THIEF: Part 2 Read Online Free PDF

think anyone would believe me, if my own mom didn’t.”
                  “They would have.”  Silas puts his hand on my shoulder, like convincing me of this now can make any damn difference.  “Your mom was clearly delusional.”
                  “Yeah, well—I didn’t know better, yet.  So instead, I just left.”  I pick at a loose thread in the couch.  I’ve imagined saying these words so many times, it’s strange to hear them coming so freely now.  “Moved in with friends, hopped couches for a while.  Started shoplifting to get by.  Then…just for fun.”  I glance at him.  “Got a job, got my own place.  Everything was pretty good, for a while.  Till I got caught.”  My hand finds its way to his.  “The only good thing my life right now…is you.”
                  Suddenly, Silas takes my face in his hands and starts kissing me.  He’s crying, and the sight makes me cry again, even though I was sure I was cried out.  We keep kissing.  He tells me everything I need to hear—that I’m safe now, that he’s here to stay, that he believes me, that Gordon is part of my past and Silas is my future—all without words.
                  “I’m so sorry, Erin,” he says, his mouth against mine, foreheads touching.  “I promise, I will never let him near you again…if I’d known all this, I wouldn’t have let him leave here unless it was in handcuffs.  I’m so sorry.”
                  I reach up and hold my hand against his.  “It’s okay,” I tell him.  “You didn’t know.  You couldn’t have known.”
                  “We’ll sell this place,” he says firmly.  “We’ll do an estate sale, auction off whatever you don’t want.  You can leave all of this behind.  I promise.”
                  I push away from him a little, motioning to the dark living room.  “I can’t just leave, Silas—where will I go?”
                  “You’ll move in with me.”  His voice is so sure, so solid; it’s not a question, or even a suggestion.  We both know it’s the only option.
                  Still, I ask if he’s sure.
                  He kisses me again.  “I’ve never been more sure of anything.  Please—I want you to live with me.  I want to fall asleep next to you every night, and wake up next to you every morning…I want to see my bathroom sink covered in your makeup and hair products.  I want my fridge filled with those girly organic fruit blends you like so much.”  We both laugh, and the sound’s like cool water, rushing through the desert.
                  “Erin,” he says, taking my hands, “I love you.”
                  “I love you too,” I whisper.  For the first time in days, though it feels like a lifetime, I don’t have to force my smile.
     
     
     

Chapter Four
     
                  We fall into a constant stream of work: the ranch by day, home renovations by night.  On weekends, Silas brings me breakfast in bed, and we browse how-to sites over coffee.  Most of the work is easy for us to learn—retiling the kitchen, tearing up the old linoleum; knocking down drywall to join the living room and den.  When it comes time to paint, we strip down to our underwear, laughing at the swipes of generic beige and white we paint on each other when the work gets dull.
                  The house is finished by mid-July, right before my last day of community service.  Juliet and Silas organize a small party for lunch, an ice cream cake with balloons, like I’m an employee moving on with my life, and not just a court-ordered stable cleaner.  Still, the thought is nice, and I do feel a little sad to leave.  The cake reads, “We’ll Miss You, Erin/Happy Early Birthday,” the writing smushed together to fit.
                  “We could use another staff member,”