Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92140 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“We are,” he said. “It’s just weird.”
“It’s definitely weird,” I agreed, “and we understand that people might judge us.”
“I mean, if you two have kids,” Mason went on, “your baby would be younger than its niece.”
I grimaced. “Yeah. I know. The math hurts.”
“But you don’t have to listen to what other people say.” Lori’s voice was firm. “And we’ll support you. You’re our family and Millie is our friend. Right, Mason?”
“Right.” He looked up at his wife, then put an arm around her waist. “Right.”
“So it’s okay with you?” I asked. “Millie and me?”
“I guess so. Like Lori said, Millie is our friend. I want her to be happy.” Mason shrugged. “If you make her happy, then you should be with her.”
“I’m going to try,” I said, an odd catch in my chest. “You know, Mason, I’ve learned a lot from you.”
“You have?” He sounded surprised.
“Yes. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to reach out to me after you found that letter. You had no idea how I’d react. You risked rejection or my being a total jerk about it.”
“I was nervous,” he admitted. “But I decided it was worth the risk.”
“That took a lot of courage.”
Mason shrugged, his mouth tipping into a crooked smile. “I get it from my dad.”
I left Mason and Lori’s house and drove over to Millie’s. It was starting to get dark—going on five o’clock—and I had no idea if she’d be there or out for New Year’s Eve already. When she didn’t answer my knock, I experienced a moment of panic. What if she was out on a date? Or in the shower getting ready for a party? What if she was putting on one of those dresses that fit her curvy body like a second skin? What if some other guy thought he deserved to put his eyes or his hands or his lips on her tonight?
My blood started to boil. My breath came faster as I knocked again, harder this time. I rang the bell. I shifted my weight from side to side, sweating even though it was icy cold and starting to snow.
Finally, I gave up and went back to my rental SUV. Sitting behind the wheel, I wondered if I should call or text her. It would ruin the surprise, but what choice did I have? I didn’t want to wait another day. But would she even tell me where she was if she was with someone else?
A thought occurred to me—maybe she was at the shop. It was opening in just a couple days, right? It was New Year’s Eve, but Millie was the kind of person who’d work through a holiday if there were still things to get done. I drove downtown, hoping I was right.
When I passed Millie Rose, I saw lights on inside, and my pulse quickened with anticipation. I found a parking spot a couple blocks down and ran back to the shop, shouldering between couples and groups of friends on the sidewalk. Once or twice, I slipped on the freshly fallen snow, but I kept my balance and hurried on.
In front of her shop’s double doors, I stopped and caught my breath. Ran a hand over my hair. I couldn’t see her inside, but she had to be there. I tried the door on the right—locked. The door on the left was locked as well. I knocked on the glass and waited. Nothing.
Frustrated, I framed my eyes with my hands and leaned on the glass, trying to see better. That’s when I spied her at the back of the store pushing a vacuum. Adrenaline shot through my veins, and I banged my fist on the glass hard enough to shatter it.
Startled, she finally looked up.
CHAPTER 29
MILLIE
He was here?
My heart began to hammer louder than the music in my earbuds or the vacuum in my hand. I turned them both off and returned the vacuum handle to its upright position, then looked up front again.
He was still there, wearing a black coat and waving his arms like a madman.
I blinked, expecting him to disappear. After all, I’d been fantasizing about him showing up like this to surprise me, to tell me we’d made a mistake, to say he couldn’t live without me, then we’d ride off into the sunset together . . . but it was so ludicrous, I never imagined it actually happening.
But there he was.
Plucking my earbuds from my ears, I stuck them into my pocket—realizing as I made my way to the front that I was not dressed for a ride into the sunset. I had on elastic-waist sweatpants and an old hoodie of my dad’s that said USMC on the front. On my feet were fuzzy socks, and my hair was wrangled into a loose, sloppy bun on the top of my head. I touched it as I reached the front doors, then unlocked them. Pulled one open.