Read Online The List by Kate L. Mary - Free Book Online

lived closer. If she could’ve been my bodyguard the last three years instead of my rowdy brothers. Neither one of them had bought Adam’s story about my lost charger, which wasn’t a surprise. I just hoped my dad did. Despite my need to break away, I didn’t want to hurt him.
    Aiden and Austin were easier to deal with. I got Aiden on the phone and he repeated everything I said to his twin word for word. They were home, but I told them I’d call Dad on his phone. I needed a few seconds to collect myself before the emotional avalanche that was sure to come.
    When I finally got up the nerve to dial Dad, he answered before the phone even had a chance to ring on my end. The guys must have told him I’d be calling.
    â€œAnnie?” His voice shook.
    I sucked in a mouthful of air when the guilt hit me like a tsunami. “Dad, I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to call earlier. Did Adam tell you I lost my charger?” I never lied to my dad, so I wasn’t exactly sure how to go about doing it. I tried to keep my voice as even as possible. “Anyway, I went out today with my roommate and her cousin and did some shopping. So I got a new one. No need to worry!”
    Dad exhaled and there was a long pause that went on and on. It gave me the perfect chance to tell him how I felt. To let him know things were going to be different. But I didn’t.
    â€œYou know I worry, Annie. I want to be sure you call me every day.” His voice was tight and there was only a slight tremor to his words, but I could picture the look on his face perfectly in my mind. How his eyebrows would be furrowed and the way his mouth pulled down. I’d seen it a million times.
    I squeezed my eyes closed and gripped the phone tighter. “I’m not going to be able to call every day, Dad. I’ll do my best, but I’m going to be busy. Classes start tomorrow and I’m making friends. I came here to get the real college experience.”
    â€œI know, I just . . . I don’t like you being so far away.” He took a deep breath and when he exhaled, it was shaky. “The world is dangerous.”
    I swallowed and chose to ignore his last statement. “We’ve had this conversation. I got a scholarship. This is a good thing for me.”
    â€œBut who’s going to watch out for you?”
    More like who’s going to keep me prisoner .
    I took another deep breath to steady my voice and my emotions before saying, “I’ll be careful.” It was pointless to say it; he always had the same response.
    â€œBad things happen even to people who are careful, Annie.”
    Bitterness rose in my throat, as foul tasting as that first sip of beer had been the night before. I had to swallow it down before I said something we’d both regret. “I’m going to be okay, Daddy.”
    For just a moment I felt like I was eleven years old again. Small and helpless. Holding my dad’s hand as he walked me to the cemetery. That was when my world changed. When my dad told me the truth about what had happened to my mom and I realized I would never have all the things other kids had. That my dad was too afraid to let me really experience life. Before that I’d always known things were different in my family, but the why had been a mystery.
    â€œI just wish you’d stayed here like Austin and Aiden. You could have gone to school with them, lived at home. They could have watched over you.”
    â€œDad,” I whispered. “I had to leave. Being there is—” I wanted to tell him it was like being in a prison, but the words stuck in my throat. I swallowed again and what came out instead wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either. “Too sad.”
    Dad inhaled sharply. The lie had hurt him just as much as the truth would have. It meant I was leaving him, pulling away. Which was exactly what he’d been trying to avoid all these years. Being