Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61657 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 247(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Theo’s grandmother, Reba, sniffled. “Let’s get you both inside. We’ve got a feast waiting for you two!”
As we paraded inside, Aunt June gushed over my engagement ring. “Oh my! That is the biggest diamond I’ve ever seen!”
Cousin Erin added, “Mia! Theo gave you that! Wow!” She then squinted her eyes at me. “You look familiar.”
Theo put his arm around me and squeezed. “You probably saw her in a magazine. She’s a model.”
Erin’s eyes lit up. “That’s where I’ve seen you! Omigod! You’re so pretty.”
We walked into the house to a large table full of food: fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, barbecue chicken, pulled pork, biscuits, and six different kinds of pies.
Theo’s grandmother said with open arms, “I hope you came hungry!”
After chowing down on food and getting to know everyone, Theo’s grandmother said to him, “I’ve got some things I’d like to show you.”
Erin, Fiona, and June were talking my ear off about everything from fashion, programming, to what California was like. Theo looked over to me and I waved him on. It was important for him to get some time alone with his grandmother.
With Theo’s family around us, I never felt more at home with my husband to be. This was a new chapter for both of us, and nothing felt more right.
18
Theo
The events of the last twenty-four hours played over and over in my head: finding out about my mother and father, then discovering I had a grandmother and flying out to Tennessee, then meeting my grandmother and all my other relatives, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, cousins, and second cousins. I went from not having any family to having a gigantic family overnight!
This feeling of fullness in my chest was unbelievable. The amount of love and happiness inside me was enough to make me burst. All had happened with Mia right beside me, supporting me and loving me.
How did a hapless orphan like me end up here with a loving family and a beautiful fiancée?
If Mia hadn’t encouraged me, I might not have ever opened that envelope. It might still be at the bottom of my desk drawer, languishing away but always on my mind. She’d given me the encouragement to be brave enough to open it and even braver to actually meet my grandmother.
Our room at the Sunshine Bed and Breakfast had a stunning view of the mountains right from our bed. The old couple who ran the place were adorable and ever so accommodating, putting us up in the special honeymoon suite after we’d told them we were newly engaged.
The honeymoon suite had pale yellow frilly sheets, matching floral wallpaper, and a fresh bouquet of daisies. As soon as we walked in, Mia flung herself on the canopy bed and squealed, “I always wanted a canopy bed when I was a kid!”
She looked absolutely adorable bouncing around on the bed. I took out the photo of my mother that my grandmother had given me. “This is my mother.”
Mia’s gasped out loud, “Oh Theo! She’s beautiful.”
I sat down next to her as she held the photograph. My mother was nineteen in the photo. “My grandmother said she had taken off right after graduating from high school. Moved to LA to be an actress.”
Mia sighed. “She was beautiful enough to be a movie star, for sure.”
I swallowed recalling what I’d heard just a few hours before. “When she went out there, she eventually stopped calling home.”
Mia took me in her arms as I continued. “My grandmother lost touch with her. She didn’t come back to Tennessee until five years ago when she was sick with breast cancer, but my mom never told her family she’d had a baby and given him up for adoption back in California.” As I talked, my heart felt like it was breaking. “I’ll never know why she gave me up or who my father is.”
Mia squeezed me harder helping me keep it together. “I’m so sorry, Theo.”
I’d cried so much in the past day, but I had so much to celebrate. I wouldn’t know the reasons my mother gave me up, but seeing how loving my grandmother was, I knew that it had to be because she wanted to do the best thing for me.
My voice croaked, “It’s okay. It’s not important. What’s important is finding my family and finding you.”
Mia gave me a sweet smile, kissing me gently on the lips. Putting my arms around her, I pulled her down to cuddle her. In my arms, I told her, “I used to think that making money was the most important thing in the world. That was my only goal, but now that I’ve found my family, money isn’t as valuable as I thought.”
Mia felt so perfect in my arms. Her intoxicating sweet smell comforted me. She took my hand and interlaced it with hers. “I’m so happy you found them.”