All That Really Matters, Nicole Deese [best detective novels of all time .TXT] 📗

As Miles found a place to work, following the directions the girls had written on the whiteboard, I took a moment to survey the room. Heads down, fingers tapping and typing, and lots and lots of happy faces.

Here we go, I thought, as I took out my own phone. Only four hundred seventy-seven thousand, two hundred dollars left to go.

Nearly ten hours and 342 launch participants later, our race was nearing the thirty-five percent mark—a huge feat—and yet we still had a lot of ground to cover before morning. We’d cheered for every thousand-dollar mark our Little Engine That Could had passed and continued doing our best to blow up the internet with every new post and new share from our campaign launch page. Amazingly, The Heart of The Matter page had seen exponential growth—one hundred thousand new followers in a single day. I didn’t even have time to wrap my mind around the wonder of that!

As the clock inched past 10:45 p.m., a handful of residents we’d deemed media admins for the event remained, scrolling through hundreds of online comments and answering pressing questions about the use of our funds, the matching grant, and our projected expansion timelines. Carlos and Peter had gone home for the night with a giant Ziploc bag of Glo’s blueberry muffins, promising their assistance to us again whenever needed. And I had a feeling they’d be back soon. Given the lighthearted exchanges I’d observed throughout the day between Silas and Carlos, I was certain Silas hoped the same. Never would I have imagined that the very man who wrote those heartbreaking letters to his younger brother would have been such an important guest on this special day.

“Hey, Val? Where are we at on video views now? Over fifty thousand?”

When she didn’t answer immediately, I popped my head up, blinking away the glare of my laptop screen. My friend wasn’t in her little corner anymore but instead was crouched on the carpeted floor, where Tucker had curved his sleeping body into a C on an old beanbag chair. If he didn’t look so pitifully uncomfortable, I would have laughed at the sight. I made my way over to her and watched as Val ran a hand over the side of his cheek.

“Hey,” I said softly, touching her shoulder. “You guys should head out. It’s late. Why don’t you take my car back to my place?”

Val smiled up at me, looking just as exhausted as her son. We’d run them ragged from the moment they’d arrived. “Your car?” She huffed and tucked her hair away from her face. “I’ve never driven anything fancier than an early 2000s Honda. Besides, the international window is opening soon. We have another big push to start.”

“I know, and I’ll be fine holding down the fort so you can rest—look!” I gestured to the dozen-plus pajama-clad residents who’d decided to pull an all-nighter for the sake of the cause. “I have lots of fantastic helpers in here. Victory is in our grasp.”

Val’s smile wavered as Miles joined the conversation. “I’m actually about to call it a night myself. I’d be happy to drop you both off at Molly’s, if you need a ride.”

Val politely refused, but I didn’t back down. “Come on, Val. He doesn’t mind at all. My brother’s favorite hobby is helping people.” Something the two of them had in common. “Plus, Tuck deserves a real bed. He’s been such a trooper all day.”

Miles stared down at the boy with a curious expression. “He fixed my Wi-Fi connection issue earlier. He’s a smart cookie.”

“He is,” Val said before tucking in her bottom lip, obviously debating her options.

“Why don’t you plan to help us out remotely tonight, and that way Tuck can get a good night’s sleep.” And I hoped Val could get comfortable. I might have believed her stiff muscle excuse if I hadn’t seen the way her balance seemed to come and go over the last twenty-four hours. But her quick deflection whenever I mentioned it made it obvious her limp wasn’t a subject she wanted to discuss—not even with me.

She braced a hand on the chair seat next to her and pushed up, her arms straining under the effort as she worked herself to a standing position.

Val’s gaze focused on my brother for the first time. “If it’s really not a hassle for you, then we’d be grateful for a ride. Thank you.”

“It’s not,” Miles and I said in tandem. He tilted his head and gave me a look that said why are you being such a weirdo?

While I helped pack up her laptop and supplies, Silas grabbed the tote near the soundboard and Miles bent down to collect the sleeping child.

Val immediately reached her arm out to stop him. “I can just wake him. You don’t have to—”

But Miles had already lifted Tuck off the beanbag, the boy’s head now resting on my brother’s chest without disturbance. “I got him.”

Val said nothing more as she followed the duo out to the parking lot.

Silas carried the tote of tech equipment to my brother’s truck while Miles situated Tucker in the back seat. After a quick round of good-bye hugs, I leaned against the passenger side of my car and took a moment to breathe in the fresh air. Now that I didn’t have a dozen residents looking to me as their cheerleader, I recalculated the reality of our funding needs. A sinking dread settled low in my belly as I worked the math over in my head. Twice.

We had less than ten hours and two hundred and eighty grand left to go. Even with the international push we planned to do overnight . . . that number was Goliath. We needed to do more. We needed to get creative.

I drummed my fingers against the cherry red paint of my car door, my thoughts going from zero to sixty in less than two-point-six seconds.

Much like my coveted Tesla.

Silas suddenly stepped right in front