Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 78483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 392(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
After I’d checked us in, we followed the concierge down a hallway that took several turns before we reached our door. As I waited for him to open the door, I heard footsteps and then a familiar voice.
“Charlotte, is that you?”
My mother’s voice reincarnated in my sister. Helen. A cold sweat broke out in my skin. After Abigail’s visit the previous day, I’d not thought of anything else except Alex. I’d forgotten that Helen was going to be at the wedding. What was I going to tell her?
How would I deal with her anger? The concierge had already opened the door and was carrying in our things. The temptation to follow him in and shut the door was strong but that was the coward’s way out. I was done with behaving like a coward.
I breathed in deeply and whirled around.
“It is you,” she whispered and closed the gap between us. “Oh Charlotte, Amy told me everything. I never thought I’d ever see you again.” Tears fell from her eyes.
She took my hands and held my gaze. There was no judgement in her eyes. Just pure love.
“Oh Helen,” I cried, and wrapped my hands around her as best as I could with Kayden in my arms.
“Mom,” a voice said behind Helen and we broke apart.
Helen moved and Kacy came forward, looking at me quizzically but when she shifted her stare to Kayden, her pretty little face was wreathed in smiles.
“Oh my goodness, Kacy, you’re so big. You must be four and a half now,” I said.
She nodded. “Yes. You look like my mom.”
“That’s because I’m her sister and this is your cousin Kayden. He’s almost one and a half.”
“He’s so handsome,” Helen said.
Edward and I exchanged a hug then he excused himself, leaving me with Helen and Kacy.
“Let’s go in,” I said and led the way into the suite.
Seeing another kid, Kayden was eager to get out of my hold. I lowered him to the ground in the small living room of the suite.
“This is just like ours, mom,” Kacy said. “Can Kayden and I explore?”
“Yes, you can but don’t go into the bathroom, okay?” Helen said.
“Okay mom,” Kacy said and took Kayden’s hand who looked up at her as if she was a real life princess.
I laughed. I’d never thought I’d ever see the two cousins together. I’d thought about Kacy a lot over the years, wondering how she looked and how she talked. “Kayden is already in love with his cousin.”
“He’s beautiful,” Helen said and then moved seats to sit next to me. She took my hand in hers. “Amy said you’d be here but I didn’t know whether to believe her or not.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry Helen.”
She shook her head. “Don’t be. I knew from the very beginning as did Amy, that there had to be a compelling reason why you did what you did. We were right. Amy told me the whole story.”
A sob broke out of me. Understanding was difficult to take. It made me feel shittier and undeserving. It would have been easier to deal with her anger.
“I’m sorry you went through so much alone,” she said. “Amy told me but I want to hear it from you.”
And so I told her. She squeezed my hand as I spoke. I didn’t stop where Alex found me. I told her everything up to and including Abigail’s visit the previous day.
“Did you speak to him at all?” she asked me gently.
“There is nothing to talk about,” I said.
Helen stared at me without speaking. “May I be your big sister right now?”
“I’d love that,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“Give Alex a chance to tell you his side of things. Don’t jump to conclusions. Your past rush to imagine the very worst caused you so much pain. You don’t want to make a harsh judgement without facts. What appears to be is not always the reality.”
Her words sounded familiar. All air left my lungs when the memory came to me. It was the conversation that Alex and I had when I thought he’d stolen Kayden and taken him to New York. His words came to me as if he was right there speaking them.
Is it so difficult to trust me? I can’t believe you’d think such horrible things about me. From the very first day we met Chaz, I’ve done nothing but show you that you can trust me.
But this was different. A woman was pregnant with his child. A woman that he had proposed marriage to or at least promised that they had a future together.
“She couldn’t have lied to me!” I said.
“How do you know? The only person you know is Alex. A man who refused to be bullied out of marrying you by his family. I’ve never seen two people who loved each other as you did. From everything I know there must be a rational explanation to this,” Helen said.