Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 86574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 433(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
I blew out a breath. “He’s a friend of my former boyfriend.”
“The guy I met at your place? That boyfriend?”
“Yeah. The anti-boyfriend. Deacon,” I said bitterly. “He was my only relationship.”
“I’ve asked you more than once what happened, and you never answer me. I suppose I’ll get the same response if I pry now?”
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Okay. Fair enough.” He placed his hand on my back. “One of these days I’ll get you to tell me.”
I shook my head. Normally, I could keep thoughts of Deacon at bay during the day. But Adrian had brought everything to the forefront.
“So I never mentioned what happened when I told Violet I’d spoken to the kids about Sunny,” Charles said.
Not exactly a great change of subject.
“How did she take it?”
“Not well, but she didn’t do anything drastic. She’s not happy with me, but that’s pretty normal.” He shrugged. “Now that the kids know, they’re insistent on meeting Sunny. They told Violet they want to see their sister soon. And she didn’t exactly refuse.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She conceded.”
I stopped walking for a moment. “Okay, so what does this mean?”
“It means I’d love to bring them along with me on one of our future visits, if you’re open to that.”
As uncomfortable as it made me, I didn’t want Sunny to go through what I had, never knowing my half-siblings. I did fear for her future if anything were to happen to me. While I had every hope that Sunny would go on to live a normal life, what if she needed more support than the average person? The idea that she might have siblings to look after her if I wasn’t around was quite comforting.
“That would be okay,” I finally answered. “Are you sure they’re ready?”
“They’ve gotten used to the idea of her. I think they need to meet her for it to feel real to them. They’re sweet, accepting kids, and I suspect it’s going to go better than I ever imagined.”
“Then I’m good with it. I don’t want to keep Sunny from her siblings.”
Charles let out a breath. “Thank you. I’d kiss you if I could right now.”
I held my palm out. “Don’t even think about it.”
“A man can dream.” He winked. “But one step at a time.”
Charles was crazy if he thought I’d ever take him back. More than the obstacle of forgiving him, I now knew I’d never really loved him. My feelings for Deacon were on an entirely different level. Regardless of how he’d ended things, what I felt for Deacon and the experience of falling in love with him couldn’t be erased. Even if I wished it could.
CHAPTER 24
Deacon
COCKBLOCKER
“What are you looking at?” she asked.
Shit. How long had I been staring at her? I hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable. It was just… I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I’d done a pretty decent job of keeping Carys out of my mind this week. Then I got to the checkout line at the supermarket where I’d been picking up groceries for my grandmother. The cashier looked like an older version of Sunny. Did she think I was staring at her because she had Down syndrome? Shit. That wasn’t it at all.
“I’m sorry. I know I was staring at you. It’s because you remind me of someone who’s special to me, someone I don’t get to see anymore. I didn’t mean to be rude.”
She rolled her eyes, and it made me chuckle, because I could see Sunny growing up to be as feisty as this girl. My chest tightened at the thought that I might never see Carys or Sunny again.
It had been three months since I’d left New York, and my life there seemed an eternity away. I still didn’t know how to handle my abandoned apartment. I’d been paying my rent, which I was able to do since I was living rent-free at my grandmother’s house. Gram appreciated the company and the help, and I appreciated the fact that I could be home in Minnesota without having to shack up with my parents. I didn’t know how long I planned to stay here, but returning to New York wasn’t an option yet.
The cashier handed me my receipt. The name on her tag read Autumn.
I nodded and smiled. “Have a good day, Autumn.”
She mouthed, “Fuck off.”
Nice.
I couldn’t help smiling again. The universe was messing with me today.
* * *
One thing about living with Gram was that she could always see right through me and didn’t put up with any shit. I’d refused to tell her why I’d come home to Minnesota. I’d yet to talk about the real reason with anyone in my family at all. But while the rest of them weren’t prying, Gram had been insistent on getting it out of me at some point.
As I put away her groceries that afternoon, she watched me from her chair in the adjacent living room.