Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
In therapy, we learned that she still had some issues to deal with, and then perimenopause hit, and that was a whole other chapter, but at least I was there to hold her hand through it. We came up with a whole routine between us. She went with me on almost all of my out-of-town business trips in the last ten years, something I’m still amazed we got away with, but I guess Helen had stopped caring after a while and was no longer looking over my shoulder.
We were always careful, though, even when we met for one of the kids’ achievements, and no one knew what was happening between us. By then, we had become experts at hiding our true feelings, but it didn’t make it any easier.
I think I would’ve died if she had started dating again, which was something Helen was very interested in in the beginning. She seemed to think that if my wife met someone, we would be in the clear about when that was the worst thing that could’ve happened to me. I’ll always be grateful to Gigi for that, even though I don’t deserve it.
There were plenty of men interested in her; I got to see it firsthand, but she was always a lady. Besides, she was still dealing with the issues that had come between us in the first place. Helen hated to see it as much as she wanted Gigi to move on.
Whenever anyone paid Gigi a compliment or asked after her and the kids, Helen would rage for weeks after. I got to the point that I no longer cared and would shut her out whenever I could. As for her daughter, she was just a kid, and it was no fault of hers that the adults in her life had fucked up, so I never took anything out on her, though when her jealousy of my daughter got out of hand, I would step in.
I have no love for the girl, but I always knew that her actions were usually her mother’s doing, and since I had played a part in destroying her family, I felt obligated to do the best I could for her. I didn’t realize, though, until my daughter busted into my house and beat my ass with a bat that things had gone too far.
Once again, I had been selfish. I was so wrapped up in Gigi and getting us back to the way things were that I had dropped the ball when it came to my kids. In all fairness, by the time she was thirteen or thereabouts, Alyssa had become a very self-sufficient little miss who no longer needed her Daddy. Something that broke my heart, but I had to accept it as par for the course.
I had no idea that she was still harboring so much anger. In my mind, I knew that things were coming to a head soon, and Gigi and I would tell the kids the truth once Alyssa was finally married; then Denny had gone and screwed up.
We were thinking of how to handle this new development and maybe putting off the big reveal until later, when Garrett showed up on the scene. Now, I don’t know what the hell to think about anything. Anyway, Gigi says we should still go ahead and tell them this evening after the boat ride, so we’ll see what happens there.
As for Helen and the video we just watched before Gigi went to take a bath and I called down for room service, I guess she was finally losing her mind. I’m still amazed that she hasn’t called me every hour on the hour, though, but I guess I’ll hear all about it when I get back. I’ll only be there long enough to pick up some things since I’ve been moving my stuff to my old family home for the last few months without her noticing. There were just some things I needed from the garage, but everything else of importance was long gone.
GARRETT
“What are you up to, Alyssa?” She’s such a live wire that I don’t know what to expect from one second to the next. It was an hour before her family was due to arrive; we’d just finished breakfast and came back to our room to get dressed for the day when she jumped me.
I was walking past the bed where she was sitting, staring into space, when she made a running jump, and I barely caught her before she fell on her ass. Now, she was looking at me like a live specimen in a petri dish. I wasn’t sure if to grin or run for cover.
I wonder if she knows she talks to herself? Which is what she was doing before she attacked. “Let’s have a quickie before they get here.”