Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Aspen strolls over to hug him, though we were just together a few hours ago. It’s like they’re making up for lost time. “Hope you brought your appetite. Charlotte has enough food to feed an army.” Like me, she’s tanned and glowing after days spent in the sun.
Quinton snorts before glancing at his sister, who’s sitting next to their mom and staring out over the lake. “If there’s so much extra food, we should invite those two greaseballs who kept trying to flirt with Scarlet at the market this morning.” Light, teasing laughter fills the air, but Scarlet doesn’t react. She’s more interested in watching the boats and the twinkling lights across the lake.
“Scarlet.” Q waves his hand in front of his sister’s face. “Earth to Scarlet. Come in, Scarlet.”
Her head snaps up, and her cheeks go as red as her name. “What? Jeez, can’t I sit here and enjoy the view without you waving your hand and ruining it?”
He tries to do it again, chuckling, and she slaps his hand away, wearing a smirk. I always wondered what it would be like to have a brother to pester me. My brothers never cared enough about me to bother. Now I’ve seen it for myself throughout this trip. It’s almost kind of sweet watching how protective he is of her.
But he doesn’t understand why she’s so distant and thoughtful. Why she sometimes sits by herself for hours while everybody else is busy swimming, relaxing out on the yacht, or shopping.
I can’t count the times her mom has invited her to shop, with Aspen and me encouraging her to come along. Even the few times she has, she’s been low-energy, listless. Not interested in much of anything.
I know why, and I think I’m the only person who does. The memory of her and Ren sneaking a few moments together in the hallway at Corium is still as fresh as if it happened yesterday. I’m sure it is for her, too. As upset and confused as everyone is about Ren, it’s even worse for her.
I’ve been betrayed. I’ve been left looking back on every moment I had with someone I thought cared about me, wondering what I missed and if anything about it was ever true. It’s enough to drive a girl out of her head. Enough to make her question everything she believes—about herself, about her worth.
I don’t know Scarlet very well, but I feel sorry for her.
It’s obvious she isn’t interested in my sympathy. The few times I’ve tried to let her know—quietly, secretly—that I’m here if she ever wants to vent, she’s shut me down by pretending to have no idea what I’m talking about. Either she doesn’t want to go through it, or she would rather pretend it didn’t happen. I understand how she feels but also know it’s not that easy. She can’t pretend her way out of it.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” Aspen joins them, sliding an arm around Q’s waist and putting herself between him and Scarlet at the same time. I doubt she knows about Scarlet and Ren, but she’s the kind of person who’s super in tune with everybody around her, sensing trouble and always wanting to jump in and help. “I could stand here and look at the lights forever, I swear.”
“It’s probably not as interesting when you live here all the time,” Q points out. “You’d get used to it.”
Charlotte hears him as she finishes the final touches on the long table where we’ll eat our dinner. “Not even a little bit,” she says with a light laugh. “There are still days when I have to pinch myself, even after all these years.”
“You have such a beautiful home.” I can’t help but gush a little. The woman’s living a dream life, at least as far as a girl like me is concerned. Living in an Italian villa off Lake Como, which even I knew before now is an exclusive area only the wealthy and connected can call home. And here I was, thinking she was a threat to Lucas and me while she had a husband and two little boys.
Two little boys who are now running around, trying to sneak bits of food off the table no matter how often their mother tells them to knock it off. “That’s for everybody!” she reminds them before hustling them away from the table again. They run over to Aspen like their big sister will protect them. It’s only been a couple of weeks since we arrived, but they’re totally enamored with her.
And she adores them. “I don’t know what you want me to do about it,” she offers with a shrug. “You heard her. And if you don’t behave, we won’t be able to go swimming tomorrow like we planned.” That seems to change their tune, even if they don’t look happy about it.