You Won't See Me Coming
Page 24
“They said today the vote was three-to-two,” I reply, tilting my head at my father. “Which way did you vote?”
“You know I can’t answer that, sweetie,” he responds, but from the smile on his face, I know which way he cast. He voted me in. “I want you to choose for yourself. Not what I want for you. Not what your mother would have wanted or Sam wants or Luke wants. What you want. I’ve tried to push you down too many paths. This one you’ve got to decide on your own.”
“Listen to your heart, Reagan,” Sam adds, resting her hand on my arm. “What does it say?”
Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.
My heart beats loudly in my ears, my blood filling every part of me. I take a breath. I let it flow. And I listen.
EPILOGUE
The night is black; the moon and tiny pinpricks of stars are hidden by a blanket of clouds. The type of dark where you can barely see your hand in front of your face. I stare out the car window into nothingness.
I feel Luke’s hand moving across the leather seat. Without even seeing it, I open my palm, welcoming his hand into mine. His fingers dance along my skin, sparking a wave of goose bumps, until our palms kiss and my body feels that rush of warmth, that feeling of home.
With all the places I’ve moved in my life, I longed for the feeling of home. It took my mother dying for me to realize that home never really was a place. Home was people. Home was once my mom. But now, home is this. Home is Luke’s hand in mine.
He squeezes my hand three times. And I squeeze three times back. The darkness hides my slowly rising smile.
When I was seven years old, I asked my mother how she knew she wanted to marry my father. I remember the moment so well. I was watching a show on the Disney channel. She was folding laundry next to me. And I remember every word she said.
“I knew your father was ‘the one’ on our second date,” she said, her voice almost dreamy at the memory as she folded his thinning white cotton undershirts into perfect squares. “We went to the movies together and I remember he grabbed my hand during the previews and didn’t let go. I couldn’t pay attention to the movie because I was so distracted by how perfectly our hands fit together. It was like our hands were two puzzle pieces, designed by God to fit only each other’s. And that’s when I knew.”
Since that moment, I’ve been on the search for my puzzle piece, for my perfect hand. And every time I hold Luke’s, I’m distracted by how perfect it feels. And I know I’ve found it. My hand. My person.
“Team two, you are three hundred yards from the target,” a voice crackles, and I push my earpiece deeper into my ear canal to hear the commands. “Let’s go the rest of the way on foot.”
“Copy,” I hear the driver and mission leader respond, slowing our SUV down and putting it into park.
“You ready?” Luke asks, reaching up with his free hand and double-checking the strap on his helmet.
I let go of Luke’s hand and clutch the M4 carbine on my lap.
“I’m ready,” I answer with a nod, my heart picking up speed. Adrenaline floods my bloodstream as I grab my gun, open the car door, and jump back into the darkness.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To Jean Feiwel, Kat Brzozowski, Lauren Scobell, Kelsey Marrujo, Ashley Woodfolk, Brittany Pearlman, Emily Settle, Holly West, Rich Deas, Starr Baer, Raymond Colon, and the entire rock-star team at Macmillan: Working with all of you has been a dream. Thank you for changing my life. I will always be grateful.
To Merrilee Heifetz: Not quite sure what I’d do without you. Thank you for your boundless encouragement and valuable guidance. I am the luckiest author.
To the amazing authors I’m lucky to call friends: I’m so grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for being a source of constant support. To Kayla Olson and Nadine Courtney: I wouldn’t make it through a book without my accountability partners! Thank you for helping me march toward deadlines.
To Jen Meredith, Christopher Barcelona, Mila Goodman, Katie Logan, Rhonda Litton, Kate Watson, Tayce Hutta, and Kelsey Chapekis: Thank you so much for your valuable insights while writing this book. I’m so lucky to have access to all your brilliant brains.
To my friends: I’m so fortunate to have so many supportive people in my life. Whether you were at signings, helping me patch plot holes, or cheering me on, your love means the world to me.
To my readers: The fact that I get to write stories you want to read is a dream come true. I’m so grateful for each of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
To booksellers, librarians, and book bloggers: Thank you for putting my book into the hands of readers. I’m so thankful for your support.
To everyone at Muirfield: Thank you for keeping me caffeinated, hydrated, and well-fed while I wrote this book. I’m so appreciative!
To Mom: My biggest cheerleader by far. I feel your love and pride in all that I do. Thank you for shaping me into the person I am today.
To Dad: Thank you for reading every school paper, short story, and manuscript. And thank you for giving me the confidence to dream this big and see it through.
To Katie: My forever friend. Thanks for picking me up, cheering me on, and telling me the truth when I need it.
To Samantha: You are the sweetest thing and the light of my life. I am so in love with you and adore being your mom.
To Michael: I couldn’t do any of this without you. Thank you for your endless encouragement and limitless love. You’ve given me the world and I’m so grateful. I love you so.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Writing is one of the great loves of Kristen Orlando’s life and she has been lucky enough to make it her living, first as a television producer, then as a marketer, and now as a novelist. Kristen graduated with a BA in English literature from Kenyon College. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with the two other great loves of her life—husband, Michael, and daughter, Samantha. This is her third novel, following You Don’t Know My Name and You Won’t Know I’m Gone.
Visit her online at kristenorlando.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by Kristen Orlando
A Swoon Reads Book
An imprint of Feiwel and Friends and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
swoonreads.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018945048
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First hardcover edition 2019
eBook edition January 2019
eISBN 9781250123640