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Chapter Twenty
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Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-one
chapterTWENTY-ONE Oh, holy shit. Holy shit. Did that mean what I thought it meant?I had no idea, but my libido certainly started assuming plenty. Instantly hard, I shifted in my seat to make more room in my pants before clearing my throat and tipping my head toward the flower shop. “Didn’t you want to go inside?”Isobel glanced over her shoulder toward the store she’d purchased. Gaze disinterested, she turned back to me. “No.”Air puffed from my lungs. “So, you…just…anywhere?” I asked.When she nodded, I had to concentrate on exhaling again. “Okay,” I said. “Okay.”I put the truck in drive and pulled back into traffic. We drove for about five more minutes as the day slid into dusk and my headlights came on. At first, it was aimless. I wasn’t sure where to take her that would be private. Mom was at my house, and well…that’s as far as my brain could travel. Until I remembered the closed and abandoned shoe factory I’d worked at for nearly ten ye
Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-two
chapterTWENTY-TWO I couldn’t stop glancing across the cab of the truck as I drove back to Porter Hall.Isobel anticipated every stolen glance and met my gaze before she sniffed out a laugh and rolled her eyes. But then we both burst out with crazy, delirious grins. I bit my lip before I returned my attention to the road. When I reached across the interior of the truck without looking, she took my hand and interlaced our fingers.Damn, I felt giddy. Light-headed. Downright decadent. It was the best feeling in the world.“I don’t want to take you home,” I admitted, even though that’s exactly where I was taking her.Night had fallen and I could only see her face in the bluish glow from the screen of the truck’s dashboard. Yet I still had no trouble making out the hope in her expression when she said, “You can stay the night…if you want.”I was tempted. Of course I was tempted, but then all the reasons why I couldn’t stirred in my head, an
Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-three
chapterTWENTY-THREE The next morning, I woke early, eager to see Isobel. I made myself lie there for a good half hour until it was the usual time I got up. Then I pulled on my jogging clothes, stuffed another outfit into my backpack, tucked my new mirror into the front pocket, and checked on my mom who was still sleeping peacefully, before I hurried out the door. It took me about ten minutes to reach my truck, when it typically took about fifteen. And then I made it to Porter Hall in about half the time I usually spent driving.The gate opened a minute later, letting me in, and I pulled around the back to my parking spot.Isobel hadn’t made it out to the lake by the time I jogged up to our starting spot. I paced and stretched, impatient for her to show. When I finally heard the crunch of gravel as she approached, my body clanged with awareness.“Hey,” she called, her voice full of pleasure when she caught sight of me already here. “You’re early
Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-four
chapterTWENTY-FOUR By the time Saturday arrived, I was nervous.I’d never been to a fancy restaurant before, and everyone said Urbane was the crème de la crème of eateries in the area. I didn’t want to do anything to embarrass Isobel. Shit, I wondered if I should’ve taken one of those lessons to learn which silverware went with which course.I was totally going to bomb this.But at least I was going to look good doing it. Driving Henry Nash’s truck and wearing Ezra Nash’s suit, no one would be able to tell I was a nobody. A fake.Henry had set the reservations for seven thirty. Since I got off work at four, I went home to spend a couple hours with Mom before I dressed. She gave a low, impressed whistle as soon as I exited the bedroom, trying to figure out the cuff links.“My goodness, don’t you look handsome?”I glanced over to where she sat in her worn-out chair, wearing a floral muumuu and watching Wheel of Fortune on TV with her walker sit
Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-five
chapterTWENTY-FIVE It was nearly one in the morning by the time they let me into Mom’s hospital room to see her. Visiting hours be damned, I think they realized I wasn’t going to leave until I could see her in person. And then, once I finally did get shown to her room, there was no way they could pry me away. I was there for good, a permanent fixture plastered to her side.A large white bandage circled her head. She’d received a concussion but that wasn’t the worst of her injuries. I guess whenever she’d fallen, she’d rebroken the not-fully-healed hip from five months before. What was worse, some bone marrow had escaped and gotten into her bloodstream. The doctors had been forced to perform immediate surgery to keep the marrow from reaching her heart.If I hadn’t found her when I had and gotten her to a hospital when I did, she could’ve died right there on those stairs. If my night had gone well and Isobel hadn’t pushed me away, my mother would b
Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-six
chapterTWENTY-SIX My mouth fell open.Shock and confusion mixed with anger. But seriously, what the fuck? I’d just survived a week from hell, almost lost my mother, and still might lose her if she didn’t recover. Why would he do this to me?Offering no explanation, he held out his hand. “The keys to the truck, if you please.”I blinked, not quite able to process what he was saying. After a second of making no sense of his words at all, I shook my head, even as I dug the keys from my pocket. As I dropped them into his waiting palm, I said, “I don’t understand. What happened? Is this because I missed four days?”“Of course not.” Henry stepped closer, his eyes narrowed. “I thought I made it explicitly clear to you not to hurt her.”I squinted, even more confused. “You mean Isobel?”He drew in a sharp, livid breath as if offended I would dare to say her name.“I didn’t hurt her,” was all I could think to say. “I would never.”“Oh really?” he ch
Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-seven
chapterTWENTY-SEVEN Three days passed.They were a complete blur as if they flew by at warp speed, and yet each hour, minute and second ticked along too slowly for me to handle. Time was so messed up.I was messed up.It was hot, dry, and sunny when we buried Mom. Amazingly, all five of her children made it to the service. I don’t know how Alice found them, but they filed into the cemetery just in time for the final farewell to begin. I glanced at them but said nothing. I wanted to be mad that they waited too late to show, except I couldn’t summon the emotion.I was numb.Mom was gone. My purpose these last six months was done.What the hell was I supposed to do now?I’d worked so hard to save her, to make her life better. I was a complete failure.Jesus, I was going to miss her.How could my mother be gone? Forever?After the ceremony, Alice invited the other four to my place. “We need to go through Mom’s things and get all her affairs i
Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-eight
chapterTWENTY-EIGHT My lips parted. “My…what?”Isobel’s eyes were large and horrified. “She...she…”“When the hell did you meet Gloria?”“At the hospital,” she rushed her answer. “I came to visit. She was there with your mom. She said…she said...”I shook my head, then pushed Ezra aside so I could see her better. “You came to the hospital?” My voice cracked and eyes misted. “Really?” My lips trembled, wanting to smile, except…except everything was still so wrong.Isobel bobbed her head up and down. “I wanted to come the first day, but you didn’t ask me to. I wasn’t sure if you wanted—”“Of course I wanted you there,” I hissed before clenching my teeth. “But I didn’t know if I should ask. You said you wanted space, and you acted as if you never wanted to leave your house again. It felt selfish to ask you to come.”“I would have,” she said, wiping tears from her cheeks. “I wanted to, and when I finally did, she was there. She was there with yo
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- Monster Among the Roses Behind the Book
- Monster Among the Roses Epilogue
- Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-nine
- Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-eight
- Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-seven
- Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-six
- Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-five
- Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-four
- Monster Among the Roses Chapter Twenty-three
