Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
I take my cup to the sink in the kitchen, wash it out, then place it in the drying rack before I go up to the second floor, where Elora’s childhood bedroom is and where we’ve been sleeping since we arrived.
When we’re both dressed, I buckle her into the car I rented and drive us the fifteen minutes into town, which is small, with only two grocery stores, a couple of fast food restaurants, and multiple bars and churches.
The café located on Main Street isn’t very busy when we get inside, and I’m not sure if it’s because it’s a weekday or just not enough people live here to ever really fill all the tables on any given day.
“Elora.” The woman who spots us first is close to Elora’s age but dressed like she stepped out of the ’50s, wearing a blue dress with puffy sleeves and a white apron tied around her thick waist.
“Hey, Mo.” Elora gives her a kind smile.
“Are you back?” she asks, then her eyes move to me and widen when I step into Elora’s space, wrapping my hand around her hip.
“Only for a few days,” Elora tells her. “Can we get a table for two?”
“Of course.” She hurries to pick up two menus, then leads us to a booth in the back. Once we are seated, she takes our drink orders and hurries off.
“A friend of yours?” I ask quietly, and she shrugs.
“More of an acquaintance. Tyler was the only person I really spent any time with outside of school and work.”
With a nod, I pick up the menu. “What are you getting?”
“Pancakes, but you have to get the eggs benedict. It’s one of the best things on the breakfast menu, and you’ll love it because the portion is enough for three people.”
“Are you saying I eat a lot?”
“I’m not saying you don’t.” She starts to smile, but that smile slides away when a shadow falls over our table.
When I look to see who’s joined us, I find a woman standing over us who looks a lot like Millie did in every photo I’ve ever seen of her. Only her hair is mostly gray, and her face is wrinkled from the sun that she obviously gets too much of.
“Aunt Josie,” Elora greets quietly, and my muscles immediately bunch.
“I thought that was you,” her aunt says, looking at her niece, and I notice that there is no move from either of them to hug. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to check on my mom’s place.”
Josie nods. “I heard the sale went through.” Her gaze comes to me. “Who’s your friend?”
“Roman King.” I don’t bother holding out my hand. “Elora’s boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” She looks at her niece with disapproval, but Elora misses it when her eyes come to me, and her face goes soft.
“Yes.”
“That was fast.” Her aunt frowns as Mo scoots up to Josie’s side.
“Are you going to be joining them, Josie?” Mo asks her, and Josie shakes her head as she takes a step back so Mo can place our coffees on the table.
“I’m just grabbing a coffee to go.”
“Cool, I’ll get that for you after I get their order.” Mo gives her a smile, then asks us what we’d like. When she walks off, Josie takes up her place by the table.
“How long are you here for?”
“Just a few more days,” Elora tells her, wrapping her hands around her coffee mug. “I tried to call you to let you know that I was coming into town.”
“Did you? I never received a voicemail.”
“I didn’t leave one, but I called multiple times over the past few months.”
“You should have left a message.” She shifts awkwardly.
“Or you could have called her,” I point out, giving zero fucks, even as Elora’s foot taps against mine under the table. A silent demand for me to be quiet, which I ignore.
“I’ve been grieving and have had a lot on my mind with losing my sister and my parents’ property.”
I glance at Elora, who looks like she just got sucker-punched.
“Your niece lost her mother.”
“I know, and because of that, I lost my family legacy. My parents owned that land, my parents’ parents, and so on.” She looks at Elora. “I know you made a pretty fair profit from the sale of the land, and if you think about it, some of the money should be mine and my brother’s.”
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
“Why didn’t you buy the land from Elora’s mother when she asked you if you wanted it before she died?” I ask, and she looks at me with narrowed eyes.
“I couldn’t afford to pay what she was asking, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want it.”
“Okay, then why didn’t you even offer to help Elora pay off the back taxes so it could be kept in the family, which is what you are claiming is important to you?”