Note: This is Season Two of Wasted Love with You, which is LIVE on amazon & Kindle Unlimited. Be sure to read that book first before diving into what’s below.
This is my favorite story of all time for numerous reasons. If you prefer to wait for the edited ebook(s) in its entirety, please do so, and check out one of my live releases in the meantime.
Otherwise, read on and check back weekly for more! <3
Episode 1: More Strings Attached
Autumn
The clamorous sounds of baggage claim have softened to a steady hum, overpowered by the train of thought that’s roaring through my mind.
Ryder has a daughter?
The beautiful girl in front of me has the same blue eyes as him, and the more I stare at the stunning features of her face, there’s no doubt that she’s his.
I blink a few more times, still in utter disbelief.
“The most important thing in my life…”
“There’s an extra loop in your ‘R’ here.” She rubs the whiteboard with her pinky finger. “If you make it too swirly, someone may think it’s an ‘S’ and you might pick up the wrong girl. Then I’ll be left here alone.”
“I’ll remember that,” I say. “You said your name was Adele, correct?”
She nods, capping the marker. “Adele Ivy Rochester. What’s your name?”
“Autumn Jane.”
“Your mom gave you two first names.” She smiles. “Should I call you Miss Autumn Jane or Miss Jane?”
“Either is fine.”
“Okay.” She pulls a cell phone from her jacket and steps back. Then she taps the screen a few times and holds it to her ear.
“Daddy, I’m in New York with Miss Jane,” she says. “Can you talk to me right now?”
“Of course,” he says, and I realize she’s hit the speaker button. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Everything.” She suddenly looks upset. “So much bad stuff happened to me today.”
“I’m listening.”
“It’s been a never-ending nightmare…”
I lean against the luggage cart as she launches into a spitfire monologue. She’s speaking so fast that I can only catch bits and pieces of her words.
“I made first chair again.” “She made fun of me.” and “This train in the rain.”
Squinting at the embroidered gold letters on her blazer, I try to decipher the words.
Thornfield Boarding School, London
There’s a line of tiny print under those, but Adele turns away before I can read them. She rushes toward a baggage carousel and jumps atop the ledge. Then she tiptoes around the edge, continuing to vent to Ryder.
I type her school’s name into my phone’s search bar, and a colossal iron gate appears. The words “Home of the Most Brilliant Minds and Artistic Talents,” glide above it.
As I click through the website, Kylie’s name flashes onto my screen.
Unsure of whether to talk to her now or wait until I’m on the jet, I walk toward Adele.
“I shouldn’t have to do it at all.” She whines to Ryder. “What do you think?”
“I need the rest of the story, Adeline.” His voice is firm. “You know better than that.”
“Well, it’s…” She looks up at me, finally realizing her dad has been on speaker all this time. Gasping, she turns it off and rushes away from me again.
Okay, then…
“Yeah, Kylie?” I answer the call.
“Why didn’t I research the distance between Seattle and Colorado before renting a car?”
“Because you’re you.” I smile. “Logistics have never been your strong suit.”
“Well, it’s twenty hours total, and I have eighteen left,” she says. “I’ll pull over in a few to nap and head toward you after.”
“Or,” I say, “you can save yourself the time and just—”
“He makes people disappear, Autumn.” She interrupts me. “Every person who has ever been involved with this guy in one way or another winds up missing, seriously injured, or dead. No exceptions.”
Silence.
“That’s not even the worst thing I discovered in the database about him.” She breathes slowly. “He’s…He’s not a good man, Autumn.”
“What about Nate?”
“Nate will probably star in an episode of True Crime soon.” She sounds as if she’s on the verge of hyperventilating. “I told you what my dad says about domestic phone calls being recorded, so me meeting you in person is better, and it’s more than worth this drive, okay?”
I say nothing.
I stare ahead at Adele as she laughs loudly. As she makes it more than clear that she has no idea what type of man her father is.
You and me both, Adele.
“Autumn?” Kylie asks. “Autumn, are you still with me?”
“Yes.”
“Please stay the hell away from this guy and don’t speak to him until I reach you, okay?”
“Kylie, I’m already…” My chest suddenly tenses, and I’m not sure why, but something warns me not to reveal that I’m working under Ryder.
It’s the same intuition that hit me years ago when I started hiding certain secrets from everyone in my life.
“You have as many layers as I do, Autumn. You just hide them differently.” I shake away Ryder’s recent words and let out a slow, unsteady breath.
“You’re already what, Autumn?”
“I’m already on the same page with you.”
“Okay, good. I don’t want you to mysteriously disappear…” She pauses. “In case you’re off somewhere when I get in, do you have a key under your mat?”
“No, just call me.”
“Okay, talk soon.”
“Talk soon.” I end the call and stare at my screen.
A small part of me wishes I never asked her to look into Ryder, but an even bigger part of me is demanding the entire truth about him once and for all.
“My dad wants to talk to you.” Adele holds out her cell phone before I can consider my next move. “He says it’s important.”
Taking it from her, I clear my throat. “Yes?”
“There’s been a slight change of plans.” His deep voice comes over the line, turning me on with ease. “I need you to handle one more pickup before you head toward the jet.”
“Oh?” I say. “Do you have a secret son who I need to wait for?”
“I only have one child, Autumn.” There’s a smile in his voice. “And I don’t recall you ever asking if I had kids.”
“You never asked me either.”
“Because I already knew that you didn’t.”
Right. I roll my eyes. “What’s this other pickup?”
“It’s two things,” he says. “One is a set of custom pegs from the lost and found. It should be with an agent, under my last name.”
“And the second?”
“It’s throat related.”
“I’m not swallowing anything for you.”
“Not until you’re in my bed, you mean,” he says. “Adeline would like a berry smoothie from Orange Julius. She’ll beg for a large one, but buy her the small. Get yourself one, too. You sound like you’re on edge again.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” He pauses, and Adele clasps my left hand. “She’ll show you how to get to the plane, and that’ll be it for your job today.”
“Wait a minute, Ryder.”
“Yes?”
“We need to talk in private once I get back.”
“I’m sure we do,” he says. “I’ll see you in five hours…”
End of Episode 1
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