Golden Hearts | Rafe Cameron

42

July 11

First thing I encounter when I come home again after what happened with JJ is my mom, who throws her arms around me, and my brother standing behind her with a mournful smile. He must have told her. Is it good or bad? I'll probably find out soon.

"Oh, Adeline, I had no idea. It's all my fault, I should have known," my mom says while placing her hands on my cheeks. She has tears in her eyes. I don't want to worry her.

"Where's dad?" I ask when my mom lets go of me.

"He's on a business trip, so he'll be gone for a few days," Mom says. "Probably just as well, he wouldn't be pleased."

"Sorry, Mom," I whisper.

"None of this is your fault, Adeline," my mom says, hugging me again.

I smile weakly at her to show that I'm okay despite everything that's happening, even though deep down I'm unsure if I'm as okay as I pretend to be.

Less than an hour later, my phone rings, and for some reason, I'm almost surprised to see that it's Rafe calling. Nothing he's done before, but maybe this is the new normal.

I pick up the phone and answer, "Hi."

"Hey, Addie," Rafe sounds breathless on the other end, as if he's out for a walk. "Am I disturbing?"

"No," I say shortly.

"Good, can you meet me outside the surf shop in five minutes?" he asks, sniffling.

"Why?" I ask.

Rafe sighs on the other end of the phone. "Just do as I say, Adeline."

"Okay, okay, I'll come," I say, and that's when we hang up. I have no idea what he wants, but I don't say no to spending a little more time with Rafe. Somehow, it helps me forget all the bad things that are happening.

I grab my bag with the essentials and tie my hair up in a high ponytail before hurrying down through the house and starting my way to the surf shop. It's still closed despite the storm that was supposed to come, but never did. Ward refuses to cooperate in opening it along with my family, but he has, however, said that he's there for us if things get tough in our situation.

I arrive at the surf shop but don't see Rafe anywhere. This is when Ward has convinced him to do something, and they're about to jump me and kidnap me. I turn around and see Rafe standing behind me, which makes me jump.

"Stop scaring me!" I say loudly and hit him on the shoulder.

"I didn't even do anything," Rafe says, laughing.

"What did you want us to do here?" I ask.

"There's a place I want to take you to," Rafe says, reaching out his hand for me to take it.

"Oh really?" I say, smiling as I take his hand.

"Just come along," Rafe says, seeming very excited about whatever he's trying to involve me in. I have no idea what it is, but it seems like it might be something really fun.

We walk up to Rafe's motorcycle parked right next to the surf shop. He hands me his helmet. "Put this on."

"What about you?" I ask as I take the helmet.

"It's more important that you survive if we crash," Rafe says, getting on the motorcycle.

"Don't say that," I say.

"What? It's true," Rafe says, shrugging. I roll my eyes and sit behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist before he starts to accelerate.

We drive a fair distance along the road that runs through Figure Eight. Neither of us says much during the journey, mostly remaining quiet while the songs on the radio play softly. It's not until I realize that Rafe keeps driving even after we reach The Cut that I look at him in surprise.