Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 253(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
I try to soften my voice to hide the anger I’m feeling. “Yes, I’m looking forward to it. Thanks, Jim. Tell Peggy I said hi.”
“Sure thing, Lucas. See ya!”
I hit the disconnect on the phone and glare at Kelly. “What were you thinking?”
She lifts her hands. “I thought you needed a break. I was trying to help you.”
I shake my head and spit the words at her. “I left my grieving wife, Kelly.”
I’m so stupid. When Kelly texted early this morning, I let the chaos happen. Fuck, I welcomed it. I had just seen what I had done to Isabella, and I wanted to escape. Now all I can do is try to figure out how to make this right.
Kelly looks at the airplane on the concourse that is waiting for us to board. “Look, we’re already here. The jet is here. There’s no reason why we can’t–”
I cut her off. “Are you even listening to me? I left my grieving wife. Bella is home...”
“She’s not your wife... I know it’s all fake. Your granny is gone, and it’s over. She’ll take her money–”
I hold up both my hands. “Stop. Stop talking right now. For the next sixty seconds, you’re going to shut up, and I’m going to talk. My marriage is real. We are married, the license is filed. Bella did not take any money. Not a penny. And right now, I’m going to go home and plead and beg for her to forgive me.” I take a deep breath. “Now as for you. You are going to get out of my car. You are fired. You can pick up your things tomorrow morning. And so help me, if I hear any talk from anyone in town that my marriage is fake, you will be sued for violating the NDA you signed. Do you understand me?”
“Lucas, I–”
“There’s nothing I want to hear from you except Yes, I understand, Mr. Blaze.”
She grabs up her briefcase and opens the door. In the most timid voice I’ve ever heard from her, she repeats what I said. “I understand, Mr. Blaze.”
She steps out of the car, and I lean up to the front seat. “Take me home, Mark.”
“Yes, sir.”
The whole way home, I think about what I’m going to say to Isabella. How I’m going to apologize and beg for her forgiveness. She was right about Kelly, and I didn’t see it. I completely fucked up everything this morning by running out the way I did. Fuck, she probably doesn’t even want anything to do with me after the way I manhandled her last night.
We finally get home, and I’m out of the car in a sprint. I unlock the front door and run inside. I don’t see her anywhere downstairs, and so I run up the steps. “Bella!”
I go straight to our bedroom, and the first thing I notice is the made bed. My stomach drops. Did she leave me? God, no, please tell me she didn’t leave me. I go to the closet, and her clothes are still there. I go to the bathroom and most of her stuff is there, but her toothbrush is gone.
It’s not until I go back to the closet that I notice one of her duffle bags is gone. “Fuck!” I scream into the empty house.
I go to the bed and sit down. Pulling out my phone, I call Bella, holding my breath while it rings. When her voicemail picks up, I hang up. Fuck. I don’t know where she’s gone, when she’s coming home. I know absolutely fucking nothing.
I pick up the bear on the bed and hold it in my lap. It’s a little gray bear with round glasses. I’ve never seen the bear before, but it has to be Bella’s. I am about to toss it on the bed when it makes a sound, and I tense in shock. That sounds like... no it couldn’t be.
I hold the bear in both hands, turning it around and inspecting it. It’s then I see the words press me on the paw. Sweat beads on my forehead, and I push the button on the bear. My granny’s voice fills the room. “Lucas, you have to be open to love. And when you find it, you have to hold on to it.”
I press it again.
And again.
My eyes are filled with tears, but I press it again.
Granny knew. She knew what could come of Bella and me. She saw it even though I was too stubborn to see it myself. Fuck this bear, this recording is just another way that Bella has shown me that she loves me.
Hope rises in my chest, and I set the bear on the nightstand. I sniff and try to get my composure as I call my big brother. “Ford, I need your help.”