Before That Night: Unfinished Love Series: Caine & Addison, Book 1 Read Online Free
Author: Violet Duke
Tags: Romance
parked. As soon as she hopped in, she put her head against the steering wheel.
And just cried.
* * * * * * * * * *
A SHORT WHILE LATER , with blurry eyes, and as much relief as there was fear running through her veins, Addison finally remembered to pull out the small piece of paper she’d had with her every minute of every day for the last two weeks. Since she’d first woken up to find the electronics and valuables in the apartment gone, her mom’s closet and drawers empty, their family bank account cleaned out, the hard-earned cash Addison had hidden in her underwear drawer taken, and the car Addison had been covering the insurance on for the past few years missing from its stall.
To her mom’s credit, at least she’d left a note this time. In the past, when she’d disappear for a while with whatever guy she was sleeping with, and whatever high she was chasing, she’d just disappear and then resurface weeks later.
The note had been Addison’s first clue that this time would be different than all the others.
The vodka-soaked note that morning had been scrawled out in the shaky, drug-induced handwriting Addison had watched get less and less legible over the years.
Sonny and I are getting married.
Be back after the honeymoon.
-- Mom
Addison didn’t even take a minute to wonder. Or hope. And she sure as hell didn’t waste any time believing the lie on that piece of paper.
So what she did was flip the note around and start a list.
It’d come down to the wire but as of today, she was now officially able to cross the last three things off her long laundry list. The list that had begun with:
Get a tuition refund for the Fall term.
Mail out an apology letter to the scholarship fund director with a payment plan to return the semester’s tuition amount, and a check for the first installment.
The rest of the list had been no less hard to do. But she’d done it all, one by one. But the last three items on the list were the ones that made the reality of how her life was about to change really hit home.
If the mechanic signs off, pay the balance for the Craigslist van.
Get the job at Joe’s Diner.
Get him to agree to let you park in his locked lot. Beg if you have to.
Drawing the line through that last item on the list had been the biggest load off her shoulders. And had started the tears of relief streaming down her face all over again.
She’d spent a week walking all over Creek Hills, searching every nook and cranny for the safest possible place where she could park the van.
The kids’ new home.
Addison had actually seen the ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window of Joe’s Diner before she’d discovered the delivery vans getting waved into his locked parking area tucked in the back of his L-shaped lot, completely hidden from the main stretch, with walls tall enough that the neighboring business couldn’t see a thing.
She knew the kids would be safe there during her shift, and that they’d all be able to sleep through the night now in the van without worry.
This is going to work.
It has to work.
Wiping her eyes, she drove over to the nearby public library where she’d left the kids a few hours ago.
Just as she knew they would be, Tanner and Kylie were waiting for her in the front, quietly reading the two books they’d each picked out.
God, they were such great kids. Perfect angels. Just like she’d always tried to be growing up. Probably for the same reason she’d had.
To get their mom to love them.
Despite everything her mom had done that was unmotherly at best, criminal at worst, making Tanner and Kylie feel unloved all these years was the one thing Addison had never, would never forgive her for.
Things were going to be different now.
“Hey kids.”
Kylie lit up like the adorable ball of sunshine in pigtails she was.
Meanwhile, Tanner just studied her expression silently, looking far more worried than a boy his age should be.
He didn’t ask, but she
And just cried.
* * * * * * * * * *
A SHORT WHILE LATER , with blurry eyes, and as much relief as there was fear running through her veins, Addison finally remembered to pull out the small piece of paper she’d had with her every minute of every day for the last two weeks. Since she’d first woken up to find the electronics and valuables in the apartment gone, her mom’s closet and drawers empty, their family bank account cleaned out, the hard-earned cash Addison had hidden in her underwear drawer taken, and the car Addison had been covering the insurance on for the past few years missing from its stall.
To her mom’s credit, at least she’d left a note this time. In the past, when she’d disappear for a while with whatever guy she was sleeping with, and whatever high she was chasing, she’d just disappear and then resurface weeks later.
The note had been Addison’s first clue that this time would be different than all the others.
The vodka-soaked note that morning had been scrawled out in the shaky, drug-induced handwriting Addison had watched get less and less legible over the years.
Sonny and I are getting married.
Be back after the honeymoon.
-- Mom
Addison didn’t even take a minute to wonder. Or hope. And she sure as hell didn’t waste any time believing the lie on that piece of paper.
So what she did was flip the note around and start a list.
It’d come down to the wire but as of today, she was now officially able to cross the last three things off her long laundry list. The list that had begun with:
Get a tuition refund for the Fall term.
Mail out an apology letter to the scholarship fund director with a payment plan to return the semester’s tuition amount, and a check for the first installment.
The rest of the list had been no less hard to do. But she’d done it all, one by one. But the last three items on the list were the ones that made the reality of how her life was about to change really hit home.
If the mechanic signs off, pay the balance for the Craigslist van.
Get the job at Joe’s Diner.
Get him to agree to let you park in his locked lot. Beg if you have to.
Drawing the line through that last item on the list had been the biggest load off her shoulders. And had started the tears of relief streaming down her face all over again.
She’d spent a week walking all over Creek Hills, searching every nook and cranny for the safest possible place where she could park the van.
The kids’ new home.
Addison had actually seen the ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window of Joe’s Diner before she’d discovered the delivery vans getting waved into his locked parking area tucked in the back of his L-shaped lot, completely hidden from the main stretch, with walls tall enough that the neighboring business couldn’t see a thing.
She knew the kids would be safe there during her shift, and that they’d all be able to sleep through the night now in the van without worry.
This is going to work.
It has to work.
Wiping her eyes, she drove over to the nearby public library where she’d left the kids a few hours ago.
Just as she knew they would be, Tanner and Kylie were waiting for her in the front, quietly reading the two books they’d each picked out.
God, they were such great kids. Perfect angels. Just like she’d always tried to be growing up. Probably for the same reason she’d had.
To get their mom to love them.
Despite everything her mom had done that was unmotherly at best, criminal at worst, making Tanner and Kylie feel unloved all these years was the one thing Addison had never, would never forgive her for.
Things were going to be different now.
“Hey kids.”
Kylie lit up like the adorable ball of sunshine in pigtails she was.
Meanwhile, Tanner just studied her expression silently, looking far more worried than a boy his age should be.
He didn’t ask, but she
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