Read Even In Darkness (Between) for Free Online

watching me open gifts. It was the Lindsey Show from sun up to whenever I finished. The floor would be covered in crumpled wrapping paper and ribbons and everyone would be exhausted from doing nothing but smiling and talking.
    Two years ago, all of that changed when my parents got divorced. The first Christmas after they split, my dad tried to plaster on a fake smile and make like everything was fine. It was a miserable failure. He bought me an obscene amount of gifts to try and compensate, but I didn’t care about any of them. All I wanted was everything to be back the way it was before. I didn’t even go to my mom’s place that year. She wanted me to, but I refused. I know it hurt her, but she hurt me. No, she hurt us. Me and Dad both. Grandma and Grandpa, too. All of us. She deserted us and that was something I couldn’t forgive. She said it wasn’t about me, that it was between her and my dad, that she’d always love me, but I didn’t care. She wouldn’t have done it if she really loved me. She wouldn’t have cheated on him with Nick.
    I hadn’t been in love before and it all seemed pretty black and white to me at the time. Mom was the bad guy; Dad was the good guy. Nick…ugh, Nick. He was the even worse guy. I hated him. It was really all his fault. My mom would never have left us if it hadn’t been for him. He stole her. That’s what I thought, and putting everyone in these boxes helped me cope with the disaster that had become my home life.
    But then there was the car accident when I died and met Aiden in the realm in between Earth and heaven. I fell for him hard. Like I-would-give-up-heaven-for-you hard. I’d had a boyfriend before the accident, but I wasn’t in love with him. I’d never been in love with anyone until I met Aiden. And I would do whatever it took to be with him. When I was brought back to life, I was shattered. Nothing mattered without Aiden. School, friends, music—I didn’t care about anything anymore.
    Last Christmas, I was in a hospital bed after the accident. My parents screamed at each other right in front of me, calling each other names. I couldn’t believe it. I’d just lost Aiden and had been brought back for that? To hear them hating on each other on Christmas Day in the hospital? It was the start of the blackest time of my life, but it gave me a better understanding of what my mom sacrificed to go after the man she wanted and why. Of course, Nick didn’t turn out to be what she thought and I could see now that she regretted her choice. She thought it was too late to fix what she had broken.
    A quick glance across the dinner table made it clear she was so wrong about that. My dad was hanging on her every word, looking happier than I’d seen him in years. He’d take her back in a heartbeat. And even though she left us, even though she threw a grenade into my childhood memories of a happy family, I wanted her back, too. I loved her. And if it would make Dad keep smiling like that, I’d do whatever she asked.
    “But I don’t like peas!” Celia exclaimed beside me, poking a hole in my thoughts. Her mom put a scoop on her plate anyway and I could see Celia was half a second from melting down.
    “Helen, I’d love some peas,” I said, making sure Celia could hear me. I held out my plate . Helen dished out a grateful smile along with my veggies.
    Celia’s budding tantrum dwindled to a sniffle as she watched me, those brown eyes taking in my every move.
    I scooped a spoonful into my mouth and made a blissful sound, careful not to look directly at Celia. “These are delicious.”
    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Celia pick up a pea with pinched fingers like it was a bug on her plate. With a suspicious glare at me, she popped the evil green orb into her mouth and made a slow, exaggerated chewing motion. I fought to suppress a grin. Score one for me! Helen’s eyes locked with mine in triumph for a moment before a disruption at the door made me turn.
    The MacKinnons’