C O M P L E T E - first draft.
7x featured story.
Undiscovered Gem, Romance Ambassadors, January 2025.
Ambys 2024 Favourite - Mystery & Thriller
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I don't register what comes first--Mum's screams and curses, or the searing pain that perforates...
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Z A C H A R Y
As always, the first word that comes to my head when I stare at the building in front of me is 'home.' It's a word that completely contrasts any I'd use to describe the house I lived in eighteen months ago. Planter boxes filled with flowers sit beneath each window, and the front door sports a bright yellow colour.
It's the perfect childhood home for Addie, and I drill that into myself that every time I come to visit.
My feet carry me down the footpath and up the porch steps on autopilot. I don't even need to knock on the sunny front door for it to be swung open and a friendly smile greet me.
"Welcome, Zachary! Please come inside and make yourself at home."
When Addie ended up in foster care the night Gareth was apprehended, my whole world fell apart. She could've ended up anywhere in the country, and with an unwelcoming family that made her life even more of a misery than it already was.
I wasn't expecting a home to come available in this very town for her, nor was I expecting it to be with someone as fucking awesome as Carmen's old boss, Mindy.
"Have you had enough to eat today?" Mindy asks me as I cross the threshold into the house and remove my shoes. She's warm and welcoming, and reminds me so much of my own mum. "Addie and I baked cookies earlier if you'd like one—I can brew us a pot of tea to wash it down with."
"I'm good, but thank you," I reply politely. After the conclusion to today's trial, my appetite is nowhere to be found. "Where's Addie?" I then ask, looking around for any sign of my little sister.
"Addie is playing in the garden at the moment. Ever since seeing another child four years younger than her do it yesterday, she's been determined to learn how to ride her bike without stabilisers."
A smile yanks at my lips. "Oh, really? How's that going for her?"
Mindy laughs. "Poor little love has picked up a bumps and grazes along the way, but she is getting there slowly but surely. Would you like to come out back to see her?"
"Yeah, that'd be great," I reply, and Mindy leads me through the house to the glass back door.
I spot Addie before she does me. Her hair is tied into twin braids secured by two pink bows at each end, and she wears blue jeans and a top with a unicorn on the front. But most importantly of all, she's laughing.
She's happy.
My throat goes tight as I watch her ride around the garden on her bike—a gift she received from Mindy after coming into her care around ten months ago. Although it felt far fucking from it at the time, it's plain to see that this was the best thing for my little sister.
