How (Not) to Fall in Love by Lisa Brown Roberts Read Free Book Online Page B

had happened? What had caused him to run away? To go against his own philosophy of facing life head-on, no matter what curveballs it threw?
    I opened up Dad’s Facebook fan page. I scrolled the page, reading all the gushing comments about how awesome he was, how his philosophy had changed lives in dramatic ways. I scrolled down to the entries from before he’d disappeared, looking for some clue about what was going through his mind.
    “Is Ty okay?” Written by somebody named Bethany. “I’ve seen him speak so many times,” she wrote, “but this last time he seemed off, somehow. The fire wasn’t there.”
    I sat up, propping pillows behind me.
    “I thought so, too,” someone named Li Wei had replied. “It’s like he wasn’t all there. Like part of him was missing.”
    A chill ran up my spine. I looked at the dates. Three months ago. I’d been busy hanging out at the country club over the summer, swimming and playing tennis. I hadn’t thought about it since it happened, but now that I read these comments, I remembered coming home late one night and hearing a noise from Dad’s office. When I’d peeked in, he was at his desk, head in his hands. He looked up when the door opened, wiping his eyes.
    “Are you okay, Dad?” I didn’t think I’d ever seen him cry before.
    He’d flashed me his magazine cover smile. “I’m fine, sweetie. Just…tired.”
    I’d said good night and closed the door. And hadn’t worried, because my dad was always fine.
    How many other clues had Mom and I missed, or ignored, because we didn’t want to see them?
    I closed my laptop and tried to sleep, but my phone pinged with a text from Charlie. “R u ok? Saw the reporters on your porch on the news.” Punctuated with a frowny face emoticon.
    His concern was comforting, especially in light of Mom’s cranky exit.
    “I’m ok,” I typed, then amended it. “We both are.”
    It was a lie, of course, but what else could I say?

Chapter Seven
    September 27
    S unlight woke me earlier than I wanted, especially for a Saturday. I’d begged for blackout window shades so I could sleep in, but Mom always refused since they wouldn’t match the pastel and lace that covered every inch of my bedroom. Sometimes I felt like I lived inside a wedding cake.
    I wanted to wallow in the few blissful seconds between asleep and awake, where I could pretend Dad wasn’t a late-night TV joke, and Mom wasn’t keeping the liquor store in business, but I couldn’t. At least it was the weekend. I squeezed my eyes shut, picturing Chloe prepping the CNN report for my locker, maniacally waving her glue gun like a weapon.
    Downstairs, Mom was already dressed and drinking coffee.
    “Big day in the real estate world?” I asked, surprised to see her awake.
    She shook her head. “You and I are going to the cabin for the weekend. I don’t want to be here if the paparazzi come back.” She took a sip from her mug. “After everything that’s happened, you and I could use a break.”
    I usually whined about going to the mountains, but right now running away sounded good. When I was younger I’d loved our cabin trips, because I got uninterrupted time with my dad, who ignored the phone and focused on Mom and me the whole time. But the past couple of years, whenever we were up there all I could think of was the fun I was missing in town, like shopping with Sal and stalking Ryan.
    “Come on, Toblerone.” I raced upstairs to throw clothes and a couple of historical romance novels into my Hilfiger duffel. Toby licked my hand and whimpered. He knew my packed bag meant fun for him and he was eager to go.
    Mom was already in the Volvo with the engine running when Toby and I ran downstairs.
    “Change of plans,” I texted Sal as we drove, since she’d wanted to get together today. “Headed to mtns for wknd.”
    Her reply flew back. “R U OK?”
    Okay? My world was tilting on its axis and there was nothing to grab onto. I was flying into space, with no one to catch