Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Let’s go.” Holden brushes past me. “I decided to drive to the beach house. I want you to ride with me.”
I can tell by the expression on Jameson’s face that he’s unsure whether to agree to this or not, so I step in because I sense that a long car ride will help heal their shattered relationship. “He’d love to ride with you.”
Jameson shoots me a look that I know all too well. It’s the same look that he’s tossed at me many times in the past. It’s a warning to back off, but this time it’s not backed with the intensity it usually is. I can see a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
“I’ll be ready to go in five,” he tells his brother. “I need to toss a couple of other things in my suitcase.”
“Sure.” Holden glances around the penthouse. “Take your time.”
As Jameson sprints down the hallway toward his bedroom, Holden makes his way to the dining room table. As soon as he’s within a foot of it, he chuckles. “What’s this?”
I move to stand next to him. “What’s what?”
His finger points toward a row of the candy hearts. The message they convey is crystal clear.
I’LL MISS YOU THIS WEEKEND SWEETHEART
I can’t hold in a smile. “That’s…it’s…Jameson and I…”
Holden’s arm circles my shoulders. “Sinclair.”
I look up into his face. “We’re….”
He saves me from another stumble through a declaration I can’t quite find the words to make.
“I’m happy for the two of you,” he says. “I’m really happy.”
“I am too,” I confess in a whisper. “I’m happier than I’ve been in a very long time.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Jameson
“I’m not sure why I had to ride shotgun while you talked business to everyone but me,” I grumble as I slide out of the passenger’s seat of my brother’s BMW.
“How is it my fault that I’m the one the supplier reached out to?” He laughs. “And the manager of the store in Denver and the distribution center in Milwaukee.”
I hold up a hand to silence him. “All right. I get it. You’re the guy everyone calls when shit goes wrong.”
“And right,” he adds.
He yanks his overnight bag from the back seat. I open the car’s back door to do the same with mine.
When I turn to look at the beach house, a flood of memories hits me. Every single one involves my grandmother and the oversized straw sunhats she used to wear when she spent time at this place.
She’d almost always be dressed in a bathing suit with something covering it up, be it a colorful beach towel or an understated sundress.
She loved the water, and now we’re here to give her the peace she desired as we release her to the waves of the Atlantic.
Holden leans into the car again to retrieve a black box from the back seat.
It was placed in the middle, fitted snugly between two large beach towels so it wouldn’t move on the drive up.
I knew what was inside the moment I tossed my bag onto the seat next to it.
The name of the funeral home that handled the details after her death is stamped across it. Inside is an urn that she chose before she died.
Holden tucks the box under his arm.
“Let’s head inside, James.”
My legs feel weak. I don’t know if that’s from the drive or the sea air. It’s most likely from the raging emotions inside of me.
I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but I couldn’t have predicted how hard it would be to look at the exterior of the house. Going inside and then onto the beach feels like a hell of a lot of effort right now.
Holden glances over his shoulder to where I’m still standing next to the car. “We’ll do this together. It’s what she wanted.”
He’s right.
I nod. “I’m right behind you.”
I stay true to my word and fall in step behind him as we approach the home I spent most of my summers in as a kid.
“You liked the food.” Holden points at the empty plate in front of me.
He had food delivered after we arrived. He served it up on Denia’s favorite china and cracked open a bottle of wine from the cellar.
We ate in silence, both of us staring at the massive windows that face the beach. The sun has already set, so the view is of darkness so vast that it feels like it can swallow a person whole.
It’s the first time we’ve ever been alone here without our grandmother milling about, ordering us to pick up after ourselves.
We’ll do that soon. I’ll handle dishes duty since Holden hates that shit.
“The food was good.” I finish the last of the wine in my glass. “You can’t go wrong with fresh seafood when you’re this close to the coast.”
“Agreed.” He pushes back from the table but stays sitting. “It’s good we’re doing this together, James. It’s important to me that we honor her wishes.”