Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 585(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 585(@200wpm)___ 468(@250wpm)___ 390(@300wpm)
If there is a god, he must have been drunk the day of William’s conception, because William was undoubtedly created for a large family. He fits effortlessly into mine. He’s the fun uncle to the twins, the peacemaker to Emmett and Caleb’s squabbles, the sensible, hardworking son to my father. He’s the man who’s proved he’s good enough for a son’s mother, the guy who can handle Keith’s banter.
I’d like to think he’s forgot his own parents, but I know it’s not true. I know it’s not even possible. His father has stayed away, physically at least, but he’s still with William. In his head. He’ll mention him sometimes. Bring up a tale from his past. Share a new memory with me. Wonder if he’s dead, like his mother, whose grave we visited last year, right where Graham Walker told us it would be. Just as I’d thought, it did only take a handful of calls for Andy to confirm Graham’s story, and William was only angry I’d looked into it behind his back for a matter of minutes…which is much shorter than I’d expected. Honestly, I think he felt relieved to have been freed from the limbo he’d put himself in.
I imagine it will take a long time to find out how much the knowledge of her death has truly affected him, though. That’s the thing with William. He sits on his emotions, mulls them over, lets them out a snippet at a time. And I’m always here to catch them, to listen, to help him make sense of them.
As is Rebecca.
William needs her. I think, perhaps, she needs him too. Their relationship, a friendship so steadfast and strong, is something I’ve never encountered before. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it jarring at first, that I didn’t experience prickles of jealousy when I knew they’d been alone. But the longer William and I were together, the more I got to know Rebecca and see the dynamics of their relationship play out in front of me, the more familiar I became with my own insecurities. William and Rebecca share a history, a bond and a love that I may never fully understand, but that they both make the effort to include me in. Once I realised that, once I recognised that Rebecca gets to retain her friendship with the man I love while I get to have all of him…I started seeing her for who she is.
And that’s not a threat.
I have an awful lot to thank Rebecca Walker for, the same woman I tried to hate. In the end, it’s impossible to hate a person who loves William for all the same reasons I do. I can’t feel anything but gratitude for someone I know wants the best for him, who I know would never hurt him, who loved him enough to bring him back to me.
They don’t see each other much these days, Rebecca and William. They both work, their kids are adults, but no one has moved on, so to speak. They still talk a lot. Phone calls and texts. We’ve spent a New Year’s at their house. They’ve spent a Christmas with us. Any awkwardness we once shared passed within the first year, and we’ve morphed into an oddly beautiful extended family. It works. We’re happy.
“And after you’ve filled your belly with tatties and trifle,” I continue after William’s untimely interruption. “I thought we could go on an adventure. Like we planned in France that time. Do you remember?”
William’s eyes close gently, while one side of his mouth curls into a fond smile. “Of course I do. Though, they were dreams, not plans.”
“Back then, maybe, and only to you. I knew that day I would show you the world beyond that horizon, William. Let’s start there. We’ll go back to that terrace in Antibes. You can tell me your dreams and I’ll bring them to life for you.”
Smile never fading, he raises a hand, bringing it to my face. “You’ve already done that.”
Fuck, how I want to mess up that perfectly styled hair right now. My fingers itch to rake through it, grab the strands in my fists while I pull him to my mouth. I’m forced to settle for his lapel. Tweaking it between my fingers, I start to draw him to me. “Let me make another dream come true…”
“Not a chance,” he says, rolling his face to the side. “Do you even know how much this suit cost?”
No. I’m sure my stylist does, though.
“I’ll take that as a no. Also, if I let you within an inch of my dick, we’ll be late, and we cannot be late.” William stands, grabbing at the top of my arm. “Come on, get up. Get ready. You’ve got half an hour.”
“So authoritative,” I say in my best seductive tone as he pulls me to my feet. “Will you punish me if I don’t do as I’m told?”