Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92466 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
My eyes met Tristan’s. I knew him like the back of my hand, and I knew he loved L.A. He was making this sacrifice for me, even if he’d made it sound like an easy choice for the band. His doing this made it easy for Ronan to follow suit, which was a good move for him, especially since Kenzie didn’t want to live in L.A., away from her family long term. My man was sacrificing his life as he knew it for his two best friends. And I loved him for it.
“Well, this was unexpected,” I told him as I approached.
“I know. But it’ll be great.”
I put my hand on his shoulder. “You’re really okay with this?”
He nodded.
I pulled him into a hug. “I love you, man.”
“I love you, too.” He patted my back. “Don’t forget—it all started here on the East Coast. Why not end it here, too?”
***
After everyone left that night, I turned on the electric fireplace for Nicole and me so we could decompress after the party. Christian was snug like a bug in a rug in his new bedding, and Nicole had managed to get Adele down after a feeding.
It was one of those rare moments of peace that you never took for granted as a parent.
“Well, today was certainly chock full of excitement.” She kicked her feet up on my knee.
Leaning my head back against the couch, I sighed. “I can’t believe how well everything is coming together. I feel so damn blessed.”
“Me, too. Emily is really excited about moving here. I was glad to hear that because I know she liked her marketing job. But apparently, she has some leads here that seem promising.”
I shook my head. “I still can’t believe he made that decision. He’s making it seem easy, but I know it was a sacrifice.”
“You’re blessed to have true friends, you know. We both are.”
“Yeah, they’re family at this point.”
She smiled. “I agree.”
I noticed Nicole was holding an envelope. “What’s that?”
“Well, you’re never gonna believe this…” Her mouth curved into a smile. “It’s a letter from Mimi.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
She handed it to me. “Look at the front.”
To be given to Nicole and Atticus after I pass away, was written in cursive.
“Where did this come from?”
“My mom gave it to me before she left tonight. You know how she stayed at Mimi’s to clean up after the funeral, even after we left?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, Mimi left my mother all of her jewelry. Mom didn’t actually open the jewelry box to go through it until the other day. And this letter was inside.”
“What do you think it is?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I have no idea.”
“Let’s see. Open it,” I urged.
Nicole took a deep breath and removed the letter from the envelope.
Dearest Nicole and Atticus,
If you’re reading this letter, it’s because I am no longer here. It’s being dictated to Fiona, who is assisting me with writing it as my penmanship is not what it used to be. I’ve instructed her to leave it with my jewelry for safekeeping.
I want you both to know that I promise to watch over you, if that is at all possible from wherever I am now.
I am forever indebted to you both for coming together to spend those two weeks with me earlier this year. I know that wasn’t easy for you.
You had your reasons for lying to me. I imagine you didn’t want to hurt me by admitting the truth. But I am stronger than you think. Or I was while I was alive. (I keep forgetting I’m supposed to be dead as I write this. Ha!)
What does pain me, however, is knowing that two people I love very much had lost their way. I don’t know what happened, but it had to have been something terrible to rip two people who were meant to be together apart.
My dears, I may have been old, but I wasn’t completely deaf. The whispers. The not-so-quiet arguments. The strange people turning up at my door. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought I’d died and woke up in an episode of As the World Turns. (That show was before your time. But it was a soap opera I used to like to watch.) Both of you need to promise never to go into acting, because you’re terrible at it.
I never told you I knew because I wanted to hear it from you. After all, if you’d gone through all that trouble to hide your separation from me, I needed to give you some credit for that. As you know, I tried to hint at my suspicions, but you chose not to tell me what was going on. That’s okay. It was none of my business.
Nicole, anytime you came to visit for the past few years, I could see something very wrong in your eyes. They’d lost the light they always had. Any time I asked about Atticus, you wouldn’t even look at me. I worried that it had to do with your marriage, even if you insisted Atticus was merely on tour.