Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 146034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 487(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 146034 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 730(@200wpm)___ 584(@250wpm)___ 487(@300wpm)
It broke my heart. Not for myself. But for her. For our children. Hating the fact that I hadn’t known how to help her. Hating that I hadn’t recognized the full scope of what she was going through. Hating that I’d let my anger and frustration drive a wedge so deep between us that I couldn’t see when she really needed help.
I’d wanted justice for her, but I wasn’t sure that was truly possible. What she’d lost was so much greater than just putting Jack in the ground. It was a life that could never be reclaimed. Memories with her children that she was never going to have.
I’d failed her and I’d failed my kids, and I’d do anything to go back and make it different for them. Give my kids the chance to grow up knowing their mother. But the only thing I could do now was be there for them, with all of me, giving them everything I had.
I peppered a bunch of sloppy kisses all over their faces, making them giggle and squirm as I held them tight against me.
“Eww, Dad, that’s so gross!” Except Olivia couldn’t stop the riot of laughter that rode out, happiness spun in the middle of it.
And she and her brothers gave me those sloppy kisses right back.
“Miss Savannah needs kisses, too.” Oliver yanked at Savannah’s hand, and those aqua eyes trickled over us.
There were no longer any barriers there. No longer questions or reservations. She knew right where she belonged.
She climbed to her knees, and the boys basically attacked her, jumping all over her, arms around her neck, smacking kisses all over her precious face, the bruises that had marred it finally beginning to fade.
She was laughing, kissing them back.
Giggles rang, filling up this house with every bit of the love it deserved.
I leaned over and planted a giant one on her cheek, and my grin was unstoppable when I pulled back. “How many kisses do you think Miss Savannah needs?” I asked my kids, never looking away from her when I issued it.
“A bazillion.” Oliver threw his hands overhead, all his fingers spread wide.
Olivia, my little sassy pants, scoffed. “That’s not even a real word.”
Then she snuggled up to Savannah’s side and kissed her cheek. “But I think she needs a whole lot.”
My mother had tried to slip out before dinner to give us space.
Privacy.
Savannah had stopped her and asked her to stay.
We’d all shared a meal together. Laughed. Joked. Gave thanks because Savannah and I had learned to be grateful for every day.
My mother had left soon after, but not before hugging each of us. She’d whispered how much she loved me as she curled me in a fervent embrace, had told me she was so thankful that I was whole. That it was over. That I’d found my heart.
Then she’d turned to hug Savannah, and the words they’d shared had been hushed, but there was no missing the bond they were forming.
Once my mother had left, I’d insisted on doing dishes, even though Savannah had insisted I didn’t, the woman fretting over me, worried about my healing wound. Thing was, I didn’t think I’d ever felt so good. So right. Like my forever and hers had perfectly aligned.
I finished wiping off the counters before I sauntered down the hall to the lilting of voices.
I moved to the twins’ doorway, breath getting knocked from my lungs as I took in the scene. Oliver and Owen were on their beds, cackling like the little yahoos they were while Savannah read them a story.
She was on the floor.
A siren where she sat in the middle of them.
A five-alarm fire raging in the room.
Legs curled beneath her as she changed her voice, rising an octave then dipping to a low baritone as she shifted between characters.
I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my days standing in her flames.
“The end.” She drew it out like it was the best part of the book.
“Do it again!” Owen begged.
Apparently, he didn’t agree.
A soft giggle rolled from Savannah. “I’ve already read it twice.”
“Fee is my favorite.” Owen held up three chubby fingers.
With a tender laugh, she returned to the first page and started again, and when it was finished, she climbed to her knees. She crawled first to Oliver where she lifted up his covers. “In you go, my sweet boy.”
He slid under, and she pulled his blanket to his chin then pressed a kiss to his nose. “Sleep tight.”
“And I won’t never let the bugs bite!”
“Never, ever.” She touched the tip of his nose where she’d dropped a kiss, then she moved to Owen’s bed. “Your turn.”
“Do I has to?”
“Yep, it’s already past your bedtime.”
“Oh, man.” Reluctantly, he crawled in, and when she went to lean over him to peck a kiss to his nose, he took her face in both his little hands. “Night-night, my S’vannah.”