Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“All I want is for her to be happy,” Cooper says. “I want a man who will put her before anything else.”
“He basically doesn’t want you to fuck this up,” Matthew finally says, and Max groans. “What?” He looks over at Max and asks.
“Seriously?” Max says, and Evan just opens one eye and then closes it back.
“Seriously, what?” Matthew asks him.
“Don’t fuck this up?” Max laughs. “You think that is what your father is getting at?”
“He’s beating around the bush, but yeah.” Matthew crosses his hands over his chest. “Besides, you don’t get to be a part of this conversation. You stole my sister,” he says loudly.
Now it’s Evan’s turn to groan. “This again?” he says while Max laughs quietly. “They are married and have children.”
“Doesn’t change the fact he stole her.” Matthew shrugs.
“Call it what you want,” Max says, smiling big now, “because tonight I get to go home with my stolen property.”
“Guys, I really get what you are doing here,” Evan says. “My daughter is not even twenty-four hours old, and she’s never getting married or dating. But you really think Zoe would let anyone fuck her over?” He looks at me now. “Not that you’re planning to fuck her over.”
“I get it,” I tell them now. “I get all this, and I’m not going to lie. I’m scared shitless.” I look down and then up. “I don’t want to fuck this up. You know this,” I tell Matthew. “She’s the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“That is all you had to say,” Cooper says. “Now we have to get to the house or your mother is going to send out a search party,” he says, pushing his chair away as Matthew does the same. Max smacks Evan, who jolts awake.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “For giving me a chance to explain and for not judging me because of my past mistakes.”
“We all have past mistakes,” Cooper says. “It’s making sure those mistakes stay in the past and don’t mess up the future.” I nod my head at him. “Now are you going to the hospital?”
“I’m going to catch up with everyone. I just need to attend a meeting first,” I tell them, and I watch Cooper to see how he handles this. I don’t know what I’m expecting, but his eyes don’t change. They don’t judge, and they don’t drop down. He doesn’t avoid contact; he just looks at Matthew. Evan mumbles he will see me later, and when the door closes, I grab my phone and text Jeffrey.
Me: Let me know when you’re free.
He answers me right away.
Jeffrey: No time like the present.
Me: I’m hitting up a meeting at ten. Can you do it before?
Jeffrey: Just running out to drop off a couple of things. Meet you there?
Me: Great.
When I finally walk out, the sun is shining, and it seems a touch warmer. I make my way to the meeting a little earlier than planned, and Jeffrey is there waiting right outside the door. He is on his phone and his fingers are moving.
“Hey,” I say when I get close enough, and he looks up at me. “I hope you weren’t waiting for long.”
“No, I just got here. I had to drop off some images to a client,” he says. I found out not long after we started talking that he is a photographer. Retired now, but he’s got some great shots out there in magazines that I’ve seen more than one time. He looks at me. “You look good.”
“I feel good,” I tell him honestly. “I didn’t sleep well last night, but I have this sudden weightlessness to me.”
“Really?” he says and looks around. “How about we go grab a coffee before we take in the meeting?” We walk to the coffee shop at the corner and go in, grabbing a table, the hustle and bustle quieter since it’s past nine a.m. and most people have started their workday.
I grab a bottle of juice, and Jeffrey grabs a coffee. We sit in the corner, looking out the window. “What brought on this sudden weightlessness?” he asks, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Zara had her baby yesterday,” I tell him with a huge smile on my face.
His smile matches mine. “Did she? What did she have?”
“Baby girl. Zoey with a y,” I say, smiling, then looking down. “It didn’t go as planned, and there were complications.”
“Oh, no, is everyone okay?” he asks with concern. I fill him in about everything that transpired in the hospital.
“I went to her,” I finally tell him, and I’m not sure if I’m ready for him to tell me if he agrees or not.
“And …?” He waits for it.
“And I knew at that moment I was done waiting. I was done with this whole rule about making her wait another two months. What if something happens to her, and she doesn’t know how I feel? What if something happens to me, and all I want is her, but I was waiting?”