Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 75408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75408 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“I’ll go for you!” Palmer shouted as she looked up at us from where she was perched on the floor. She was cutting in around the baseboards with white paint and had more paint on her than she did on the wall.
Brody laughed. “I take it you’re not a fan of painting?”
Palmer stood, shook her head, and handed Brody the paint brush. “I used to love it. Now it’s too damn tedious. I’ll trade you. You give me the list, and I’ll get everything for you.”
He reached into his back pocket for his wallet.
“No, you’re not paying for it, Brody,” I said, pushing his arm down.
“Let me buy some of this stuff up front.” He pulled out an American Express card. “You can pay me back later.”
I started to argue, but Palmer had already taken the card from Brody’s hand. “Let him pay for it, Sutton. He makes a lot more money than you do. You’re barely breaking even at the store.”
My face, neck, and ears felt entirely too hot. I shot my sister a dirty look. What she said about the store was true, but I didn’t want Brody to know that.
Brody chuckled. “I always thought you were the smartest, Palmer.”
She gave him a wink. “You always did call ’em like you see ’em.”
I rolled my eyes. “Go to the store, and get back here. You’re not getting out of painting.”
Brody
Two Weeks Later
Newsflash—I wanted to kick in Jack Larson’s face with steel-toed boots.
I’d never liked the guy. Hated that he’d convinced Sutton to marry him, and couldn’t stand the idea that he’d had something I’d wanted for as long as I could remember. If that wasn’t enough reason to hate the guy, the fact that he’d purposely caused a lot of the issues in Sutton’s house made me want to hurt him even more. I’d lost count of how many times I’d cursed his name over the past two weeks.
I looked up at the newly installed ceiling fan and light, then smiled when I flipped the switch and it turned on.
“It looks beautiful, Brody!”
I turned to see Sutton walking into her bedroom. She was covered in light blue paint, and it took everything I had not to laugh.
“You’re the one who picked it out,” I said.
She smiled as she looked up at the new fixture. “It looks good in here, though, doesn’t it?”
I nodded and slipped my hands into my jean pockets. “It looks great. I also like the color of the walls.”
Sutton glanced around the empty bedroom with satisfaction. She had painted the walls a soft gray. “Thanks. I ordered white furniture, so hopefully it will look good together. I figured I’d better at least buy a bed to sleep on.”
Her entire house was empty. And when I say empty, I mean completely void of anything. She had sold or donated every single thing Jack had left behind.
“What about the living room and the kitchen?”
She shrugged. “When I can afford it, I’ll buy stuff piece by piece. My mom’s going to give me her dining room table, so that will help. She’s getting a new one.”
All I could do was nod. It killed me that I had money sitting in the bank and could buy Sutton whatever she wanted, filling this house without even blinking. Years of being a bachelor, of living on base or stationed on a ship and then staying at my folks’ beach house, had allowed me to put most of my money away. I’d invested a lot of it and had ended up purchasing the beach house from my parents for next to nothing. Perks of buying from family. Now I made good money and had few bills to pay.
“It’s a pretty big house to furnish, so I’m sure it’ll take time,” I said, looking around the room.
She smiled softly, but it didn’t quite reach those beautiful green eyes of hers.
Sutton and Dickhead had bought this house only a couple of years ago. It was a four-bedroom, three-bath colonial. It had a ton of character with beautiful hardwood floors and a kitchen that would make any chef’s panties melt.
“I really like the yellow you painted for the downstairs,” I said. “It’s cheery.”
Her eyes lit up and the corners of her mouth rose. “It is, isn’t it? It makes me happy, and Lord knows I was never happy in this…” She let her words fade away when she realized what she was about to say.
My chest felt tight as the guilt hit me once again. Sutton hadn’t been happy with Jack. Everyone saw it, myself included. I hated that I was the reason she’d most likely ended up with him. Because of one stupid decision when I was simply too afraid to admit my own feelings. Instead of being honest with Sutton, I’d pushed her away—and straight back into Jack’s arms.