Sins of the Flesh (Exposed Series Book 1) (17 page)

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“What happened?”

“She ran away after-”

“After what?”

“After she came home high tonight for the first time. Oh that
sounds so stupid! I’m sure it’s not the first time at all- just the first time
I caught her. Who knows how long it’s been going on? I can’t believe- I just
didn’t think- it was the one thing I didn’t- she’s an athlete for God sa-”

“Okay, breathe,” I said. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Maybe you could talk to her?”

I laughed. “And say what?”

“I see your point.”

“Look, Carol. She’s fine here. She’s safe,” I sat on the edge of
my bed. “She can stay here as long as she wants.”

“Do you mean that?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, but only if it’s okay with you.”

Carol sniffled. “I can’t handle her, Dawn. I feel like I’m
failing her when she needs me the most.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You haven’t failed her at all. She knows
you love her.”

“Does she though? Because she treats me like some kind of monst-”

“She knows. The first thing she did was ask me to call you so
you wouldn’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t she do it herself? I’ve been-”

“Cause she knows you’re mad at her. I’m sure she just needs some
space. Everything will be fine.”

“Everything isn’t fine, Dawn! She’s drinking and smoking and making
herself throw up and using drugs and running away from home and who knows
what-”

“Relax, Carol. You need to relax.”

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “We were thinking about sending her
away.”

“Away?”

“There’s a school on the East Coast that specializes in…
troubled teens.”

“Jesus.”

“We were going to talk to her this weekend about it.”

“Does she know that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

I pursed my lips.

“They have a lacrosse team though and-“

“She doesn’t need to be sent away. She just needs time.”

“I can’t have her doing drugs around Chris.”

“Of course not,” I said. “So let her stay here for a while until
this blows over and things settle down.”

“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble?”

“I’m sure.”

“You’ll call me if she needs anything?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m happy to help,” I said.

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

I hung up and walked back down the hallway, stopping at the
entrance to the front room. Kate was curled up in the corner of the couch with
her head on a pillow. She didn’t look like a drug user or someone with mental
problems to me. She just looked like an exhausted kid with a little too much
eye makeup on.

I leaned against the doorframe and watched her sleep for a
second. She looked younger at rest. Like everyone does.

I put another blanket over her and plugged in a night light near
the hallway bathroom in case she woke up.

Then I removed the thick letter from the mantel.
It would have to be rewritten. Or at least, amended.

Because it looked like my story was going to have
a different ending.

Maybe even a better one.

Dear Awesome Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I hope you
enjoyed it.

If you have a spare moment, PLEASE give me some honest feedback
by leaving a review on Amazon
http://amzn.to/1tWqUuo

OR send me a note directly on Facebook or at
[email protected]
so I can
thank you personally for giving my work a chance. It really means a lot to me,
and I would love to hear from you.

Thanks again for your time and support and until next time,
happy reading,

Xo Hazel

Ps- If you liked
Sins of the Flesh,
be sure to check out
the next book in the Exposed Series,
Out of Breath,
which is available
now at
http://amzn.to/1wa1wh7
.