this.”

“I feel bad for Grayson and poorAbuelita. If she isn’t okay, I don’t know what I’ll do. What if something had happened to poor little Alonzo? How would I forgive myself? And now Emerson is missing too.”

“None of this is your fault, you know.”

“Nobody would’ve come if we hadn’t invited them. I wanted a big event for the wedding, so Grayson rented this place. He’d have been happy with something much smaller. This is all my fault.”

“Theonlyperson responsible is the killer. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“If I’d have been less worried about everything being perfect—”

“You have one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know,” Bella said. “All you wanted was for everyone to enjoy themselves and for the two families to have time to get to know each other. The only person to blame for any of this is the one who killed Mateo. Unless you knew that was going to happen, you have zero responsibility.”

Rita tried to object but couldn’t. “When did you get so wise?”

“I grew up a lot after you moved out.”

“You sure did.” Rita stepped toward the bed to give her smart little sister a hug. She stepped on a paper that was sticking out from underneath part of the blankets that had fallen on the carpet.

It was a folded piece of notebook paper. She picked it up and studied it. It had been folded enough times that it was smaller than her palm. It reminded her of the days she passed her friends notes in class before they were old enough for cell phones.

“What’s that?” Bella asked.

“I’m not sure. It must be Grayson’s. Unless it’s yours?”

She shook her head. “It isn’t mine.”

Rita flipped it over. Not seeing any writing on the outside, she set it on the nearest nightstand. Then she yawned. “I better get more sleep, or no amount of makeup will help me in the morning.”

“You’re beautiful no matter what. I don’t care what our parents say.”

Rita arched an eyebrow. “What complaint do they have about me this time?”

“I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m tired too.”

“What’d they say?”

Bella sighed. “You know how they feel about divorce and remarriage.”

“If they’re so against me marrying Grayson, why did they come?”

She looked away.

“Bella…”

“I shouldn’t have said anything. Can we just go to sleep, like you suggested?”

“First tell me why they came here.”

Her sister drew in a long, exaggerated breath. “Because Luci and I made such a huge fuss about being here. I told them I’d find a way if they wouldn’t come, and Luci sided with me. Dad said no at first, but then Mom came around and convinced him. It also helped that Roberto told them he was bringing his wife and the baby whether they came or not.”

Rita crawled onto the bed and squeezed Bella. “Thank you for standing up for me. You didn’t have to.”

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