Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Me: Not feeling well. I’m just going to bed. Talk tomorrow?
Sterling: Can I bring you anything?
Me: No. I’m good, just need to rest. Thank you.
Sterling: Call me if you change your mind. I’m here for whatever you need.
Me: Thanks.
I don’t have it in me to say more. Locking the door, I shut off the lights and head to my room. I manage to get changed, pull my hair up, and slide beneath the covers before the tears flood my cheeks.
Here in the darkness of my bedroom, I let my heartbreak free. Not all dreams come true.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Sterling
“Daddy!” As soon as I lift her from my truck and place her feet on the ground, Blakely takes off running toward the front porch.
“Hey, squirt.” Declan takes her into his arms and kisses her cheek.
“I thought we were coming to pick her up?” Declan asks me.
“Well, Alyssa canceled. She said she wasn’t feeling well, so I was hoping to ask Kennedy how she seemed when she left. She told me she was going to bed, so I don’t want to bother her.”
“They’ll never understand how we worry about them,” my brother says.
“Daddy, can I play on my swing set?” Blakely asks.
“Stay where I can see you.” Declan places her on her feet, and she bolts off like lightning. She goes straight for the slide, quickly climbing and sliding down with her arms in the air. “That one too.” Declan sighs. “I’d like to think a little boy will be less worry, but I know better. We were hellions.”
“Come on.” I chuckle. “We weren’t that bad.”
“We’re all doomed.”
“You’ll be all right, Daddy. Your wife is a rock star. She’s got you.” Speaking of Kennedy, the sound of her car pulling into the driveway has us both turning to look. We watch her as she gathers her purse and what looks like a grocery bag. I rush over, being closer to her, and take it from her.
“I swear your parents raised you boys right. Thank you, Sterling.”
“What’s in here?”
“Leftovers from book club. Alyssa said there was no way she would eat it all, so she sent us all home with bags.”
“How is she?” I ask.
Kennedy studies me. “Why did you do it?” Her entire demeanor has changed.
“What? What did I do? Alyssa said that she wasn’t feeling well and canceled our plans tonight. I was just wondering how she seemed. I want to go check on her, but I know she’ll tell me that I’m hovering.”
“She’s heartbroken,” Kennedy says.
My gut twists with worry for her, and the thought of her hurting. “What? What happened?”
“You happened.” Kennedy gives me a look that makes me feel sorry for Blakely and my baby nephew when he’s born.
What the hell is going on?
“Come inside.” Kennedy sighs.
I follow her inside while Declan stays outside with Blakely. “Tell me what I’m missing.”
Kennedy sits in the recliner, props her feet up, and nods for me to sit. I don’t want to sit. I want to know what the hell is going on, but I do as she asks. “She loves you, Sterling. She’s in love with you,” she amends. “Mindy announced proudly how the two of you were having dinner this week. She even went as far as asking Alyssa what your favorite foods were. I watched as her heart shattered.”
“What? No. That’s not what happened.” My panic starts to rise, and there’s a churning of unease in my gut. Fucking Mindy.
“Enlighten me then.”
“Mindy said her dad needed something welded. I took his number and told her I would reach out to him and see if I could help. We never once talked about dinner.”
Kennedy’s mouth falls open. “That bitch,” she hisses.
“Alyssa thinks that I want Mindy?”
“Yes.”
“No. No fucking way.” I stand and start pacing. How could she think that? I’ve been dropping signs all over the fucking place like a trail to my heart. I have to see her. “I gotta go,” I mutter. I bend down and kiss her cheek. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Where are you going?”
“To my girl. This shit stops now. I’ve been waiting to get her alone, and there hasn’t been an opportunity. I’ve worked what feels like a million hours this week, and then she had book club today. I told her I needed to talk to her. I was going to tell her, but she texted and said she wasn’t feeling well. Fuck, she probably thinks I want to tell her about Mindy.” I shudder at the thought. That bitch has been trying to sink her claws into my brothers and me for years.
“Thank you,” I tell Kennedy as I rush out the door.
“Where are you going?” Declan calls out to me.
“To get my girl,” I call back. It feels damn good to shout out the truth for once. I press my foot against the gas just a little harder than I should, hoping like hell I don’t get behind a tractor on the way.