Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
She dropped her hands to her belly, her expression softening. “But do you think I would give up this child for anything in the world?” Her eyes began to water. “This isn’t the life I dreamed about, but this is the life I get to live. And I’m lucky I have such supportive parents who welcomed me home with open arms and who will help me raise this child so I’m not struggling to do it alone. I’m lucky I have a job that’s flexible and where I look forward to coming to work every day. And I’m lucky that son of a bitch who knocked me up left because it means he’s not going to have the chance to break my heart ever again. With him gone, I’ll have room in my life for someone who truly cares about me when I’m ready for it.”
I thought of the blushing wedding photographer and how Karlie deserved to be tripped and stammered over like she was the most beautiful princess on earth.
She shifted her hand to my chest, resting it over my heart. “Everyone has a choice in how they take the obstacles life throws at them. You can be angry at my dad and Uncle Greg and Uncle Mark for selling the Sea Sprite, and you can be bitter that the future you imagined won’t happen, and you can spend your life wishing it were different, but none of that’s going to make it different. Or you can accept the changes and see them as opportunities.”
There was a beat of silence as I took in her words, letting them take root in my brain. She was right. I’d been looking at everything I was losing instead of what I might be gaining. Sure my life was going to change, but that didn’t have to be a bad thing, not if I didn’t let it. “How’d you get so smart?” I asked her, teasing.
She rolled her eyes at me, and I took her shoulders in mine. “You’re going to make a great mom, you know that, right?”
She pulled me in for a hug, holding me tight. When she let go, she dashed at a tear trailing down her cheek. “Fucking pregnancy hormones,” she grumbled under her breath.
“Of course now I have to figure out what’s next for me.”
She smiled. “Look, I have no idea what went on between you and James, but here’s what I do know: that man looked at you like he’d hooked a fourteen-foot marlin when he’d been trolling for baby bass. And if I had the chance to have a man look at me like that every day of my life, I sure as hell wouldn’t sit around here wasting time. I’d chase him down and make him mine.”
I felt my cheeks warm. “How? It’s not like I can just show up on his doorstep and say ‘hey, you want to go out with me and maybe build a future together?’”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Why not?”
It took me a minute to realize she was being serious. “Because he lives in New York City. That’s like a five-hour drive away.”
“So?” she asked, shrugging. “You have a car.”
“Yeah but—”
“And you have time,” she added.
“I know but—”
She crossed her arms over her chest, lifting an eyebrow. “Give me one good reason you can’t drive down there and tell that man how you feel?”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Then sighed, resigned. “Because I’m scared,” I finally admitted. It was the truth. I was terrified, because what if he wasn’t interested in me? What if I drove all that way and laid my heart at his feet and he just stepped right over it and kept on walking?
“Tough shit,” she said, patting me on the shoulder. “Life is scary. No way ’round that fact.”
“But—”
“Look, Sawyer, if you can swear right here and now that you won’t mope and you won’t sulk and brood and all that other romantic hero lost on the moors bullshit, I’ll drop this right now and let you go on about your business the way you see fit. But if you’re going to have one moment of regret, if you think there’s even the possibility that tomorrow or the next day or the next you’re going to come in here and let out some sad-sack sigh and ask me ‘what if…’ about having not gone after James, then you go get your ass in your car right now and track him down because I don’t want to hear it.”
“Karlie—” I protested, even though I knew she was right.
“How about this,” she said, cutting me off once again. “‘I’ll make you a deal. If you drive down there and that man doesn’t welcome you into his home and heart, and you’re forced to come back here with your tail tucked between your legs, then I’ll let you name my kid.”