Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
But something Lincoln had said about the verses, about where life took place, stayed with me. My priorities had shifted after fulfilling several goals and dreams. I had my children, work was amazing, I was in love with the most wonderful man in the world. Now I just wanted to live. I wanted to start my own second verse, where I simply enjoyed what Jake and I had accomplished, the family we’d built with Nikki and Haley and…yeah. I wanted the recitals and the grocery shopping. I wanted family vacations and barbecues.
We were in the home stretch. Soon, we’d have all that.
We’d hurt enough, hadn’t we?
When we landed in LA, I sent Sandra a text.
Can you come home without the kids in about an hour? I’ll pick them up at your folks’ later. We need to talk.
By the time Jake and I had dropped off our equipment in Marina del Rey, Sandra had agreed without further questions.
Maybe she’d been waiting for the divorce talk. Maybe she thought I’d found out about her Insta stunt. Maybe she just didn’t care.
Jake drove me to Bel Air, and it was quiet in the truck. I was steeling myself and thinking about second verses.
I wanted to move out right away, though I wasn’t sure that was possible. I had to be there for the children, and I doubted she’d let me take them.
“I was thinkin’,” Jake said, clearing his throat. “We could, uh—I mean, before Thanksgivin’ or Christmas—tell the others we’re together? It would get Nikki off my back, and I wouldn’t mind celebrating Christmas without having to keep my hands to myself.”
I exhaled as a sliver of warmth made its way into me, knocking down the wall I tried to erect around me. “There’s nothing I want more.” I put a hand on his thigh. “Nikki’s on your case, huh?”
He chuckled a little. “She’s been on my case since we bought the Condor Chicks house.”
Damn.
“It’s highly possible she suspects somethin’,” he added. “I kinda did a 180 in New York once you succumbed to my charms.”
“Succumbed to your—” I cracked up, no matter how fucking true it was. Right on the money. It just wasn’t Jake’s style to say something like that. It was, however, his style to try to make me smile if he sensed I wasn’t feeling all right. “I love you—and your charms.”
He grinned faintly and kissed my hand. “Good.”
If only that warm feeling could last a bit longer. Two blocks away from the condo, the breaths didn’t come as easy anymore, but…maybe that was for the best. Shutting down and toughening up might get me through the rest of the day faster.
Jake slowed down as we reached my street. “You know where to find me if you need an escape later. Sam and Bear aren’t coming over till tomorrow, so I’ll probably be at the office going through raw footage all night.”
I nodded and took another breath, and Jake pulled up to the curb. It might very well come to that, though only if I could bring the little ones with me.
Bottom line, I couldn’t trust Sandra when it came to them.
“I’ll text you, no matter what happens.” I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck. You’ve got this.”
I hoped so.
I climbed out of the truck and threw my duffel over one shoulder and my backpack over the other. Then I made my way upstairs, and as soon as I entered the condo, I was relieved to hear she was already here. I dropped my luggage on the floor, kicked off my shoes, and found her in the kitchen.
She sat at the table, fidgeting with the label on her water bottle. When she faced me, she straightened in her seat. “If this is about the photo I posted on Insta, I deleted it. Mom’s already given me shit for it, so I don’t need it from you too.”
Another point for Kathryn.
“How do you know I found out about the post?” I wondered.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Haley told you. She posted a bitchy comment, like, five minutes after it went live.”
A point for Haley too. Bitchy or not, I was certain whatever she’d said had been valid.
I scratched my forehead and trailed over to sit down across from her. “That post is part of a much bigger problem, and we’ll come to that later.”
She quirked a brow.
There was no reason to beat around the bush.
“It’s about us,” I said. “I wanna get a divorce.”
“Oh,” she mouthed. Her shock lasted all of a second. In no way had she not seen this coming—perhaps just not this very moment. “I’m part surprised it took you so long and part surprised you’re doing this now when you’re so damn concerned about the twins.”
“Oh, so you remember they exist. That’s good.”