Fitting The Pieces (The Riverdale Series Book 3) Read Free Page A

space.
                “Now you could say you had your
brother’s girl.” She clenched her fists at her sides, without another word she
turned around and walked out of the office, her words ringing in Luke’s ears as
he stood there in the wake of destruction.

Cara’s Journal: September 19 th
     
    Dear
Jake,
    I
don’t even know why I’m writing to you, it’s not like you’ll ever read these
letters. It’s not like one day you will find a box of shit I left for you. No,
only I get the privilege of sifting through all this crap. I suppose I should
thank you for leaving behind all these letters, it’s not like they pour salt in
my wounds or anything. Not at all. I especially enjoy the little notes with
instructions, yeah, those really warm my heart. It’s great to know you thought
of all your loved ones when you were dying. It’s great to know that you knew all
along you’d leave me. I guess one of us should’ve been prepared.
    I
used to have a best friend. I remember him walking into the bar whenever I
worked, instantly searching the room for my eyes. I remember seeing him and thinking,
there he is, my person. I remember that one night he waited for me outside of
my job. I remember jumping onto the back of his bike and him taking me on the
ride of my life. The ride I’d never forget. I’ll never forget what it felt like
to wrap my arms around your waist and have the wind blow over me as we drove to
our spot. I’ll never forget that night. It was a beautiful night between me and
my best friend.
    My
best friend is now called painkillers. These little pills that help me forget
the best friend I once had, my best friend who I centered my whole world
around. I sometimes think the universe played a cruel joke on me. If I never
discovered that somewhere in the fifteen years of our friendship I fell in love
with my best friend, if I never admitted that truth, then maybe I’d still have
my best friend. If we would’ve never tried to tempt our luck and explore the
love, then maybe, just maybe, you would’ve never gotten sick. Maybe your
illness was a product of our love. I wasn’t put on this Earth to be loved and
having your love was too much, so it had to be ripped from me, in the cruelest
possible way.
    So
now I’m stuck here until I gather the nerve to end this vicious cycle someone
has planned for me. I don’t have a fiancée anymore. Instead of getting married
today, I’m writing you a goddamn letter. I’m not even that upset that I’m not
primping for a wedding. Maybe that’s because my new best friend is swimming
through my blood stream.
    I
am angry. I am hurt. I am dead, but no one has put me in the ground yet. I miss
my best friend. The one I took that ride with. The one I lost.
    I
hate you.
    I
love you.
    I
miss you.
    I’m
sorry. So sorry I tempted fate.
    Love
you always and forever,
    Cara

Chapter
One
     
                Luke Lanza glanced in his rear view mirror as he pulled
up in front of Riverdale Elementary and watched his daughter as she looked out
of her window.
                “Here we are, my lady.” He said as he put the truck in
park and twisted in his seat to face her. Ava unsnapped her seatbelt and
grabbed her book bag from the seat beside her. She slung it over one shoulder
and leaned over the console. She smiled at him with her lopsided toothless grin
and eyed him as if she owned him, which he could admit, she did.
                “Give me some sugar.” She said pointing her finger
towards her cheek.
                Luke laughed, his daughter never ceased to amaze him with
her wit. He leaned over to shower her cheek with kisses before pointing to his
own. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and kissed his cheek with a
smacking sound.
                “That’s my girl!” He said before moving his hand to
ruffle her hair.
                “Dad! Don’t you’ll mess my hair!” She cried