Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 16095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
“He has kids?”
“No, he doesn’t have kids. Will you try to keep up and not jump to conclusions?”
“I’ve only just gotten out of bed.”
“Why were you eating potato chips?”
“That’s beside the point,” Becks said. “I need to wake up because clearly you want to have a normal, full-blown conversation and I’m not awake. I need coffee. Lots of it.”
Sally was already on the job. “He wants to have babies,” she said. “He told me he loves me and he wants to have a family.”
“Whoa,” Becks said.
“Yeah, whoa. Don’t you think it’s a bit much and a little sudden?”
“Okay, hold on for just one second,” Becks said, holding a finger in the air as if she was concentrating. “You’re telling me that … wait a moment, this guy, Hank Owens, has told you he loves you, he wants to build a family with you, and you’re here, sitting with me?”
“Yes.”
“And you think I’m crazy for eating potato chips in the morning?”
“I don’t care about you eating potato chips. Tell me this isn’t real, or it is?”
“Wait, do you love Hank Owens?”
“What does that have to do with anything? We’re talking about the speed at which he’s, you know, declaring love and wanting more.” She was panicking. Her heart rate sped up just by thinking about his questions. She felt a little sick.
Becks stepped closer to her. She put her hands on her shoulders. “Breathe.”
“I’m breathing.”
“Answer me this one question, do you love Hank Owens?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“Everything hinges on that answer. If it’s a yes, does it really matter what he wants and how fast he moved, or whatnot? No, it doesn’t. If you don’t love him and don’t see yourself with him in fifty years when you’re daydreaming, then you’ve got to tell him. Clearly, he sees you and he wants that. He’s a guy who’s going after what he wants.” Becks rubbed her arms. “I’ll let you think about that while I finish with the coffee.”
Sally sat down and took a deep breath. “This isn’t a problem, is it?”
“Only if you make it a problem.”
She licked her lips. “I’m in love with him, Becks, and it scares me. Why does it scare me?”
“Love is a scary game. That’s why it scares you. It’s good to be scared, for the most part at least.”
“I don’t think it is. I mean, look at me, I’m a wreck. I didn’t even stick around and he’s in my bed. I snuck out.” She dropped her head into her hands. “He was supposed to be the enemy.”
“Sweetheart, he stopped being the enemy when you called him a boyfriend,” Becks said. She placed a mug of coffee in front of her. “Drink up.”
“This is all crazy. It’s all just so, wrong, and crazy.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Then don’t think. The mind is one stressed-out muscle.”
Sally sighed. “I love him and after he made his announcement, I waited for him to fall asleep so I could … leave.”
“And you came all the way to me. Yay, me. Why didn’t you go and bake?”
“I would normally but baked goods don’t talk back to me.”
“This is a riveting conversation.” Becks slurped up her coffee. “Are we done now? You’ve got to go home and talk to your boyfriend.”
“What about all of the other women?”
“Who cares about all of the other women. He wants you. He picked you over all of those other women. So you’re going to get a few bitchy customers. So what? That’s life.” Becks shrugged. “I want you to be happy and it’s about time I saw you doing something that would make you happy.”
“You’re right. I am happy.” Sally got to her feet and picked up the mug. “I’ll bring this back to the shop today.”
“I don’t expect you in today. I want you fucking your man and making sure he can’t walk.”
Sally chuckled, leaving her friend and walking the short distance back to her own place. She was about to put the key in the lock as the door opened. Hank stood there, dressed, looking like he was about to leave.
“You can’t go,” she said.
“I know what I said was some serious shit. I get it. I freaked you out.”
“I love you too,” she said. She knew where he was going with his speech, and she didn’t want him to get into the flow, not before she’d told him her feelings. “You did freak me out, but I went and saw Becks.”
“You didn’t wake me up.”
“I … my shop. It has been everything and I’m always meticulous about what I do, and I was scared.”
“I scare you.”
“My feelings scare me. I know they write and film about whirlwind relationships but ours, it’s not like that, and well, I was scared. I got worried that we were moving too fast or something. I don’t know what was going on in my head but what I do know is I want to be with you. To have children. To have it all. I hope we’re not making a mistake.”