Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 22109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 88(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
I point to the couch because I am already questioning how this conversation is going to go down. “Have a seat.”
She tries to look at the papers in my hands, but I hold them up to my chest with a laugh. “No peeking. Have a seat. There’s something we need to talk about.”
She takes a seat gingerly on the edge of the couch. “All right, I’m listening.”
I sit next to her. “I know how important school is to you. I went by the university in Jasper and got all the information for you to sign up. Now I know that you may not want to travel back and forth for classes, but they offer courses online. They know you’ll need to do student teaching in a few months, and you can do that at the school here in Whiskey Run.”
Her mouth falls open. “Gray, I can’t afford this.”
I shrug. “I’m going to pay for it.”
She shakes her head back and forth in disbelief. “That’s thousands of dollars, Gray.”
I don’t see what the big deal is. “I think it’s a pretty good investment.”
I hold the papers out to her, but she won’t take them. “I can’t let you do this. It’s too much. All of this is too much.”
I shake my head and lay the papers on the coffee table in front of us. “It’s not, though.”
She jumps up from the couch and starts to pace. “It is, though. I don’t understand, Gray. Do you feel guilty or something? You shouldn’t. What happened to Dawson was not your fault. You don’t owe him, me, or this baby anything.”
I stand up and walk over to her. The smile she had on her face when I first got here is long gone, and I want it back. “Is that what you think? You think I’m doing this because I feel guilty... or because I owe it to Dawson?”
She shrugs. “Is it?”
I shake my head side to side but don’t put voice to the reasoning.
“Why then?” she asks. “Why are you doing this for me? Is it because of the baby?”
She’s searching my face for answers, but I don’t have any. Even I can’t completely explain why I’m doing this, but I know I need to try. “In the beginning, when I asked you to marry me, it was because I owed it to Dawson to take care of you and his baby.”
She laughs. “Gray, you do know that HE wasn’t going to marry me, right? I don’t think it even crossed his mind.”
I ignore what she just said and continue. “Like I said, that was in the beginning. But now, well, I don’t know what to say, Ellie; all I can do is be honest with you. When I was here for two months, I thought about you all the time. When I saw you in that shitty apartment, I knew I couldn’t leave you there. It should have freaked me out that I asked you to come and live here in Whiskey Run, but it didn’t. As a matter of fact, when I asked you, I knew it was what I wanted. I want you and this baby to be here with me.”
She’s quiet, and it makes me wonder if I’ve said too much. The last thing I want to do is pressure her or run her off. “Does that freak you out? I’m not asking you for anything in return, Ellie. I want to do this for you.”
Her gaze softens, and she shakes her head. “No, that doesn’t freak me out.”
I nod and point to the coffee table where the discarded papers are. “So you’ll go?”
She nods. “I’ll look into it, but eventually, I’m going to have to pay you back. I can’t live here and have you foot all the bills.”
I shake my head. “I’m not worried about it. I want you to finish your degree. That is going to take up all your time until the baby comes.”
She wants to argue with me, but I interrupt her. “Okay, so now I have another idea to cure your boredom.”
She seems a little overwhelmed when she asks, “What’s that?”
“There is a party at the clubhouse tonight. Would you be interested in going with me? I’d like to introduce you to the guys.”
She fidgets her hands in her lap. “What do they know about me, Gray?”
I shrug. “Well, most of them know I’m married, but they don’t know the details behind it or anything. I mean, we can go as friends, but I mean, I would think I’d just introduce you as my wife.”
She stares at me, and I shake my head. “I mean, I can introduce you however—”
She cuts me off. “Wife is fine. That’s what I am, so we might as well stick with the truth.”
I put my hands in the front pocket of my jeans to stop myself from reaching for her. “Sounds good to me.”