Betrayed by My Childhood Love novel · Chapter 23 of 32
Chapter 23: Same Day
It went up straight and fast on a white column of smoke.
For a few moments it was beautiful.
The Thornbury tent screamed. My mother was on her feet with both hands in the air.
I watched under my breath.
Waylon stood with me, watching.
"Six. Seven. Eight."
At nine, the smoke trail kinked.
It was so high by then that the sound took a second to reach us.
When it did, it was the same cough I'd heard in April, a cylinder dropping out of the roar.
A tongue of orange fire came out the side of the rocket.
The nose tipped over.
It corkscrewed once, trailing black smoke, and then the casing split in two.
Both halves tumbled down into the empty desert, a mile downrange.
The parachute never opened.
The range speakers crackled.
"Pad one, motor failure. The range is clear. Nobody is hurt. Stay behind the barrier."
Nobody on the whole launch line said a word.
Annika still had her hand on the firing box.
She was looking up at the place where her rocket had been.
My mother sat down very slowly in her folding chair.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–16 of Betrayed by My Childhood Love are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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