Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31173 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
“Hey,” Molly answers the call sounding more depressed than normal.
“What’s going on?”
“I think I caught a bug or something. I keep throwing up.” A bug isn’t what pops into my head when she tells me she’s been throwing up. I reach down and touch my own stomach. When was the last time I had a period? I have felt a bit off the past few days. But I couldn’t be. There is no way. Could I?
“Do you think it could be something else besides a stomach flu?” I suggest, wanting to see if she has even thought about the fact that she could be pregnant. Hell, I could be, for all I know.
“He went back to Japan,” she mutters, changing the subject flat-out. I let her because I really don’t want to go there either. I am, however, surprised Asher left for even a day. “He’s back now though. But he was gone for a whole week! I should have gone somewhere.” I want to laugh because Asher would’ve found her in seconds if she tried to take a trip somewhere. It would be pointless.
“He must have been wrapping things up, Molly. You two are far from over. The man is already back. That says something. He’s got a whole team trying to figure out what’s going on with the family accounts, and I swear on my life he doesn’t think it’s Grace anymore.” I know my brother messed up, but he’s a good guy, and I hope Molly gives him a second chance. I know without a doubt he’ll make this up to her.
“I know.” She lets out a little huff. “The man has been utterly sweet to her.”
“Jealous of your own mom?” I tease.
“Of course not. It's just, ahh—I don’t know.” Molly wants his attention, but she won’t let him give it to her.
The girl is holding strong. Molly thinks she’s so shy and reserved, but that girl has more strength than I do. If Chase walked in here and put his hands on me, I’d melt, even knowing how wrong it would be. That’s why me being in Paris is a good thing.
“I think you do know,” I respond.
I only do because I see it in myself. I want the same thing. Both Molly and I have been in this lost space. We might go about things in different ways, but our paths end in the same place. We want love. A family of our own.
Of course, we have a family now, but we’re picturing the whole husband and kids thing, maybe a cat that hates our husbands and a dog that is protective of us all. Even more than that, when I dream of those things, I think about Molly being on that same track with me. I just think she's going to get her forever a lot sooner than I am. It’s a matter of days before Asher has her back under him.
“You do know, don't you?” she says in understanding. It’s crazy how close we’ve gotten. Out of everyone in my family, she’s the closest to me at this point. “How are things with you?” She drops her voice. “Everything going okay with your mother?”
“Honestly, I have no clue. One second she’s sweet and the next she can be snippy. Then she disappears at times. I get she has a life here, but I’m only staying for a few weeks. The point is for us to get to know each other again. How can we do that if she’s never here?”
“But she is different, right?”
“I don’t know. I think? I was so young when everything was going on. Sometimes I’m not sure if my memories are my own or stories I’ve overheard. I can tell you she’s not a mom. A mother maybe but not like Grace. Grace is a mom in every sense of the word. I think it’s hard for Heidi to play that role.”
“Play that role?” Molly repeats. There are more things I could tell her that have me second-guessing my mother, but I don’t want to go there. So, I switch the subject the same way she did when I questioned her about her sickness.
“Anything going on with Chase?”
“You mean besides him showing up here every day under the pretense of going over details about the house he’s building for Mom and Dad?” I smile when she calls them Mom and Dad for both of us. I love that she’s starting to get comfortable.
“You think he’s there fishing for information about me?” I ask.
I’m not stupid. I dropped my phone and bought a new one. The Silverstein name holds as much weight as the Score name. If Chase wanted, he could strongarm his way into getting information from people he shouldn’t be able to. But I too have money and know how to partially cover my trail.