Letting You Know

Letting
You Know

-Book 2 of the Letting You
In Series-

Nora Flite

Copyright
© 2013 Nora Flite

All
rights reserved.

Letting You Know is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Book
design by Nora Flite

Cover
design by Nora Flite

Cover
Image © Nora Flite

-DEDICATION-

To
those of you that have been in my shoes, that have written with the
hope of relating to others... to forming a connection, and having it
mean something.

This
book is for you.

Thank
you, everyone.

-Nora

Table
of Contents

-
Part
1-

Deacon
Day

Pulled
one way, then the next, my entire world crashed together in a sudden
explosion.

The
steering wheel was cold in my hands; my brain jumbled and full of
cotton. Nothing would stop moving. The world was a jittery picture of
blackness I was viewing from too far away.

Distantly, my ears rang. Bells were screeching with warning.

What happened? Where was I?

There was a truck, that's right, then...

I tried to focus. My muscles screamed. When I scrunched my eyebrows,
my body shifted.

Something
was touching me—no—grabbing at me in desperation. I
wanted to look. That was when I realized my eyes weren't even open.

Numb
with blood, clarity returned to me agonizingly slow. I forced my
eyelashes up, away. The green lights of the dashboard winked at me.
It was still catastrophically dark, even with my eyes open.

Finally,
I saw her, tears and all.

Leah!
Why is she crying?

Her
fingers dug into my arms, forcing me to release the wheel I'd been
death-gripping. Her lips, stained with salty water, moved again and
again.

She's
talking. Why can't I hear her?

Concentrating
as hard as I could, I made out her words finally beginning to surface
through the deafness. They were muffled, but to me, they were hot;
clear as day.

“
Deacon,
please, don't die!”

That
was when I felt the pain.

One
Week Earlier

The
longer we drove, the harder it was for me to keep from staring out
the window. Brown freeways had shifted into the waving, stretching
fields I was all too familiar with while growing up.

It hasn't changed a bit, I realized. My nostalgia tinged with a
slight discomfort. Nothing really changes out here, I guess.

Shifting
in my seat, I tossed a glance at my mother. She looked the way she
always had to me, that amazing inability to age that parents
displayed. No matter how many years passed, my mother would still
remain in that bubble of 'just older than me' that fit her so well.

Fine
lines were edging in at the corners of her temples, but the cores of
her hazel eyes were still bright as new grass. They were fixed
straight ahead as she steered effortlessly along the flat terrain.
The roads here didn't curve much, they were predictable.

Just
like the people who live here.

“
You
okay back there?” I asked, twisting enough to catch the eye of
the young woman in the back seat. Leah was bundled up in a burgundy
jacket, red scarf and matching gloves; things I had insisted she buy
when she got some of her first money from selling her art.

She
looked as cold as could be.

You'd
think, for a girl from New England, she'd be used to this sort of
weather. The car isn't even chilly with Mom blasting that heat.

Her
eyes were like wet chocolate, expressing her anxiousness, though I
knew she wouldn't speak a word about it with my mother so close.
“Yeah, sorry, just a little tired.”

“
Flying
will do that to you,” my mother said, never taking her gaze
from the distant fields. “We'll be there soon, then you both
can get something to eat and relax. Ya'll must be hungry.”

“We're fine, Mom.” I chuckled, spotting a glimpse of
Leah's forced smile. I wondered if I could really speak for both of
us.

Ever
since we'd arrived in the airport, she'd seemed a little strange, but
it was hard to place my finger on it. To be fair, she had many
reasons to be acting oddly. None of them were things I could blame
her for.

Recalling
how we had sat together weeks ago, the police surrounding her in the
hospital bed, cameras flashing to take evidence... The memory made my
belly seize, a hot sickness that caused me to squeeze my thigh.

She'd
told them everything about her ex, Owen. How he'd stalked her across
the country, and how things had quickly escalated from angry words...
to brutal fists.

In
front of them all, she'd relived the terrible experience once more.
Watching her as she did, pale but determined, I'd admired her
strength.

I
just wish I could have prevented her from going through any of that
in the first place.

The
saving grace was, at least, that Leah wouldn't have to endure a court
appearance. The authorities had enough to press charges, and with
Owen in jail until his sentencing date and a restraining order, I was
sure we'd never see him again.

Looking
into the passenger mirror, peering at Leah's somber face, I hoped
she'd forget it all as well. Seeing the faded cut on her lip, knowing
her scarf hid the yellow shaded skin of her throat where he had
choked her, it felt childish to pretend it could be so easy.

She
saw me watching, those perfect lips making a real, true smile.
Carefully, she slid a hand through the crack where my seat nearly met
the passenger door. Wordless, my fingers wrapped around hers in an
attempt to give her comfort.

Every
time I saw her like that, so fragile, as if a breeze could knock her
down, I wanted to wrap her in my arms more than anything else.

Relax,
she's tougher than you seem to remember. She's been through so much,
I'm sure once she gets some sleep and some food, she'll relax around
the family.

“
You
know,” my mom prattled on, unable to sit in the silence, “your
brother is supposed to arrive tomorrow, he's driving up from
Virginia.”

“
Brother?”
Leah asked, her hand going slack in mine. Flinching, I held it
tighter, brushing the inside of her palm.

My
mother didn't look at me, but I could almost imagine the gears
turning in her head. “Yes, you didn't know Deacon had a younger
brother, dear?”

“
No,
uh, he didn't mention that.”

“
It
just didn't come up,” I said, wondering why my neck felt so
warm.
Had
I really not mentioned that?
“He's—”

“
Nicholas,”
my mom cut me off, “he's in his second year of pre-med.”

“
Oh,”
Leah mumbled, catching my eye in the mirror. “That's amazing,
he wants to be a doctor?”

My
stomach was already twisting, but I kept my voice calm, looking at my
mother. Her profile was relaxed, I knew her well enough to understand
there was a struggle here between being proud, and being frustrated.
She
didn't care that I didn't go to medical school, but she's happy
Nicholas did. It's okay to be proud of him, Mom.

Still,
I wouldn't say that. Not then, anyway. Swallowing my pride, I joked
instead. “He's growing up fast. Soon he'll be old enough to
drink.”

“Well,” my mom said, turning down a gravel section of
road. Around us, the fields seemed to grow taller. The grain silos
looked like robotic sentinels in the distance. “Let's hope that
isn't what's on his mind. I'm sure he's stressed enough as is. Your
father expects a lot out of him.”

“
Dad
expects a lot out of everyone,” I replied, unable to tamp down
my bitterness. As expected, my mother didn't acknowledge my comment.
Ever
the proper southern woman.

Leah's
hand tugged free of mine, but before I could even be disappointed,
she'd begun trailing her touch gently up my forearm.

I
want to just be alone with her, to explain that I wasn't hiding
anything. The last thing I want to do is make her feel like I'm not
being honest.

“
Here
we are,” my mom crooned, making us all look up as we climbed
the steep driveway. There, like everything in that chunk of forgotten
history, was the house I had grown up in. Two floors, a giant yard,
and a garage stuffed with a few expensive cars for my father's
opulent taste.

“
You
live in a mansion,” Leah breathed, her palm gripping me
painfully.

Smiling,
my shoulders hunched in a flash of embarrassment. “Sort of. My
dad has always had a certain taste.”

“
Hush,”
my mom chided me, though I suspected she agreed. “Come on,
then.” She said, cutting the engine. “Let's get you both
inside where it's warm.”

“
Yeah,”
Leah answered, pulling away from me, slipping from the vehicle. “I'd
like that.”