Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
“Did you love it?” he asked.
“Yeah, I did.” She sighed. “And now it’s a beauty room, filled with so many different cosmetics.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe this.”
“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said.
“No, no, it’s fine. Trudy warned me that there was going to be a chance I wasn’t going to like what I saw.” She took a deep breath. “I’m going to check my parents’ old room.”
“Don’t,” Gabriel said.
“They took it.” She nodded her head. “Why? Why did they have to be so cruel?”
“Some people are, Baby.”
He went to her, gripping her shoulders.
Nora sunk against him. “I hate them.”
“I know, and if you want, I can still throw their asses in prison.”
“They’re not worth it.” She stepped out of the room, taking hold of his hand. She glanced up at the ceiling, and he saw a little chain dangling.
Nora reached up and grabbed it, pulling it down to reveal a set of wooden steps. “Maybe they put some things up in the attic,” she said.
Gabriel hated how dejected she looked. When she realized her aunt and uncle were no longer going to be problems, he’d seen the excitement at finally being able to get her parents’ possessions back. He hadn’t once considered that she might not want to see what they had done to the place. Now he wished he’d taken the time to truly talk to her about what might have happened. Nora made her way up into the attic, and he followed her, not wanting her to be alone.
Once they were inside, he saw there had been several years of thick dust settling on boxes. He watched as she flicked on an overnight light switch, and her gloomy expression soon changed to one of glee as she let out a giggle.
“They didn’t get rid of it all,” Nora said.
She ran her hand across a few boxes, and then began to tear into them. He heard her sudden giggle and glanced over to him. “Would you like to see my parents?”
He moved in closer, getting toward the light, and she flicked open the first photograph album.
“Here you go. That’s my mom, my dad, and then there is little baby me,” Nora said, pointing toward the people in the picture.
“You’re cute,” he said.
Nora laughed. “My parents loved taking pictures. Once they got started, there was no stopping them.”
She spun the photograph album around and started to tell him stories attached to each photo.
“This was the disaster picnic.”
“A disaster picnic?” he asked.
“Yeah, Dad forgot the food. Mom forgot the drinks. There was no blanket, and then when we were able to get everything and were all set up, the skies opened, and it just rained. I feel like that summer it rained every single day.” She giggled. “Wow, I haven’t thought about that day in a long time. Dad had brought a lot of coals for the barbeque, and he never got to light one. Mom grilled indoors.”
He looked at her and loved to see that smile on her face. “You had a happy childhood.”
“Yeah, I did. I miss them so much.”
“I’d have loved to have met them.”
Nora looked up from the photograph album and stared at him. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For doing all of this. I know you didn’t have to. There was no obligation or anything.”
He reached out and cupped her cheek. “I was not going to have you going without. They lied and cheated their way into this place. I simply put a right to that wrong.”
Nora moved toward him, cupping his face and kissing him. “And that is why I say thank you. For a long time I’ve not had anyone in my corner, and you’re the first person to take mine. Thank you.”
He’d hold any corner and he’d be with her in any way that mattered.
“I’ll always be there for you, Nora. Always.” And he meant every word.
Chapter Nine
Nora looked up at the slightly imposing house. Not a house, and not even slightly imposing, this was actually a lot more imposing, and the house was more like a mansion. This was Gabriel’s home. The one he grew up in with his grandfather.
He’d promised to bring her here after she showed him her childhood home. It was hard for her to go back there. Even harder to start taking away her parents’ possessions. She didn’t know what she was going to do with the house. Her aunt and uncle’s stamp on the place was still there, but they were not going to take any more from her.
“This is where you grew up?” Nora asked.
“Yeah. He didn’t even make me go to boarding school, even though my parents wanted me to go.”
It was so surreal to her. Where she had an amazing time with her parents and they were loving, supportive, and just there for her when she needed them most, Gabriel’s parents were the complete opposite.