Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Eric’s hotness isn’t really the problem, though. I buried my attraction to him for years and didn’t lose any sleep over it. The problem is the familiarity. The bone-deep memory of the scent of his skin and comfortable slide of his palm against mine when we held hands under the dinner table.
It’s going to be a long season.
My desk phone rings, which is helpful because it startles me out of staring at Eric. I grab the receiver. “This is Darcy Kendrick.”
“Miss Kendrick? This is Arlo at the security desk.”
“Yes?”
“Your mother is here.”
“Wait, really?” My mother has never shown up at my place of employment. Then again, I’ve been stonewalling her for a few weeks. Badly enough, I guess, for her to take the train in from Jersey to perform a wellness check.
“Well, her ID checks out. So does the red hair. Should I send her up?”
I glance up to see Eric watching me, concern in his eyes. “No. I’ll be right down.”
After hanging up, I grab my purse. Sticking my head into Sharp’s office, I tell him I have to duck out, and I ask if he wants me to pick up lunch on the way back.
“Nah, I’d rather go out. Can you get me a last-minute rez at Nobu for three people?” he says. “One thirty would be great. Make sure you’re back in time to cover the phones.”
“We’ll see,” I snap. “I’m not even supposed to work today.”
“Yet, here you are. Actually, I thought of something you could pick up on your way back.”
“What?”
“A stiff drink. For yourself. I don’t know what’s wrong with you this summer, but I fucking hope things improve for you soon. Between you and the hormonal puppies at devo camp, I’ve had about all I can take.”
“Respectfully, sir, bite me.”
I turn to leave, but Sharp follows me to the door. “Don’t forget my reservation!”
“Don’t forget to say please and thank you, motherfucker.”
Eric looks alarmed when I breeze past him and head for the escalators.
“Please and thank you, motherfucker!” Sharp calls after me.
My mother is, in fact, standing in the lobby when I arrive there five minutes later. She looks half hopeful and half worried.
As she should. There’s a reason I’ve been avoiding her. I’m still wrestling with the idea that I have a trust fund and educational resources that I never knew about.
“Hi,” I say stiffly.
“Hi,” she says softly. “I didn’t know what else to do, honey. You won’t talk to me. At least tell me what I did wrong.”
“Let’s walk,” I say, because I can’t have this conversation in the building. I don’t like people overhearing my private business.
She follows me outside, where the weather is hot and cloudy. Twenty-First Street near the river is always windy, so the effect is kind of like walking toward a giant hairdryer. We head toward Ninth Avenue and my favorite bakery. If my mother is going to bomb into my life, she can buy me a cupcake from Billy’s.
I choose the Bourbon Salted Caramel because I’m feeling extra needy. Mom chooses the coconut, and we install ourselves on one of the benches outside. I take a very delicious bite and screw up my courage to begin the real conversation. “Did you look for me at my apartment first?”
“Yes,” she says, wiping a bit of icing off her lip. “I know your schedule is hectic this month, but Darcy, I’m worried about you. Ever since that wedding, you won’t talk to me. Did something terrible happen?”
I sigh and shake my head. “I’m conflicted, that’s all. Dad told me about some trust account he set up for me. And that you’ve known about it this whole time?”
She winces. “I wondered if that was it.”
“You wondered,” I spit. “Was it just a matter of time until it came up? Do you actually get a statement every month? That you’ve been hiding from me for half my life?”
Her chin drops. “I didn’t mean it to be a big secret, Darcy. Not at first. Hiding it made sense when you were a girl. It wasn’t even legally your money at that point. You were barely a teenager, and I didn’t want his child support. I knew I could take care of you just fine.”
“And you did,” I admit. We weren’t wealthy, but I didn’t go without. “But it shouldn’t have been a secret forever.”
“There was no right time,” my mother insists.
“Really?” My voice rises. “I can think of a few. Like the moment I dropped out of college because I couldn’t afford it!”
“You didn’t drop out,” she returns. “You changed your track.”
“Mom! Don’t revise history. That’s what he does.”
She gasps like she’s been slapped. “Don’t compare me to your father. I’m nothing like him. And neither are you! I gave you a gift, Darcy. Self-reliance is the most important thing a woman can have. You grew up knowing down to your bones that you didn’t need to rely on a man.”