Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 278(@200wpm)___ 222(@250wpm)___ 185(@300wpm)
This wasn’t the answer I was expecting, but one I can fully appreciate. I lean forward and kiss her softly. “Thank you for telling me all of this.”
Lemon nods and smiles again. “Ever since the other night I feel like a weight has been lifted off me and it opened my heart up to love again.”
“As long as it’s me you’re loving,” I tell her.
“It is, which just seems crazy to me.”
“Should I question all of this?”
She shakes her head and bites her lower lip before moving closer to me. “Not at all, Wade. I’m right where I want to be. Where I should’ve been this entire time had I not listened to people I called friends.”
“And Marigold? Does she fit in as well?”
Lemon nods. “She does. She’s innocent in all of this, and I should’ve seen it from the beginning. I was just so hurt. I didn’t know how to cope or manage my feelings.”
“I hope you believe me when I tell you I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.”
She nods again. “I do. My heart does.”
With that I press my lips to hers, roll her onto her back and make love to her again before I have to face reality.
When I get home, there’s a note from my mom that she’s taken Goldie to her house. I shower, get dressed, make a grocery list, and start another load of laundry before heading to my parents. On my way, I stop and buy my mom some flowers from Twisted Tulip as a thank you for staying overnight at my house. Had I known I was going to end up spending the night, I would’ve taken Goldie to my parents and made things easier for everyone.
There’s an unfamiliar car in front of the house and I figure it’s one of my parents’ college classmates who often stop by when they’re in the area. The time someone came over, they ended up loving the area and bought a house down the street from my folks. There’s something about a small town which everyone loves. But they have their drawbacks too.
“Hello,” I say as I enter the house. “I stopped by Willy’s Crab Shack and brought some lunch.” I head to the kitchen and set the bags of food on the counter, along with the bouquet of wildflowers I picked up for my mom. No one answers or comes running to tell me how much they missed me, so I head out back and stop dead in my tracks when I see Ana and Goldie on her swing set, laughing and carrying on.
My heart stops. It seizes in my chest. My eyes blur with unshed tears. One thing is clear though and that’s Lemon. I see her, happy and smiling, and then her eyes dimming as she realizes Ana’s here. And while I know I told Ana to move here because this is what’s best for Goldie, it’s not what I want. Not now.
It’s right then I know my time with Lemon is over. She’s not going to look past this because the indiscretion will be even more in her face. Ana is far from an absent mother and will be front and center for everything Goldie does.
“Daddy! Mommy is here!”
I choke back a sob when my daughter joyfully screams my name. She’s worth everything.
Goldie jumps off the swing, while still in the air, and doesn’t miss a beat on her landing. She runs toward me, arms outstretched like she hasn’t seen me in weeks, not hours. I catch her effortlessly and kiss her cheek without taking my eyes off her mother. Ana frowns. She knows something’s wrong. I bury my face in my daughter’s neck and hang onto her tightly.
After a moment, I set her down and do my damnedest to mask the heartbreak I feel right now. I clear my throat and work to keep my emotions in check. “Did you have fun with Grandma?”
Goldie thinks by scrunching her face and then shakes her head. “I was sleeping.”
Right. She didn’t know I didn’t come home until she woke up.
“And then we had pancakes and then we came here, and Mommy came over.”
“Sounds like a great morning.”
“Where did you go?”
“Hey,” Ana says, saving me from having to tell my daughter what an adult sleepover is.
“Hey. Did you tell me you were coming today?”
Ana shakes her head and runs her hand over Goldie’s hair. “No, but I couldn’t take my parents anymore.”
“You look better,” I tell her. “Are you good?”
She nods.
“Is that your car out front?”
“Yeah, a rental until I can either get my car from the house or buy something new.”
“I’ll get your car,” I tell her. “Jed and I will go.”
“I need things from there,” she says. “Goldie has a lot of stuff there.”
I look down and smile at our daughter. “Why don’t you go play so Mommy and I can talk.” I wait for Goldie to be out of earshot before I continue. “I’ll take some guys with me. You can come, point out what you need, want, and we’ll pack it. You’re not going alone.”