Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 149(@200wpm)___ 119(@250wpm)___ 99(@300wpm)
Yes, that makes sense. Gran thought with Darby gone, I’d fall into someone else’s vagina, but it doesn’t work that way. Not for me at least. “Good news. I’ll be married by the end of the day.” I turn to Darby. “Feel free to go into town and pick out a dress but be back by three. I have a priest coming.”
Chapter 14
Darby
I want to scream. I think that old bat next to Jonas wants to also. She looks as though she’s eaten something sour. Jonas’ words definitely left a bad taste in the old bat’s mouth.
“You can’t just get married,” she says. I hate that I actually agree with her on something. Every bone in my body wants to go against her, but there is no way that I could side with Jonas on this one. Good ole Granny went from glaring at me to now not making eye contact at all. She does, however, keep stealing peeks at Jax.
There is no way for her to deny that he’s Jonas’ son. Each second I spend with them together only makes me realize how much they really do look alike. She may not like me for some unknown reason, but too bad for her that she’ll now have to deal with me in some capacity for the rest of her life.
“I can and I will.” Jonas cuts up the French toast, feeding Jax a piece. Acting as though his declaration of marriage is normal. Last night he didn’t even believe me about having amnesia and now he thinks he can rule my life and demand I marry him.
“This is not how things are done!” the old bat hisses. I fight myself not to nod in agreement with her. Jonas’ words about what had really happened to me bounce around in my head. Did this woman hate me so much that she went as far as taking my life away from me?
A knot forms in my stomach and I feel just as lost in this moment as I had when I woke up in that hospital bed. If Jonas’ assumptions are true then who knows what else I’ve lost because of this woman?
“Do I have parents?” The words spill out of my mouth. Jonas’ eyes go soft on me.
“No, sweetheart.” My shoulders drop. “Do I have anyone?” He shakes his head no. I go back to staring at my food because my son is in the room and I need to remain calm.
“I was looking for you.” I look up from my food. I don’t feel like I’m going to cry but still it hurts. “I know you woke up alone. That no one came. But I swear I was looking for you.”
Still I only nod. I can’t find the words. I don’t know if I want to be mad or happy. It’s all too much. I do know one thing for sure: the woman sitting across from me will never take another thing away from me. I need to protect my son from her.
“This is ridiculous. You will not marry on this day.”
“Gran. If I were you I’d knock the shit off.” The woman looks like she’s been visibly slapped. Too bad I wasn’t the one to actually do it. “I will dig into what happened to my Darby. If I find you did something to her...” His words trail off. My heart does a funny flutter at the my Darby part. The word sounds so possessive. The longing I feel for it to be true is almost overwhelming. The need to belong to someone suddenly creeps in.
I shoot up from the chair. It falls over, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Now I kind of hope I did break it. “Please keep an eye on Jax.”
“Darby—”
“Don’t let her touch him again.” I point at the old woman. If she puts another finger on my son she’ll need a double hip replacement by the time I’m done with her.
“I can touch my great-grandchild.”
“I wouldn't do anything with our son that you wouldn't want,” Jonas tells me. From the look in his eyes I believe him.
“Thank you.” I give him a tight smile. “I need a moment.” I turn, leaving them behind.
“Darby, you need to eat,” I hear him call after me. I ignore it. I am not going to break down in front of Jax. I don't want to do it in front of that woman either. I have a feeling she might like to see me fall apart. That she might find some pleasure in it. I refuse to give her the satisfaction.
What had I ever done to her? If what Jonas is saying is true, she went to great lengths to get rid of me. Why? Was I that horrible of a person or was she?
“Darby?”
I whip around at the sound of Jonas’ voice to see him half running with Jax in his arms. The sound of Jax giggling at being bounced around echoes through the hall.