Unforgettable (Haven Falls 4)

I melt into him, more than ready to go again, only this time I want it to go slow and last all day. I slide my hands up his chest, loving the feel of his heartbeat beneath my fingers.

“Get your butts out here and eat your breakfast before it gets cold,” Violet yells through the house, completely ruining our moment.

A grin rips across Noah’s face as he dips his lips back to mine just one more time. “Come on,” he murmurs. “We don’t need her coming and looking for us.”

He’s probably right about that.

We hastily get ourselves dressed before opening the door. Tully walks past his room and I hold back a second to let her go first before stepping out behind her, only she gives me a wicked grin as she passes, clearly knowing exactly what we’ve been up to. “Hmm,” she chuckles before sucking in a breath between her teeth. “That was a little quick, don’t you think?”

I hold back a step, letting Noah crash into me just to give Tully a chance to get a few steps ahead knowing without a doubt that Noah will try to get her back by pulling her hair, giving a devastating wedgie, or tripping her over. “Don’t even think about it,” I tell him as he tries to get around me.

“What?” he says, defensively. “I wasn’t going to do anything.”

“Yeah, right,” Tully scoffs.

I roll my eyes and when I deem it safe enough to continue making our way to the kitchen, I take a step.

Tully continues walking on in front and pulls her phone out of her back pocket when it dings with a new text. She gets lost in her text and walks painfully slow as she types out her response, giggling to herself as she goes.

After what feels like the longest walk in my life, we finally get into the kitchen. Noah drops down at the table and I head over to Violet to grab some plates out of the cupboard. As I bend down to get them, my eyes run over the counter, noticing a pile of envelopes and realize the mail must have come, but that doesn’t seem right. It’s way too early in the day.

“Did the mail come already?” I ask Violet as I get back to grabbing the plates.

“No,” she laughs. “It’s Friday’s. I found it still in the mailbox when we got home yesterday. I think with all the excitement of your birthday and the party, the twins forget to check it.”

“Sounds about right,” I grin, realizing that she’s most likely spot on with her assumptions.

As I pull the plates out of the cupboard, I straighten up and place them down on the counter beside the envelopes, yet my natural reaction has my eyes roaming over them once again. I can’t help but notice the letter on the very top of the pile is addressed to Tully. Usually, I wouldn’t think anything of it, but it’s not some generic letter from her dentist reminding her that it’s time for a check-up, it’s handwritten.

I pick up the letter and look over it before glancing up at Tully. “Oooh,” I tease. “You got a letter.”

Tully’s face scrunches up and she looks at me. “Huh?” she grunts in confusion, clearly having no idea what it’s about. I mean, does anybody actually write letters anymore when you can text or email?

“Who’s it from?”

I flip the envelope over and search for a return sender but there’s nothing there. I shrug my shoulder before stretching out my hand. “I don’t know. Why don’t you open it and find out?”

Tully rolls her eyes and takes the envelope from me as I pick up the stack of plates and start heading to the table. Noah can’t wait and takes a plate off the top, unable to wait for me to put them down.

I hear Tully ripping open the envelope as Noah digs in and falls into easy conversation with his parents.

I glance back at Tully, wondering what’s taking her so long when I realize she’s as white as a ghost. Her eyes are wide and panicked, her back straight, and her fingers clenching down on the letter so hard that I worry they’re about to rip right through it. “What’s wrong?” I ask, worried as tears begin to pool in her eyes.

Noah and his parents instantly still as all eyes fall on Tully. She looks up at me before glancing around to her family. “It’s Rivers,” she whispers, dropping the letter to the table and wiping her eyes as she completely breaks. “He’s not coming back.”

With that, she scurries out of the kitchen with a heart wrenching sob and not a second later, the sound of her bedroom door slamming is echoed through the house.

I stare at the note with a desperate need to run my eyes over it as Violet pushes back from the table to hurry after Tully. I reach for the letter, but Noah is faster. He brings it down in front of him and I lean across, desperate to know what secrets are hidden within.