Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“I haven’t done anything besides offer you a job and invade your house.” I paused and debated trying to spare her, but Jeanine was impossible to thwart when she was on a mission. “By the way, my friends want you to come over for dinner so they can tell you all my bad habits and interrogate you.”
“Sounds like fun,” she answered, pushing off the refrigerator. “I wondered when all your flaws were going to come to light. Well, I’m headed to bed. Good night.”
“Thank you for the ice cream, and I’m really sorry you had to go through all that alone.” I stumbled over my words, and she lifted her brows. Fuck, this was why I never did the emotional thing with women. “You know. Sutton. Gavin. All that.”
“Oh. I’m not.” Her smile was so peaceful that I believed her. “Gavin always wanted to be a dad, and I always wanted to give that to him. We knew we had to act fast, but by the time we actually got pregnant, there was nothing they could really do. His treatment options were so limited.” Her shoulders dipped. “I love that I can see him in her smile, though. And his parents absolutely dote on her.”
“And yours?” My head reeled from the words she’d just used. Had to act fast.
Her laugh was anything but happy. “Now those are the people who only show up when they want to. Need isn’t in their vocabulary.” She pressed her lips in a thin line and then quickly changed the subject. “Did you find something you liked tonight?”
The pint was cold in my hands, and I nodded. “Yeah, I really did.”
“Good. Me too. Good night.” She gave me a little wave and then walked off toward the stairs, leaving me alone in the kitchen as the clock struck two.
Had to act fast… By the time we got pregnant…
The spoon fell out of my hands.
She’d known. She’d known that her boyfriend was dying and still committed her life to creating and raising his child—a child he’d never even meet. I couldn’t decide if she was the most giving person I’d ever come across, or the most emotionally reckless.
Either way, my mom would have absolutely loved her.
I realized two things as I threw the empty pint into the trash and slipped the spoons into the dishwasher.
One, she’d never told me what had made her day complete shit.
And two, I actually wanted to know—so I could fix it.
5
Callie
* * *
“Sure, if I had an extra million laying around,” I said to Ava as I poured the next wine slushie and handed it to Raven across the kitchen island. Girls’ nights were something I lived for, the rare moments when I could fully relax and be myself. I wasn’t the professional photographer, or the teen mom…I was just me. “Houses have jumped so high that I can’t even fathom some of these prices.”
And since the curator at the local gallery told me nothing in my current portfolio was display worthy—hence the wallowing ice cream fest—it wasn’t like I had a second stream of income to help get us into a house.
“It’s gotten out of control,” Halley agreed from one of the armchairs in the living room.
“What about this one?” Ava peered at my laptop, where it sat on her knees as she lounged on the end of the couch. “Two bedrooms, mountain views, two baths. It’s a condo in a great building and—”
“Wait for it,” Raven whispered, raising her eyebrows as she walked backward, facing me.
“Damn! It’s one—point—two million?” She rubbed at the screen like it would change the price. “That has to be a typo.”
“There it is!” Raven took a deep drink of her slushie, and her eyes drifted upward toward the sound of footsteps above us. “You sure Sutton is asleep?” She passed by the couch and sank into one of the armchairs that made up the seating arrangement.
“Yep.” I grabbed my own drink. “It’s eleven p.m. and that girl is out. Checked on her about an hour ago, just to be sure.” I followed her line of sight. “I bet that’s Weston.”
“How’s that going?” Halley asked, sharing a glance with Ava as I took the opposite end of the couch.
“It’s fine.” I shrugged. “We’re roommates. It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s only been two weeks.” A week of which had been awkward as hell until he found me drowning my frustrations in a dozen pints of ice cream. Now? It was just…less awkward.
“And?” Halley urged, leaning forward slightly.
They looked at me with expectation.
“He’s a tough guy to get to know.” I shrugged. “He makes dinner and even does the dishes while I help Sutton with her homework.” He likes Orange Dreamsicle ice cream. A smile yanked at the corners of my mouth. “Actually, I think he likes Sutton more than me. Not in a creepy way or anything. He’s just…” Quiet. Intense. Private. I fumbled for words and turned toward Ava. “What do you know about him?”