Usually, getting run off the road and down a steep cliff is a freak accident caused by a drunk driver, or maybe someone totally distracted.
Usually, it's not because someone out in the world, someone you've never even met, is trying to get revenge...
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The new house Nessa would try to make home was much too big for just her and her father. She knew this, and Sam must have known this too. "It's inconspicuous, Ness. All the houses around here look the same."
Nessa looked up and down the block, realizing the only things different with the houses were the color the shutters were painted and the flowers planted next to the house. Theirs had orange tulips and dark blue shutters.
Nessa waited in her seat as Sam walked around the car and opened the back door to pull out Nessa's crutches. When they were safely in his grasp and the back door was closed, he opened the door for Ness and handed the crutches to her.
She positioned them in a way that she thought would help her out of the vehicle, but in the end, the most help came from Sam. Nessa muttered a thank you and started up the sidewalk that would take her to the front door.
Her father was there a bit faster than her since he had two functioning legs and did not have to rely on metal poles to carry his weight. He unlocked the front door and pushed it open, allowing Nessa to step inside before him.
It came as a shock to her to see furniture already placed as well as a bunch of boxes stacked in the entry room. "How do we already have stuff here?"
"I hired movers and gave them a key. They left it under the doormat." Nessa thought about how cliche' that was but didn't comment on it.
Her eyes flickered around the space once more, landing on a staircase fit for a queen nestled in the corner. "Is my room up there?"
"Not right now, no," her father replied. "Right now, you have a room down here. But if when you ditch the crutches you would like to move to one of the rooms up there, we can have someone come and design it for you.
Nessa nodded. That's one thing she always liked about her father having money. She always got the room she wanted and was able to change it up whenever she felt she needed to.
"I'll let you get situated," Sam sighed. "But once your room is halfway put together, meet me in the kitchen. We have more to discuss."
Nessa raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea where either of those things are."
Her father laughed as he realized Nessa was right. "Sorry, Ness. I'll take you to your room. We should pass the kitchen on the way."
As she was lead down the hall, Nessa wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to this house.
Or maybe the house wasn't the problem. Maybe it was the man who was giving her a tour that felt as strained as too-dry pasta. Because Nessa didn't think she knew him anymore. Sure, he was still that kind, funny father who treated Nessa like she was the sun and the moon. The sky and the ground. The mountains, the valleys, the galaxy.
But maybe he wasn't that to Nessa anymore. Maybe he was a stranger, a stranger she thought she knew so well.
A stranger she wasn't sure she wanted to know more about.
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