Nova 05 Ruin Me Read Online Free PDF

aunt. Back when I was younger, and she still tolerated my mother’s lifestyle enough to visit us, she would always say things how they were. “Your house looks like shit. You look strung out. You need to take care of your kids better.”
     
    “Maybe I should come home…” I trail off as Avery shoots me a dirty look. “Just for a week to see if I can figure out what’s going on.” I hope by saying this, she’ll offer to do it herself.
     
    “Well, I wouldn’t if I were you. I’m sure as hell not going to waste my time looking for her,” she replies bitterly. “She’s not worth the hassle.”
     
    “Yeah, I guess not.” I frown. Guess I’m back to square one.
     
    The rest of the conversation centers on lighter subjects—how I’m doing, how Avery and Mason are doing. She ends the phone call quickly, telling me to stay in touch, but I can tell she doesn’t really mean it.
     
    “You’re not going home by yourself,” Avery tells me sternly as I shove my phone into my pocket.
     
    “You could always come with me,” I suggest as I grab the broom from the pantry.
     
    “I can’t do that.” She sets the fork she’s holding down on the counter. “I’m not ready to see her or that house again.”
     
    “Neither am I,” I mutter as I sweep up the eggshells on the floor. “But I think I have to.”
     
    “Why?” she gripes. “You don’t owe her anything, and I don’t know why you feel like you do.”
     
    “I don’t feel like I do… it’s just…” I don’t know how to explain how I feel.
     
    When I left my mother two years ago, it was for good reasons. But in the back of my mind, I knew she wouldn’t be able to take care of herself. It’s not like she could while I was living there, but I’d been old enough when I bailed out that I could stop her boyfriends and pimps from beating her. Help keep track of the bills. Help her keep her head above the water. Part of me knew, when I’d walked away, there was a possibility that she would wind up dead in a ditch somewhere.
     
    “Look.” I prop the broom against the wall, round the kitchen island, and place my hands on Avery’s shoulders. “I know it might seem crazy, but I just need to go back and check on things. See for myself.”
     
    Avery shakes her head, aggravated. “What about school and work?”
     
    “My last class was Thursday and I’m sure I can take off work for a week. I haven’t used any of my sick days or vacation time yet.”
     
    Her gaze flicks to the fork, like she’s contemplating jabbing me in the eye with it so I can’t make the thousand some odd miles drive back home. “Only a week? Then you’ll come back home?”
     
    I nod. “One week is all I need to spend searching for her.”
     
    She sticks out her pinkie. “Swear on it. Swear you’ll come home after a week even if you can’t find her.”  I reach out to hook my pinkie with hers, but she pulls back. “And you won’t go alone.”
     
    “I don’t want to make you come with me.”
     
    “I’m not going to. I already told you I’m not ready to go back there.” She glances at the hallway. “Take Tristan with you. He’s from there.”
     
    “As much as I like Tristan, I don’t know him well enough to do that.” I restlessly thrum my fingers on the sides of my legs.
     
    Who could I take with me? Who knows about my mother enough that it wouldn’t be awkward? A thought strikes me straight in the skull. One I like, but have no clue how to make happen.
     
    “I have an idea,” I say then hitch my pinkie with Avery’s.
     
    Her brows furrow. “Who?”
     
    “Clara.” I smile for the first time since I got the call. Going home is going to suck balls, but if Clara goes with me, it might not be so bad.
     
    “The nurse?” Avery asks, confused.
     
    “Technically she’s a CNA, but she’s going to school to become a nurse.”
     
    With our pinkies still locked, she considers my solution. “You think she’d go with you? Are you guys that