Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
"You don't have to continue," I say, not needing to know the rest. Just seeing her like this, reliving it, makes me want to throw something against the wall.
"You deserve it," she says. "Never thought I would say those words." She takes a shot of the scotch. "A woman was standing there. She was beautiful, and she was holding a baby in her arms." I stand up straight, my heart beating so fast I think it's going to come out of my chest. "Yeah, you guessed it," she continues, pointing at me as the tears run down her face like a stream going downriver. "Her name is Louise." I swallow, and I can't even fathom what she felt. "And her son is named Edward." She tilts her head to the side. "I guess you can say he's a junior. But I'm not sure how it works."
"He has a child?" I ask, my voice so low I'm surprised she heard it.
"He does," she admits to me. "They were together for four years."
"Did you know?" I ask, and she just looks at me. "Not about the baby but about her."
"No." She shakes her head. "When I confronted him about it, he said he was waiting for the DNA results."
"Asshole." I shake my head. "Listen, my parents are far from being parents of the year," I offer, and for the first time ever, I talk about my parents. "They really didn't give me much. Not sure they even loved each other, but they stayed with each other. I don't know if they did that because they wanted to or neither of them had something better. But at least they acknowledged that I was their kid. I mean, they sucked at it." I look at her and see that her tears have stopped.
"I don't think I've ever heard you talk about your parents," she says. "Like, not even in college."
"Nothing to talk about. They gave me a roof until I was sixteen, then I had to pay my way and decided that it was cheaper living with other people," I admit to her and only her.
"When was the last time you saw them?" she asks, and the only reason I'm still talking about this is because she stopped crying. That is the only reason.
“Maybe seven years ago. Not sure."
"Wow," she responds, looking down at her hands. “I can't imagine going a day without talking to my mom, no matter how crazy she makes me." She looks at me. “Anyway, I told him he was a liar and that the wedding was off." She leans back. “Grabbed my phone and then walked out of the door. He tried to call my name, but I turned around and said if he called my name one more time, I would go and tell his parents they were grandparents." She picks up the bottle, bringing it to her lips. She smiles right before taking another sip, and I was wrong before. Here right now, sitting at the island of my cabin in the middle of nowhere with her face streaked with tears and red eyes, she looks more beautiful than she has ever looked before. "And then I became a runaway bride."
Chapter 16
Clarabella
I take one more swig of the bottle before putting it down and looking at Luke straight in his eyes. I laugh out loud. “Of all people to rescue me, it had to be you." This is the universe kicking me in the vagina without even batting an eye.
He laughs. “I didn't come to rescue you." He stands and walks over to the bag, taking the food out of it. “I was there to help Mikaela."
"Well, you were there at the right time and place, then," I say, looking around. “I mean, at this point, that should have been a sign."
"What do you mean?" he asks, and I laugh.
My hand spins the bottle in it. “Well, for Travis's wedding, there were signs that it was doomed." I laugh. “One, the fire in the kitchen." I hold up a finger. “Two, the wrong flowers coming." I put up one more finger. “Three, the bride being rushed to the hospital."
"Three strikes and you're out, I guess," he says, putting one hand on the counter beside him.
"Then with Shelby, the groom was late." I hold up a finger. “Then, well, I think that was the only sign, but I mean, it was a huge one before she got a love letter that was for someone else."
"But she ended up with Ace," Luke points out, “which was always the obvious choice."
"I never thought of it like that. I mean, I knew they were best friends, but I don't think I ever saw them as lobsters."
"Oh, here we go." He laughs, shaking his head and putting his hand on his forehead. “The minute you saw that episode of Friends."