Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37781 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
I hug her, letting her know I’m here. “Even when I’m not here, Lucy, you can come to me about anything. You know that,” I remind her. Stroking her hair back and wiping the tears off her cheeks, I peck the top of her head. “Now let me get changed, and we can see if these ribs are as good as Brad says.”
It takes a while, but Lucy looks more her usual self after another trip to the bathroom while I hunt down Brad, reemerging with a look of determination and excitement about tonight’s plans. At least we’re all here.
At least I can see Beth a little longer.
When it is time to go home? Well, I’ll have to cross that bridge when I get there. Right now, it’s time for some damage control after a rotten start to my coming back. I hear a little shrieking and carrying on from Beth’s room, convincing Brad and me that although it got off to a bad start, it’s sure still good to be home again.
After sitting down to a meal that Brad promises I won’t forget, I can’t help agreeing, but not because of the food. Sitting at the table with Beth right next to me is like a gift. Her leg under the table rests against mine a couple of times, which she’s quick to move away once she realizes, shooting me little apologetic glances. Shy and even embarrassed, she’d be a fool to deny it if she doesn’t feel what I do when her body’s near mine.
Brad wants to talk shop about what I’m gonna do now that I’m home and with no research to… well… No research to research, I guess. I’m more interested in sitting here and seeing Beth's interest in maybe more than just using me as a leg rest. Having been away so long, the entire dinner conversation is drawn out of me by Brad and even Lucy. She’s almost her usual self, but there’s a look in her eyes I’ve never seen before, or maybe it’s because she’s just grown up so fast. She’s already a young woman in the half year I’ve been gone.
Beth’s quiet, though, and I try to include her in everything I say. Every time I open my mouth, I look at her, trying to make the most of this time. I hope it just looks like I’m having dinner with friends and my daughter, but inside, I feel like a king courting his should-be, will-be queen. My head’s almost dizzy with how alive, happy, and yeah, maybe even the twenty years younger Beth makes me feel. On a couple of occasions, the pair of us ask Brad to turn the A/C up because it gets so hot in here, but Brad and Lucy look at us like we’re kidding.
“We’re practically shivering over here,” Lucy says, glancing at me sidelong, and just like what happened with Brad, I see the thought play out in her mind—her best friend Beth with me. She even shakes her head slightly, dismissing the idea she thinks she just had. Really, I think anyone could pick up on the static charge of chemistry between Beth and me. I know I can, and the longer we sit so close, the more I’m convinced she’s not only feeling it but also wanting more of it, just the same as I am.
Sitting right across from her father and my daughter should be enough to make me push it to the back of my mind, but I know I can’t. I can’t, and I won’t. It might sound crazy, but this is proof right here. Sitting with Beth and feeling like I’m in a magic story book, my heart is as swollen as some other parts of me. That’s what she does to me naturally, just by being her. It’s the one thing that makes me want to make her mine from now on… for good… forever.
I couldn’t care anymore if she’s half my age or twice my age. If she was a hundred, I know I’d feel the same. She’ll be mine, I tell myself. The thought brings me more relief than anything. I already want tonight to end with me living the dream of having her forever.
Once I notice Lucy giving me stranger looks than Beth’s dad dares to, I realize I’m grinning like a madman, my napkin in my lap like a pitched awning. The ache in my jeans for Beth is almost something I’m proud of, even though I have to keep it a secret—for now, at least, especially around the others. If Beth saw? I think that would make me harder than I am now, if that’s possible. The dinner ends with Brad commenting on Beth having hardly touched her food.
“You still feeling unwell?” Brad asks, making my brow crease as I turn to face Beth.