Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Is he here yet?” I ask Rook. “Is Gilbert here?”
He slaps the center of my back while shoving a can of soda at me. “Not yet. Carrie is in with them now. Abby wanted a few minutes with her sister.”
Leave it to my two best friends to fall in love with sisters. Declan’s wife Abby and Rook’s fiancée, Carrie, are as close as can be. The foursome has never made me feel like an outsider when I’ve hung out with them. They all treat me like family. It makes sense since that’s how I view them.
“Did Declan wake you up?” I glance at Rook’s messy hair. “You look exhausted.”
“I’m a lawyer,” he reminds me the way he always does. “Being exhausted all the fucking time is part of the job description.”
“Who’s watching Kirby?” I ask, although I think I already know the answer to that question.
“She’s spending the night with Chesca and Brian,” he confirms my assumption.
Chesca is Kirby’s mom, and she’s found the love of her life in a guy named Brian. Chesca and Rook’s determination to put their daughter’s needs first has paid off for them. The four adults in the equation all get along and even go so far as to have one meal together each month for Kirby.
I’m proud of Rook. He’s always been a good man, but he’s proving to be the kind of father I hope to be one day.
“Why are you dressed like it’s two in the afternoon?” he questions as he pops the tab on his soda can. “You do realize no one gives a shit if you show up looking like a regular Joe.”
That sets my head back in laughter, but not for the reason he thinks.
I’m reminded of the fake name I used with Greer when we met. For those three days, I was indeed a regular Joe, and not a guy trying to buy her company.
“It wasn’t that funny.” He takes a sip of soda. “I thought I grabbed a sugar free one for myself.”
I glance down at the can in my hand and pass it off to him, taking his away. “I’ll drink this. You take mine.”
“That works because you’re not as sweet as me.”
I crack a smile. “You got that from Kirbs, didn’t you?”
“It’s part of a joke she made up,” he says as we walk toward the waiting area in the maternity ward. “I’m too damn tired to remember the entire thing, but the punch line was something about her being sweeter than me.”
“That’s a truth, not a punch line.” I sip from the soda, cringing at the sweet note of it. “Is this cherry flavored?”
He tilts his head to get a better look at the can. “So it is. It’ll get you through the night. First babies are notoriously slow to arrive.”
We round the corner of the waiting area to find Declan’s brother, Sean, his wife, Callie, and four very eager grandparents sitting in chairs.
“Uncle Holden has arrived,” Rook tells the room. “Ignore the fact that he looks like he just stepped out of a boardroom. The bastard is always trying to one-up me.”
I greet everyone present with hugs and fist bumps before I take a seat next to Rook.
I dig my phone out of the inner pocket of my suit jacket and check it again even though I glanced at it in the rideshare on my way here.
Unsurprisingly, there’s nothing from Greer.
Why would there be? It’s the middle of the night and she’s likely tucked in a comfortable bed somewhere in this city. Hopefully she’s alone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Greer
“I had a nightmare, Mommy,” Olive pokes a finger into my cheek as I struggle to open my eyes.
“What time is it, sweetheart?” I whisper.
“Late,” she snaps back with a giggle. “I looked out my bedroom window. It’s dark out. I heard Grandpa snoring when I listened at the door of their room, so I let him sleep.”
My eyes pop open. “Your grandparents are up on the third floor, Olive. You went up there?”
My sweet little princess yawns. “Grandpa told me if I ever had a bad dream, he’d tell me a good story. He said that balances it out in the brain.”
She taps the center of her forehead to make her point.
I glance toward my bedroom window. It is indeed dark out, but there’s light filtering in from the massive motion-activated light the neighbors installed on the fence. It’s supposed to light up only their yard at night so their dog can find his way around after dusk. It’s set to light up both yards.
I don’t mind, though. It offers me an extra sense of security, and for that I’m grateful.
Olive looks at my phone on my nightstand next to where she’s standing. She quickly taps the screen with her finger. “It’s two fifteen. That’s like late late.”