Chapter Three

Oakley

I drop my bags and slide on my knees to catch River. Mrs. Fern rushes over to check on River.

"Can you carry her to her room?"

I nod and scoop River up in my arms and cradle her up to her bed. I put her in her bed and pulled her blanket over her. I sit on the edge of her bed and think about the ride back here. She loves it here. I can tell. She started to lean into me when we passed the Mr and Mrs air BnB. I've really started to like her these past months. I hope she won't be leaving soon. The last time she came to visit she was four. She wasn't even visiting; actually, her mom had just married Mr. Yellowstone, and they lived in the large house next to Becca's mansion. Mr. Yellowstone was close friends with her dad actually. I never really liked him. He came from a rich family and didn't like "the hill-billy life" as he called it. He disliked my family a lot, I overheard him say that the Wealsotons were too big and messy of a family. Mrs. Emily, that was River's mom, said that the Weston's were very nice people and that he shouldn't talk about them like that. A few weeks later he decided it would be better for them to live far away in some big city. My mom wasn't happy that he'd taken her BFF away from her. I hadn't really met River because her dad always made her play with Becca. I would only really see her when she came to see her grandma. River turns over.

"Oakley? What are you doing here?"

"You fainted."

"What?" River says with a laugh.

"River, your mom. She was sick."

"Did she?" River says with tears in her eyes.

I nod. She starts to sob and I climb into bed with her and hug her as best as I can, and I let her cry into my shirt.

It's two weeks before I see her again. She doesn't even try to text me. I went over there to check on her once and her grandma said that they were about to leave for the funeral, and when they came back River's Dad had come back with them.