Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Luca hadn’t believed it at first, but then he didn’t know what true family meant, not until he opened his life toward Tillie and her family.
Bella, Tillie’s mother, was wonderful. Ever since Tillie had gone to dinner with her mother, the two had gotten closer, and had certainly been making up for lost time.
He’d lost count of the number of dinners, barbeques, or family get-togethers he’d been part of in the last three months.
All his life, he’d been an outcast. Growing up, he’d been the kid without parents, so the only people he had anything in common with were his fellow foster kids. At the same time, he didn’t have anything in common with them for long, because while they still had hope of their own parents coming to adopt them, as well as the prospect of being adopted, he’d long lost any of it. He’d simply accepted his fate and decided not to hold out for anyone. The only person he could rely on was himself.
There was a sudden knock at the door, and he didn’t even have to call out before David stepped into his office. This had been a regular occurrence as well. He and David had become friends.
“Hey, man, just wanted to stop by and make sure everything was okay,” David said, coming to stand close to him.
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. I called Tillie to check on her, like I do every Friday, and she seemed a little strange.”
He frowned and then moved toward his desk. “Strange how?”
“You know, just distracted.”
“She was fine when I left her this morning,” Luca said, concern rising inside him for his wife.
He’d woken up like he had every morning this past three months, taking a few moments to watch her sleep. Tillie would always wake up, and then turn toward him with this soft, sweet, but knowing smile that never failed to arouse him.
Luca had never seen her look at anyone else the way she looked at him, and it turned him on to know he was the only man she did it for.
“Shit, man, I didn’t mean to make you worry. It’s probably nothing, and a bad connection or something. I was worried the two of you might have gotten into a fight or something.”
He looked at David and saw how nervous the other man seemed, and he didn’t like it.
“Tillie and I don’t fight.”
“All married couples fight. My parents did all the time.”
“What about your grandparents?” Luca asked. They were a couple he wished he’d gotten to know. He’d seen pictures of them and listened to stories from Tillie’s family. No one had anything bad to say about them.
“Of course they fought. Not big massive fights or anything, but they did have disagreements.” David held his hands up in the air. “You know, I’m an asshole, and when it comes to my sister, I probably just misread everything, you know, and with that note and feeling like a complete and total butt, I’m going to leave.”
It didn’t matter if David left, thinking everything was all right. Luca was concerned. Tillie had seemed fine this morning. A little pale, which he didn’t like. She had been suffering from a small stomach bug the past couple of weeks, but every time he suggested going to a doctor, she always refused, which frustrated him.
Picking up the phone on his desk, he dialed home and waited. Tillie normally answered within a couple of rings. The phone kept ringing, and his nerves were getting the better of him.
He slammed the phone back into the cradle, grabbed his jacket, headed toward the door, and flung it open, in the process nearly crashing into Tillie as he did so.
“Tillie,” he said.
Seeing her smiling face, after just being concerned for her, was a huge relief. Without even thinking, he pulled her into his arms and held her close.
“Okay, wow, remind me to stop by completely unannounced before lunch more often.”
He didn’t care, he pressed his lips against her, breathing her in.
“You’re fine?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
“Your brother was here and he was worried.” He stopped when he saw her roll her eyes.
“Trust me, don’t listen to David, okay? He’s not the greatest reader of people, or of anyone. In business, he’s great, but in normal everyday life, he sucks.”
“I will take that under advisement.”
Luca didn’t care, he took a moment to look at his wife and bask in seeing her. This is what he always felt when he saw her, and for a few minutes, he just wanted to enjoy it.
****
Stupid David.
Tillie loved her brother and she did so with her whole heart, but sometimes he meddled a little too much, and if he’d spoiled the surprise she’d been working on, she was going to kill him.
Well, she had two surprises for Luca. One, she wasn’t sure if he was going to like, nor thinking about it, the second, but she was hopeful. Now that she stood in his arms, breathing him in, she couldn’t help but feel her nerves building at the prospect of being totally wrong.