Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
He slips his hand in mine as he starts the drive home. We don’t say anything, and I know right away when we get a signal. The pings are every single second. “Well, that was nice.” I slip my hand out of his and grab the phone, not sure what is going to be waiting for me. I see that I’ve missed more notifications that I don’t even want to read at this point. So instead, I just send a text to the family chat.
Me: On my way home. Should be there in two hours.
I power down the phone and place it back in the cupholder. The closer that we get to home, the more my stomach sinks. At one point, I open the window because I feel like I’m going to throw up. I lean my head against the door and close my eyes as the wind blows on my face.
When the truck stops, I open my eyes to see that I’m parked in my driveway. “You have arrived at your destination,” Luke quips. “Your destination is on the right.” He tries to make a joke about it, and I even laugh before turning to see my sisters pull in behind us. “And here comes the cavalry.” I look over at him and wonder what he’s thinking. I also know that with my sisters here, we aren’t going to be able to talk freely.
“Well, well, well,” Presley goads, getting out of her car and slamming the door. “Look at what the cat dragged in.”
“I’ll get your stuff,” Luke says quietly from his side of the truck.
I pull the door handle open and step out. My sisters both look at me. “What the hell are you wearing?” Shelby shrieks.
“It’s the only thing he had.” I point over to Luke.
“Are you wearing anything under that T-shirt?” Presley folds her arms over her chest, her eyebrows going up.
“Boxers,” I admit. Their mouths hang open, and I throw up my hands. “These are the only clothes he had.” I look over at Luke as he carries my wedding dress over his shoulder.
“I was only going away for the weekend.” He tries to defend himself, but nothing he says will make this okay.
“And you brought no clothes?” Shelby asks, shocked.
“That’s what I said.” I walk toward my house, looking around to see if any of my neighbors are out. We got home just before lunch on a Monday, so it’s no surprise that most of them are at work.
“I wasn’t planning on going out.” Luke shakes his head and walks behind me.
“I’m sorry,” Presley says, not moving. “I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that you went away without packing clothes.” She puts her hand to her head. “Like what if you had an accident and shit yourself.” Luke looks at her like she has two heads.
“That’s what I said.” I look over at them when I put the code to the door in, and it doesn’t open.
“Oh, we changed the code,” Shelby shares. “We thought that Edward would come and camp out.” She gives me the new code, and I put it in. The minute I walk in, I cough at the smell.
“What the hell is that smell?” I look around, seeing if maybe something is on fire. I wave my hand in front of my nose.
“Mom came by yesterday and saged the house.” Presley laughs. “To take out the bad juju. She wanted to torch the bed, but we stopped her. You’re welcome.”
“Well, that might be my cue to leave,” Luke says, looking at me. I want to say something to him, but my sisters are right there. “Where do you want the dress?”
“Just throw it on the couch,” I reply, pointing over to the living room off the entrance. He walks over and places it on the couch gently. “Thank you,” I mumble to him as he walks back to the door.
“Ladies.” Luke nods at them and then looks back for a second before walking to his truck. My sisters look at him and then back at me
“I’m going to change.” I avoid them. “And when I come back, you can fill me in on everything.”
“I’ll get some coffee going,” Shelby states.
“Coffee!” Presley gasps. “We’re discussing her doomed wedding. Cut her some slack.”
“Fine,” Shelby says, and I ignore them while I walk to the bedroom, stopping and then turning on the step.
“Um,” I start to say, not sure how to ask if Edward came to collect his things.
“Gone,” Presley says. “Threw everything in a black garbage bag and dropped it off on the hood of his car.” I just nod, then turn to go change. I put on a pair of yoga pants and go back downstairs. I’m not ready to take Luke’s shirt off yet.
“Okay.” I slap my hands together. “Tell me what I missed.” I sit down on the couch as my sisters come to sit with me. One’s holding three shot glasses, and the other one is holding a bottle of scotch. I’m surprised that I don’t even take one shot while they fill me in. People were shocked to say the least. My mother was furious, Edward was calling them nonstop, and his parents threatened to sue us if the deposits were not returned. It was a nightmare, and the more and more they spoke about it, the worse my headache became. The phone in my lap beeped a couple of times, and I avoided looking at it because I thought it was Edward or my mother.