Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“No, they’re definitely puffy.” Kerris grabbed her purse. “I think I just need to lie down.”
“Of course, Lil’ Bit.” Mama Jess pushed Kerris’s hair back from her face. “Go on home. Put your feet up. Have some of that lemonade I fixed when I came over last night. And there was some corn pudding and baked chicken left over. You go on home and rest.”
Kerris ignored the twinge of guilt Mama Jess’s consideration pricked inside her.
“Thanks, Mama Jess.”
“Maybe you can even watch that interview tonight, too,” Mama Jess said to Kerris’s back as she headed to the door.
Kerris stiffened and glanced over her shoulder at Mama Jess with narrowed eyes. Mama Jess offered an innocent smile that reminded Kerris just who she was dealing with.
Fifteen minutes later, Kerris entered the cottage, drawing in an air-conditioned breath. She started a bath, padding to the kitchen to check Mama Jess’s leftovers. Cam had been working late a lot, and Mama Jess was often her dinner companion.
She sank into the vanilla-scented bubbles, letting them creep around her bare neck and shoulders. She allowed herself thoughts of Walsh. He was a glass of wine in her bath; heady, intoxicating. A forbidden pleasure as she lay swollen with Cam’s child; a guilty indulgence that could endanger the things she wanted most.
She looked at her belly poking through the suds, smiling even while she blinked back tears. She shouldn’t feel lonely. She was surrounded by friends who loved her. Living with a husband who had once said he’d never let her go. With the baby she’d always dreamed about steadily blooming inside of her. Was she so hard to satisfy? Even now, her body responded to the thought of Walsh touching her.
She closed her eyes, her skin heating in the cooling bath. She fled the tub as if she were being chased. And maybe she was. Chased by the memory of his touch, of his concern, his understanding.
She dried off, slipping on her ancient red kimono, tying it loosely over her baby bump and leaving her feet bare. And then exhaustion caught up with her. Her swollen ankles might have been fictional, but the bone deep fatigue that seemed to characterize this last trimester was real.
She napped for two hours, not stirring once, and got up feeling more refreshed, running her fingers through the drying curls skimming her shoulders. She grabbed her plate of leftovers and headed toward the television. She didn’t watch much TV, but she did know that Pinnacle came on in ten minutes. She pretended to watch the local news in the meantime, her heart beating like she was about to see Walsh in person. Like an eclipse of moths had been let loose in her belly, and their madly flapping wings feathered her insides. She sat through the Pinnacle title package and the lead up. There were actually five others being featured tonight, and they saved Walsh for last.
“When we first took notice of this guy,” the pretty, polished interviewer said, “he was Sofie Baston’s plus one. Of course, he is handsome and comes from a prominent family, and is following in his father’s business footsteps, but what intrigues us about him is his big heart. We sat down with the confirmed bachelor who has captured our imagination over the last few years. I’m sure it’ll be clear to everyone why Walsh Bennett is on our ‘30 Under 30 List.’”
During her introduction, they cut to b-roll of Walsh walking a red carpet with Sofie, playing soccer with a group of children in Kenya, and blocking a camera’s view as he left the church after Kristeene’s funeral. Finally it cut to Walsh sitting down with the interviewer in what looked like a tropical location. A small, if guarded, smile played around his full mouth. His high cheekbones seemed more prominent than the last time she’d seen him. He’d lost some weight, but his tanned skin still stretched beautifully across the bones of his face. The smooth dark brows slashed over the penetrating green eyes. He wore a white polo shirt over his usual shabby designer cargo shorts.
“It’s been quite a year, huh?” The interviewer’s name, Shelby Jennings, flashed on-screen.
“Yep.” Walsh’s smile was no help, as if he wanted her to know she would have to work for this.
“I mean, kidnapped in Haiti and then a heroic rescue engineered by your father.”
“You make it sound so dramatic.” Walsh accompanied his sardonic tone with an equally sardonic smile.
“Well, your family is very prominent in this country, and for a few days we didn’t know if you were dead or alive. The world was transfixed.”
Walsh’s smile died a quick death.
“No, a small portion of the world was transfixed. Most of the world was worried about finding clean water to drink and food to eat.”
Shelby’s hollow laugh showed some of her discomfort with Walsh’s serious response.