Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
The back of the truck it was, then.
CHAPTER FOUR
AURORA
Tallulah was my first friend in Lawton. The day I was faced with going to a regular high school instead of the school for the hearing impaired I had always attended, I’d been so nervous. She had made it easier. Her ability to use sign language, after taking a summer class on it one year, had instantly eased me, and I hadn’t felt like I had to rely on Hunter for everything.
She had called me, devastated, after Nash and her had broken up, and I’d flown to Chicago to spend time with her. Having them back together made everything perfect for the dedication. Nash and Ryker were cousins, but they acted like brothers. Their families were very close, and I liked to think one day Tallulah and I would be family. I couldn’t imagine Nash with anyone else. He’d been unable to move on after they’d broken up. It had worried Ryker. We’d spent many nights talking about it.
The day that Nash had bought a new truck, he had gotten drunk and called Ryker. His drunken ramblings had said that he couldn’t get in his old truck. That Tallulah was all over it. He had found one of her hair ties that day and lost it. Gone and traded it in, then gone home to get drunk because his new truck didn’t smell like her.
She wasn’t one to share much except when she was hurting, but reading people’s expressions was something I was good at. I knew that as much fun as we were having this morning, drinking mimosas while watching Riley, Willa, and Maggie try on wedding dresses, Tallulah was envious.
Part of me understood that, but something in Tallulah’s eyes was different. Almost as if she feared she wasn’t going to get this. This had been a last-minute trip put together by Willa. She had pointed out it could be hard to get us all together again and she wanted us all there when she picked out her dress, and Riley and Maggie agreed.
“Not that one,” Maggie said when Riley walked out in the newest dress she had tried on. “The one before was way better. You have great boobs. That one doesn’t show them off.”
Riley laughed. “Noted,” she replied. “When are you going to try on the second one you picked out?” she asked Maggie.
“In a minute,” she said, then held up her drink to take a sip.
“That’s just juice. The champagne is over there,” Willa told her, pointing at the table across from me.
It was just a moment, a second really, that her expression faltered. I thought perhaps it was just me who’d seen it, but Willa had seen it too. She gasped loudly. “OH MY GOD!” she squealed, then clapped her hands together.
Maggie’s face turned slightly red, then she looked at me as if she were apologizing. “I’m sorry. This weekend is about the field. About Hunter’s memory and legacy. With all the other things that have happened, I just didn’t want to add to it. This isn’t about me.” She said the words so quickly, if I didn’t have the implant I wouldn’t have understood her. I couldn’t have read her lips that fast.
“What?” Riley asked, looking from Maggie to me then at Willa.
“Everything that has happened since we all got back to town has been perfect. Hunter would have wanted all this happiness.”
“What am I missing? Did someone else get engaged?” Riley asked, looking from me to Ezmita to Tallulah.
“I’m pregnant.” Maggie said the words, then burst into a huge smile as tears welled up in her eyes.
Willa wrapped her arms around her and started squealing again.
“It’s about time one of you got knocked up,” Riley said, beaming, then went to hug Maggie too.
I glanced at Tallulah and saw it there again. A fear or sadness. I wanted to talk to her about it, but I didn’t know where or how to even begin. There were moments when I wondered if Ryker was going to ask me to marry him but we had time. I knew he loved me and that or future was together. I wasn’t hurting by watching this all take place. I was happy for them. All of them.
The congratulations continued, and tears were shed. I drank another mimosa and tried to follow all the chatter, but it could be difficult. Seeing Maggie so happy was what mattered. When the brides all went back to try on more dresses, Tallulah let out a sigh and a small laugh, then stood up. “I need a refill.”
“Me too,” Ezmita said, standing up to follow Tallulah.
“Life is happening fast. We all got together, and it went on hyperspeed,” I said.
Tallulah handed Ezmita a glass, then took hers to sit back down. “No kidding,” she said, then leaned back on the white leather sofa. “I didn’t expect so much change when we got here. I had hoped I could make it through seeing Nash. I never expected all the engagements, moves, and now a baby.”