Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 66323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66323 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“Maya. Literally, not one person blames you for this.”
“I blame me,” she replies. “So just give me a couple of hours, okay?”
“Fine.” I hold up my hands in surrender. “What do I know about women these days anyway?”
“Yeah, I heard about what you did.” She shakes her head. “You were kind of a jerk. And I love you, but still.”
“How was helping her being a jerk?”
Maya wrinkles her forehead. “Let me put it this way. If a guy I’d been dating for only a few weeks decided to swoop in and try to take care of me the way you did with Stella, wouldn’t that piss you off? Sidney and I are too independent for that crap, and so is Stella. She didn’t ask for help, Gray. She really only needed you to be there for her. To listen to her. Support her.”
“I thought that’s what I was doing.”
“I know you thought your heart was in the right place. It was in the right place. But you went about it in the wrong way.”
“I want to protect her,” I admit.
“That wasn’t the way to do it.”
“How do you know so much about this?”
“I talk to her all the time,” she says with a laugh. “We’re friends. I think she’s awesome, and I hope that you two can work it out because she’s the best damn thing that ever happened to you. She’s so much better than that girl you dated in college.”
“You were in grade school then. How do you even remember that?”
“She was mean,” she says simply, shrugging one shoulder.
“Mean how?”
“She used to glare at me whenever you turned your head because she didn’t like kids. And she called Sidney fat.”
I choke on my coffee, and Maya rushes around to pound me on the back.
“She did not.”
“Oh, she totally did,” Maya says. “But it didn’t last long, so that was good. We actually like Stella.”
“Yeah, well, it may not matter. If things don’t get a lot better here, I’m thinking about selling my partnership in the law firm and moving back to Idaho.”
Her eyes go wide. “You don’t want to do that.”
“Don’t I?” I stand and pace to the back door, looking out over the lake. “Stella’s made it pretty damn clear that she doesn’t want any part of me anymore. My family needs me here. It’s the right thing to do.”
“Don’t rush into that kind of decision without giving it a lot of thought and talking it over with your colleagues. And, hell, even Stella. Because I’m not convinced that you two are done for good.”
“I don’t share your optimism. Besides, don’t you want to see more of your favorite brother?”
“Are you kidding? Absolutely, not.”
We grin at each other, and then I reach for my keys.
“I’m gonna go see Mom. Talk it over with her and see what she says.”
“Kiss her for me.”
“Come with me and kiss her yourself.”
She bites her lip, seems to think it over, and then shakes her head. “Later.”
“Wait, you drew up papers?” Mom asks with a frown. “Without getting Stella’s express consent to do so?”
“I thought that once she had some rest and was thinking clearly, she’d want that to be the next step. Apparently, I was wrong.”
“But then you apologized, admitted to the mistake, and you’re doing better now, right?”
Mom and I are alone in her hospital room. We’ve been chatting about all kinds of things, but when she asked if Stella came with me this time, I knew I couldn’t avoid this conversation.
“Not exactly.”
“Grayson.”
My lips twitch. “You sound like you did when I was fifteen and got caught cow tipping.”
“I raised you better than that,” she says but then smiles. “Why in the world haven’t you apologized?”
“I didn’t think I did anything wrong, and whenever I’ve tried to talk to her since, she avoids me. I think she’s just done, Mom.”
Mom sighs. “Well, I’m sorry about that. I liked her a lot. Are you okay?”
“I will be. I’ve been tossing around the idea of moving home.”
“I know that Maya moved home to keep an eye on me. I’m not stupid,” she says when I start to shake my head. “I get confused, and I have accidents like the one last night. I appreciate that she’s with me. I love spending time with all my children. But you don’t have to come back to Idaho just for me, Gray.”
“I’m not,” I say. “Really. I mean, it’s part of it, but I also miss being closer to the family. Maybe being with Stella showed me how important it is to maintain a relationship with my family.”
“I don’t think that you and Maya want to live under the same roof.”
“Probably not.” I grin at her. “I’d buy something not too far away.”
“As much as I’d love to have you closer, I don’t want you rushing into anything. There’s no need to rush, honey. If this is where you want to be, then we’ll welcome you home with open arms. If Seattle is a better fit for you, that’s okay, too. I know you’ll come visit me more often.”