Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
She simply hadn’t thought she deserved him. Maybe she still didn’t, but maybe that didn’t matter anymore. He’d made his choice. He’d gotten into bed with her and offered her something she’d never known before.
Perhaps when he came out for the party, she would have a chance to talk to him.
“Then you have to fight for him. He’s been fighting for you for days. I think it’s your turn now.” Li kissed Avery again. “Wish me luck. I think this job is more dangerous than the one I did earlier. I’m going to have to dodge bloody bees. Serena’s bushes seem to be home for a damn colony of them. I’ve avoided getting stung this long in my life, I’d like to keep it up.”
He strode out the door.
“Sorry about the bees. They really are bad right now. Jake got stung mowing the yard. But you have to know that Liam’s right,” Serena said as she passed Avery the pepper. “You have to fight for Brody now. Men are actually quite fragile creatures. You running away the way you did hurt him. I saw him this morning when he realized you were gone. He was in shock.”
“You not only hurt him,” Avery added. “You scared him. You probably scare him every day. The same way you scare me.”
“Scare you?” She rocked Nate, holding him close. Getting to cuddle him had been the first time she’d felt good all day long. She’d hoped that when they were safe, the three of them would cuddle together, a family bonding moment. Brody had checked on Nate, but then he’d gone straight to the guesthouse. “How do I scare you?”
Avery sighed, exchanging glances with Serena, whom she seemed to have some silent language with. Serena picked up the bacon ranch cheese ball she’d been working on.
“I’ll leave you two to talk, but Steph, you should know you’re welcome to stay in the guesthouse as long as you need to.”
She grimaced. With Brody seemingly unwilling to talk to her, she’d been ruminating for hours on what she would do in the next few days. “I think I have to consider going back to my clinic.”
Serena stopped as though the idea shocked her, but she took a deep breath and seemed to let it go. “Well, just know you’re always welcome. We’ll eat pretty soon and the cake is coming out in an hour or so.”
Serena opened the door, the sounds of the party breaking through the quiet contemplation of the kitchen. Steph could hear kids splashing in the shallow end of the pool. She caught a glimpse of Big Tag in a pair of board shorts soaking in the sun while his two girls and Aidan treated him like a jungle gym.
That was joy and happiness right there. Not a one of those kids thought twice about whether they were loved. They were surrounded by laughter and joy. By the family their parents had made for them.
Could she give that to Nate? She hadn’t tried to make a family. Avery was the one who had to call even though Steph thought of her every day. Would she pass on her isolation to Nate? Would he grow up lonely and unsure of his place in the world?
Or could she change if she wanted to?
The door closed and the room went quiet again.
“You’re seriously thinking about taking Nate back to Africa?” Avery asked. “You work around the clock most days. And how will he go to school?”
Shit. This was a serious talk. Avery had asked the question with a bit of annoyance entering her tone. She was never annoyed, and Steph realized this might be a turning point. Had she always been waiting for this in the back of her head? Had she always wondered when Avery would dump her for being too difficult?
What would she do without Avery?
“I have to go back. I’ve made a life there.” It wasn’t much of one, but it was all she had.
“Have you? Or have you hidden out there?” Avery put the bowl to the side and gave Steph all her attention. “I think we need to discuss what I meant all those years ago. I told you you owed me a life.”
“You told me I owed you two lives.” She looked down at Nate, unwilling to meet Avery’s eyes. He was so beautiful. He was the best thing she’d ever done and she had to wonder if he wouldn’t be better off with his father now that Brody seemed to be done with her. How would they share custody if they were on two different continents? It wouldn’t be like most separated couples. They couldn’t carve up the week between them.
The idea of living like they were divorced made her ache. She hadn’t even gotten the joys of being married.