Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 33887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 169(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
I loved it when she referred to herself as “Mother.” It was hilarious.
But now I was listening to her so hard, it was like she actually was my mother.
“He might forget your birthday,” she stated. “Your anniversary. To send flowers when you’re nominated for an Emmy.”
That made me smile.
Nora smiled back and continued, “What I’m saying is, they all seem perfect at first, but they’re not, and that’s not a bad thing. No one is perfect, Elsa. It’s time. Take Hale off the pedestal you’ve put him on and get real about your lives together.”
Get real about your lives together.
Okay, yes.
Turns out Genny was right.
Womanly wisdom was the shit.
“One more thing,” Genny put in, and I looked to her. “I know you know, everyone in this room knows, that Hale loves you deeply, and even if this is a surprise, and perhaps not what he thought he wanted in his life, he’s still going to love you and the baby you made together with all his heart. So let’s get real about something else, honey. That being what triggered this panic when you know everything I just said is the truth.”
Well…damn.
That was laying it out there.
And, oh yeah.
Womanly wisdom was the shit.
“The last time something big happened…” I trailed off.
Genny filled in the rest. “He broke up with you.”
I closed my eyes tight, remembering that day, and the four days after it, when I thought he was lost to me forever.
Officially known as the worst four days of my life.
Genny squeezed my hand, and I opened my eyes.
“He’s not going to break up with you,” she assured. “And I have to apologize, because I was so involved in what Hale was feeling, what he unearthed in that box, I didn’t take a second to think what you were going through and how that might stay with you.”
“I think we’re all guilty of that,” Mika said.
“There’s nothing to feel guilty for,” I asserted. “Tom, Genny and Duncan’s intervention in that brought him back to me.”
“Yes, it worked out,” Mika agreed. “But you’d just been cornered in a bathroom and slashed by Hale’s stalker. Then he let his protective instinct override his rationality and we were all so focused on what was happening with Hale, we didn’t look after you.”
“We really dropped the ball on that one,” Nora mumbled.
“Seriously, my family took care of me,” I reminded them. “And you all took care of Hale. As it should be.”
I turned my attention back to Genny when she squeezed my hand again.
“What we’re trying to say is, you’re a part of our family now, Elz. And we won’t let that happen again.”
That meant…
Everything.
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed irritably. “I’m going to cry again. And I’m not a crier!”
“Get used to that,” Nora advised. “I wept through all three of my pregnancies.”
“Chloe, cravings. Matt, temper tantrums. Sasha, tears,” Genny cast her lot.
“I don’t think I ate anything other than ice cream the entire time I was pregnant with Cadence,” Mika put in. “After I had her, I couldn’t face ice cream for years.”
“I hope you got over that,” Genny teased.
Mika grinned. “Cured on a visit to Italy when confronted with my first gelato stand.”
Genny grinned back. “That’d do it.”
“Ladies,” I cut in.
Everyone looked at me.
Finding the right words was a huge part of my job.
But sitting there with these women, receiving all they were giving to me, I was at a loss.
The only thing I could think to say was what I said.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
“Now, I’m going to cry,” Genny muttered, her voice sounding hoarse.
I hugged her, and then somehow, we were all up and everybody was hugging.
I was all about the sisterhood, and I had close friends, but I wasn’t a girl-huddle type of woman.
But that moment was one of the most precious of my life.
And it always would be.
CHAPTER 4
BUTTERFLIES
Elsa
Since I got sidetracked with Genny and the gang, but I had some work to get done before I could head home for the weekend, when I was finally finished, I was late getting home.
Therefore, when I walked off the elevator, Hale was moving my way.
I tipped my head for his kiss, no longer feeling panicked, but instead feeling nervous and maybe a bit excited.
Yep.
The snake had dissolved into butterflies.
“Good day?” Hale asked when he lifted his mouth from mine.
“Yes, you?”
“Glad it’s the weekend.”
“Me too,” I replied.
Neither of us had the kind of jobs where weekends could actually be two days of rest. But we’d made a pact to do our best to keep them as clear as we could so we had time for our friends, our families, our cats, our pastimes and each other.
This one was entirely clear, and now I was seeing how Tom managed to pull it off, because I had no doubt he got to my assistant too, or Kayla did in his stead.