Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45614 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 228(@200wpm)___ 182(@250wpm)___ 152(@300wpm)
The dad that sat by her bedside for hours, reading to her and making sure the monsters didn’t get her, wasn’t the same man who killed Landon’s woman. Not the man she remembered. Not the man who dressed her up like a whore at fifteen to sell her off to the Savonases … to have a man the same age as him drooling after her.
“Do you mind if I join you?”
She’d been so lost in her thoughts and hadn’t heard Mason approach.
With her sunglasses on, she was able to open her eyes and turn her head toward him. “Why do men change?” she asked.
“Do I have to answer the question to sit down?” he asked.
She shrugged. She didn’t care if he answered it or not. It wasn’t like she was ever going to get the answer out of the man himself. Her father was dead. And right now, she was glad about that.
“This is your land. Your garden.” She shrugged. Tamsin knew she had no control over what he did. If he told her to move her ass to another spot, she would have no choice but to do it. She took a breath and expelled it.
“It’s not just my land or my garden,” Mason said, lying down beside her. “This is also your home.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to argue, but the truth was, she didn’t want to. Tamsin didn’t like confrontation. She had never admitted it to Landon, but throughout the whole meal where he had challenged their father over the Savonases, she had felt sick to her stomach. Yes, it had been fun to get on their father’s last nerve, but she had also been terrified.
Their father wasn’t known for his patience in the last weeks of his life. Gone was the man she had come to rely on. Shaking her head, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, and then went back to closing her eyes, just enjoying the rays of sunshine.
All too soon, summer would be gone. Fall and winter would take its place, and she would have to wait until spring to enjoy an afternoon in the garden. Winter sucked, as there was never a lot of gardening to do. David didn’t like her outside in the cold, not after the last time she had gotten sick.
“How are you?” Mason asked.
“Fine. How are your brothers?”
“Fine.”
This was the extent of their conversations. They never talked about anything else. Rarely delved into the “elephant in the room”—that she was now of age and their marriage wasn’t consummated. She refused to think about it, as it was unnecessary.
“Jacob called me yesterday. He was wondering if I was interested in helping him throw a large party, like a ball or a dance, for your birthday,” Mason said.
Tamsin turned her head toward Mason. “Tell him no.”
“As it happens, I did tell him it wouldn’t be something you’d enjoy. He then informed me that you used to love dressing up. Insisted on the giant ball gowns with the full skirt and heels.”
“I did, but that was when I was a girl, and foolish enough to believe the men in my family.” She lifted up, her interest in the warmth long gone. She needed to take a walk. Getting to her feet, she expected Mason to stay on the ground, but he surprised her by getting up. She looked at him for a split-second, not sure what he was doing.
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him, but she decided against it. She had to forget that it didn’t matter what he did or what he said. She wasn’t interested.
Tamsin had made a vow to never open herself up, mind or body, to her husband. She had promised herself she was going to hate him, and that was the bitter truth. He’d kept his promise of keeping her from harm, for now. She knew, as well as he, that would end violently, and besides, their marriage was full of dark lies and she couldn’t help but feel lonely.
Mason surprised her as he got to his feet and then stepped in to join her. For a second, she stopped and was about to tell him to leave her alone, but instead she shook her head and began to walk.
There was a part of her—a very small part—that was a little excited about the prospect of dressing up and donning a ball gown, dancing, enjoying a nice meal, and dancing some more. Maybe even have a “brownie mountain,” which sounded amazing to her.
Shaking her head, she blew out a breath and continued walking toward the flower garden.
“You don’t have to follow me.”
“What if I arranged for a private party here?” asked Mason.
Tamsin stopped and turned toward her husband. “A private party?”
“Yes, you can buy yourself a beautiful gown. I’ll dress up in a tux. We can have only a few of your family.”