Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Son of a bitch.” My eyes move from my plate to the television, then over my shoulder. Of course, the damn phone is going off again. Two phone calls and a text. Something must be important to pester me this much in as little as ten minutes. I push away from my place on the couch and stand up, grumbling that my dinner is about to be cold. Heating it up in the microwave will only make it suck worse, so it looks like room temperature bordering on too damn cold is what I’ll have to contend with. I make it to my phone and pick it up. It’s Wes again, so I hit Accept and put it on speaker phone.
“Yo, bud, what’s up?” I answer, carrying my phone back to the living room. May as well eat while talking to him. My gaze hits the television, and I see that I’m not missing much in the way of sports while waiting for him to reply.
“Hey, Dad, not much. Raquel and I went and toured a venue, you know, the one she was talking about the other weekend at Grams’ place?” Raquel, Wes’s fiancée, was hesitant to even go see the place, knowing it was out of her self-imposed budget, trying to keep things on the lower end of expensive. I got it. Truly, I did. Her family isn’t in the picture, her sister is all she’s got. Well, they are, but they aren’t. It depends on the subject and if her father and stepmother deem it’s worthy of their time and presence. There was no way she was going to ask for help from anyone, not them, and definitely not me or my parents. It wasn’t until my mother mentioned this small tucked away winery with a beautiful setting that Raquel got a spark in her eyes when Mom showed her the website. I looked at Wes, Dad looked at me, and we all gave the go-ahead that we’d help if this is what they truly wanted.
“Yeah. She like it?” I ask, already knowing the answer.
“More than liked it; she loved it. It’s out of our price range, though, way outside. She won’t even think about asking or accepting help from you and the grands. So, I’m at a loss at what to do.” The boy may suck with keeping a job at times, asking for money when he should be thinking about his future, not starting a business while setting up a life with Raquel, but he does love her.
“Yeah, we figured that going in. The plus side is, it’s a one-stop shop. Everything is included, right?” If the food, ceremony, and reception are included, seems like an easy yes in my book. I spear a few green beans, then add some baked potato with a piece of steak, and take a bite, chewing more than my food as I come up with a way to help both of them.
“It is. It’d take a lot of stress off Raquel’s plate, give me piece of mind, and then Grams wouldn’t feel like she needed to do it all, too.” My son makes a valid point. This is where we’d actually save money and not spend more than necessary. Maybe he’s pulling his head out of his ass after all.
“Alright. Email me the information. I’ll take a look at it, see what your grands want to do, and if we can swing it, we’ll say it’s part of your wedding gift or something.” Like I said, Raquel’s parents aren’t the best. They weren’t excited when Wes asked for her hand in marriage. Asking if she was pregnant was their main concern. Wes may have his own issues, but down to the heart of him, he’s got a good soul.
“Thanks, Dad, and about that other thing. You were right. I should be doing this on my own. I’ve got an interview at the power plant. I’m hoping it goes well. I can work my way up the ladder and go from there.” I damn near choke on my food. Talk about a one-eighty in the form of how we hung up on each other only a few months ago when he wanted money for a startup business.
“You’re welcome. Love you, bud. Gonna let you go. My dinner is getting cold. Who knows the next time I’ll be home early enough to eat at a decent time,” I tell him. Sure, I could have had an earlier night if I hadn’t gone to Whispering Pines, but I’m not going to tell Wes that.
“Love you, Dad. Talk soon. I’ll email the paperwork over now.” We hang up. The guilt I should feel isn’t there. It wasn’t eleven years ago with a kiss and his girlfriend going off faster than a firework, yet it’s not here today. Wes and Josie haven’t been together for a long-ass time, a fact I knew about because he told me they’d parted ways when she came back from spring break. It was Josie’s idea. Wes wasn’t too worked up about the situation, going as far as to say it was for the best. He needed to focus on school, and she was going to do the same, trying to get into an elite design company as an intern. Plus, Wes is now with Raquel. The two of them are starting their own life, giving me ample opportunity to go after the woman I want. She may be my secret obsession, but one thing is for sure: she’s going to be mine, very fucking soon.