Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“Do they have that freaky twin language?”
He nodded. “It’s weird how they communicate.”
Eloise brushed Kiel’s hair away from his face. “I always wanted a sibling, but my parents never tried for any more kids after me.”
“How come they divorced?”
“My mom had an affair. I didn’t figure it out until about six months ago, when I went through a box she had left on the coffee table. There were photos, letters, and a bunch of other things. He lives in London, and she met him on a business trip. He was married too.”
“How come you moved with her?”
Eloise chuckled. “London or Iowa? Iowa meant living with my dad, who doesn’t understand my need to draw and paint and has a huge problem if I’m not in bed by a certain hour. Living in London meant beautiful landscapes, tons of people with stories, and the historic architecture. I guess had I known the reason she wanted to be there was because of a man, I would’ve tried harder to stay with my aunt. I went, thinking we were going to have a grand adventure. Instead, she left me to my own devices while she pursued a married man.”
“Did he leave his wife?”
“Nope, and that about destroyed my mom. She met someone else, but they broke up right before I left.”
“I’m sorry.”
Eloise shrugged. “And my dad remarried. They didn’t invite me to the wedding. He has a couple of step kids. One goes to Princeton and my dad thinks he’s just the greatest person ever and I should be more like him.”
“I like you the way you are.” Kiel kissed her lips softly.
Eloise smiled. “Thank you, me too.” She inhaled deeply. “When my aunt called and asked me to come help her with the showcase, I couldn’t pass it up. I got on a plane, flew to the nearest airport, and took a ferry to the island. As soon as I stepped off the boat, I felt like I could finally breathe again and be me.”
“Maybe Seaport is where you belong.”
“Maybe. I definitely love it here. I love the people, the scenery, the tourists.” Eloise winked, and Kiel tickled her. “I can’t decide whether or not I want to go to art school or not. I tried it in Paris and hated it.”
“I tell the twins they should go to school because that is what brothers should do, but if you don’t want to spend the next, however many years doing what someone tells you for a letter grade, then don’t.”
“And what about you?”
Kiel sighed. “Grad school or finding a job. Or both. The problem is I don’t know what I want to do. Not to mention, my dad is being transferred. I don’t like the idea of my mom and sisters being home alone all the time. I know a lot of military families do it and survive, but I’ve always been there for my mom when my dad was deployed. I’d worry about them constantly if I went away to school. There are some decent schools I could commute to or even defer an acceptance to for a year.”
“What would that do?”
“The twins will have graduated high school and then my mom would move to wherever my dad is. But the problem of not knowing what I want to do will still be there. Ideally, I could get a job in one of my fields of study with the hopes I figure out what I want to do.”
“Econ or science?”
Kiel nodded. “Chemistry, but yeah. I keep leaning toward something medical, but I don’t see myself doing research all the time or becoming a doctor.”
“What about hospital administration?”
“Definitely a possibility. I know I need to get out there and test jobs in my field and learn more about what’s out there, but I’m afraid I’ll get stuck doing something I hate, and then what?”
“Quit and move on?”
He nodded. “Because life is too damn short to do something you hate.”
“I tried telling my dad the same thing. He’s all business, all the time. He’s the guy you see on the front of magazines in a suit and tie. Carrying a briefcase while talking on his phone and a pager clipped to his belt. He wasn’t present in the sense that work came first. But always the ‘authority’ at home.” Eloise used air quotes around authority.
“What does he do for work?”
“When he lived here, he was the CFO for a hotel chain based out of Boston. When he and my mom split, he took a CEO position for a farming equipment company. I was mad at my parents for moving, for taking me out of school. One of them should’ve stayed.”
“I’m sorry,” Kiel whispered. He set his hand on her hip and gave it a squeeze. “Parents suck sometimes.”
Eloise chuckled. “Even yours?”
“Even mine.” He smiled. “This one time, my mom showed up at my dorm. I lived in a suite with some friends and one of them saw her outside, held the door for her. She marched right into the suite and into my room . . .” Kiel trailed off.