Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“She hasn’t told me if she is coming yet. It would be her and her mother.”
That intrigued both women in the room. I inwardly cursed myself. Less is better with my sister and mother.
“Do I know her?” Lily asked.
“Yes,” I replied, taking the garlic bread my mother left me in charge of out of the oven.
“Do I know her?” Mom asked.
Sighing, I replied, “Yes, you’re friends with her mother, so I hope you can convince them to come.”
“Nate! Who is it?” Lily said as she grabbed my arm and shook it.
I wouldn’t win this battle, and everyone would find out sooner or later. I was honestly surprised they didn’t know already. My parents had friends everywhere in this town, and somehow my sister was always in the know.
After I took off the oven mitts and set them down, I turned to face them both. “It’s Haven.”
For a few seconds, neither of them said or did a thing. They simply stared at me. My mother was the first to break the silence.
“Well, it’s about damn time!”
Lily jumped and clapped her hands. “Finally! Holy crap, Nate. It took you long enough to open your eyes.”
I was pretty sure my mouth was on the ground. “What do you mean, finally?”
Lily laughed. “Haven has liked you for as long as I can remember. You finally noticed her.”
Frowning, I replied, “I’ve always noticed her.”
Lily folded her arms over her chest. “Have you really? Was that before or during all the times that you treated her like crap?”
“What?” my mother asked horrified.
“I did not treat her like crap.”
With another roll of her eyes, Lily said, “Please. You have. You’ve done everything you could to push her away.”
“Nathan Christopher Shaw! Is that true?”
If someone were keeping track of how many looks I shot my sister in the last ten minutes, they would be well over ten by now, surely.
“It’s complicated, Mom.”
It was her turn to cross her arms. “Explain it to me, I’m an intelligent woman, and I’m sure I can understand it.”
“Isn’t everything ready for dinner?” I stated, motioning toward the food on the kitchen island.
“Oh, no,” my mother said as she slowly shook her head. “You’re not getting away that easily.”
“Can we at least sit down and eat, and then I’ll tell you?”
My mother turned to look at Lily for approval. Lily nodded, followed by my mother. “Fine. Let’s take the food out to the table, Nate. Lily, gather up your husband and daughter. Wherever they are, your father will also be.”
Lily dashed out of the kitchen, yelling for Maverick and our father. My mother sighed. “Well, I could have done that.”
My mother cleared her throat once we had everything on the table and everyone had food on their plates.
“Nate has something he would like to share with the family.”
My father looked up. “Really? What about?”
“Haven Larson,” Lily blurted out before I could even take a breath.
“Don’t you have to feed your child or something?” I said as I looked over to see Maverick cutting up the lasagna for Maggie, who was shoveling it into her mouth with her little fork as fast as she could.
“Mav has it covered,” Lily stated with a shit-eating grin.
“Hasn’t that young lady had a crush on you since middle school?” Dad asked before taking a bite of his food.
“Yes, she has,” Lily stated as if she would remember anything from when I was in middle school.
Before I could utter a word, Lily added, “And Nate has done everything he could to push her away.”
“Thank you, Lily, for adding your two cents…again,” I stated dryly.
“What did you do to the poor girl?” my mother asked.
“I wasn’t trying to be mean to her, but keeping her at a distance was easier.”
Maverick looked up at me. “The old ‘if I don’t have to see her, I won’t be reminded of how I feel about her’ trick.”
All eyes turned to him. He shrugged. “I felt that way about Lily.”
Lily smiled and reached across the table to take his hand. “I love you.”
He returned her smile with a wide grin. “I love you more.”
“Ugh, seriously?” I said as I shoved a piece of garlic bread into my mouth.
My father laughed. “It’s hard sometimes to listen to your heart. Especially when you feel something for someone you’ve never felt before. It’s scary.”
Everyone at the table nodded. Maggie joined in when she saw everyone else doing it, and I nearly started to laugh.
“Yes, a part of me was afraid of my feelings for Haven. Happy now, Lily? But there was more to the story.”
“Like what?” Lily asked.
I looked around at the four of them; correction, five since Maggie was looking at me as well. “Something in Haven’s past hurt her badly and I was afraid that I would hurt her too. Don’t ask me why, I just thought it would be better to be friends. But every time I was near her…I felt something more than friendship. So it was always easier to stay away.”