Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 309(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“Oh, so you have a better word for it?”
“Watching?” I say, putting on my best smile. “Watching sounds a lot better.”
Something shifts in her eyes for a brief moment, but I can see she’s still not impressed. She wants more.
“Watching? You were watching?”
“The truth is, I came to your house tonight to see you,” I admit. “But just as I pulled up, you were already getting into the car with another girl.”
“Eliza.”
“So I followed you guys, hoping you were just going out to eat or something. But when I saw you two pull into the club and I saw you go in the back-dancer’s entrance, well, I knew there was just no way I was going to let you go up on that stage.”
Iris purses her lips to the side—doing that thing that she always used to do when she was mulling something over and trying to make sense of it. It’s nice to see she still does it. And that I’m getting through to her.
“Okay,” she says slowly. “I guess I can buy that. And actually thank you for rescuing me from something I really was not looking forward to doing, but what about everything else, Jameson? Like where have you been for the last three years?”
I knew she was going to go there first, and I can’t blame her. If I was her, it would be my first question too. I can’t even imagine what she’s been thinking since the day I disappeared and how many possible scenarios she drummed up in her mind.
I felt like a part of me had been amputated when I was no longer able to look across the lawn and see her skipping over to come hang out with me or wave to her through our windows at night before bed. But at least I knew where she was and why things had to be the way they were. Iris was left completely in the dark, and I always felt terrible about that.
“That’s not the easiest thing to explain, Iris–”
“Let me guess,” she interrupts. “You were living in Texas with your secret wife and new baby boy.”
I look over at her, expecting to see a smile on her face—that’s what would normally accompany a sarcastic response like this. Instead, I see her frowning at me, the smile held back by her curiosity and indignation. She wants to know where I’ve been the last three years and why she wasn’t given any warning before I disappeared on her. And I don’t blame her.
But I owe it to her to be the nice guy here. So I go ahead and grin at her little joke. “No, Iris. No secret family, no babies. But it’s going to take a bit of explaining, all right? And I’d rather not go over it while we’re driving, so why don’t we wait until we get to the house?”
“Yeah, and what is this house you’re talking about? Why aren’t you back at your old house? The one I know about?”
I pull the Porsche around the last turn and motion ahead of us.
“Well, we’re basically there now. Take a look.”
Iris’s eyes nearly bug out of her head when she sees where I’m taking her. “You’re kidding right? The Morgan Manor? You bought the Morgan Manor?”
Chuckling, I nod. “It’s the Jameson Gray house now, but yes.”
“Oh my God, Jameson. Who even are you now?”
I try not to laugh too hard at Iris’s adorable expression as I pull into the driveway. The old wrought iron gate opens automatically for us via the sensor I installed in the car, then closes again as we continue through and head up to the house.
Morgan Manor used to belong to the wealthy Morgan family, who owned a major granite mining company back in the day. They built the house to mimic those old English aristocratic estates you see on TV, but when the mining in the area dried up and the youngest son’s compulsive gambling drove the family into bankruptcy, they were forced to put the house on the market. And seeing as how nobody wealthy in America wants to move into Boxhurst now, it just sat there, falling into disrepair, until three months ago when I finally bought it.
I wasn’t even back in the States yet, but I was able to get the repairs and refurbishments going so by the time I got back, the house was pretty much in tip-top shape. There are a few more things I still need to finish up, but that’s just mostly nitpicking. The house is pure luxury now, and stepping into it for the first time was like coming back to America as a king.
And now I have my queen by my side.
I pull right up to the front steps and park, and Iris and I step out. I can see the amazement in her eyes as she looks up at my new home. The manor might as well be another world compared to the houses she and I grew up in.