Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“I’m starving.”
I reluctantly release Mara so she can hug Suki, then Carter.
“He’s going to jail, right?” Suki asks.
Mara nods. “Yeah. He’ll get prison time.”
“Are you sure that job is safe?”
“Nothing’s ever completely safe,” Mara says. “That’s where I want to be, though. I like it so much better than my corporate job. Even when I’m being held hostage.”
“Too soon,” I say, shaking my head. “That shit took about a decade off my life.”
“I feel like eating a giant piece of lasagna and then sleeping for about ten hours,” she says. “My boss told me not to come in tomorrow.” She gives me a hopeful look. “Can we binge an entire season of a show? Please?”
I shake my head, amazed at how quickly she seems to have moved on from what happened.
“We can do anything you want, babe.”
“Can we watch Love Island?”
“Absolutely.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mara
* * *
“Mara, it’s real. I went to the bank and the teller confirmed it’s a real check.”
My mom is crying, and I am too. I’m sitting in a recliner in Leo’s living room, Birdie on my lap. We’ve watched four episodes of Love Island, but we’re on a break because he had to go to a team meeting even though he’s still rehabbing his knee.
“You guys deserve it, Mom.”
“This is our future son-in-law, isn’t it? The card he sent with the check said, ‘Thank you for raising such an incredible daughter.’”
That gets me. I told Bash our two-hundred-fifty-thousand deal was off, and this is the first I’m hearing about him sending my parents a check. It’s for three hundred thousand, an amount that will change their lives.
I stop petting Birdie, and she gives me a pleading look until I start back up. She really is the sweetest dog. All she wants is to be near someone at all times, preferably while being petted and talked to.
“Mara, be honest with me. Is he buying your virginity? Your father and I won’t support that.”
I scoff. “Mom, that ship sailed a long time ago.”
“Well, women these days are having surgeries to become virgins again. I saw it online. It’s called a hymenoplasty. Can you imagine?”
“Ugh, no. Just no.”
The clinking sound of dishes in the background tells me she’s unloading the dishwasher. I didn’t tell her about Drake Harn; it would only worry my parents and I don’t want that.
“Have you seen that movie Indecent Proposal? The marriage was ruined. There’s no amount of money that’s worth selling your body for.”
I don’t bother explaining to her that the movie was fictional. “There’s no body selling going on here, Mom. I promise. Leo just wanted to do something nice for you guys.”
“Nice?” She laughs. “This is far more than nice. We’re going to be able to pay off our house. I haven’t known life without a mortgage payment in more than thirty years.”
“I’m so happy for you guys.”
“I may even go get my hair done. I’ve been cutting it myself for years.”
“You should, Mom. Treat yourself.”
“I was thinking maybe we could go together when you’re home for Christmas. You can tell the stylist how to cut it. I don’t know what’s in style.”
I smile, because she’s been wearing her hair in a short bob for more than twenty years. I can’t imagine her with any other haircut.
“What’s in style is hair that makes you feel good. Don’t worry about your hair looking like anyone else’s. And a day at a salon with you sounds amazing, but I can only come for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Salons aren’t open then.”
“You’re bringing Leo, aren’t you?”
I cringe. I adore Leo, but our relationship is still very new. I assume he’ll want to spend Christmas with his own family.
“I don’t think we’re at that stage of the relationship yet, Mom.”
“If he loves our daughter enough to send us three hundred thousand dollars as thanks for raising her, surely he at least wants to meet us.”
“Yes, but—”
“But nothing. Bring him home to meet your parents.”
She doesn’t ask for much. It’s a lot to ask of him to miss the holiday with his family to be with a woman he hasn’t even been dating for a month, though.
“I’ll talk to him, but I can’t promise anything.”
“Well, I need to know soon. I bought a ten-pound turkey, but I’ll need a bigger one if he’s coming. I assume hockey players have big appetites. I’ll need at least a fifteen-pound one. And they’re all picked over at the meat market.”
Birdie huffs out a sigh from my lap. Can she hear my mom? Is she smarter than I realized?
“Mom, he won’t eat five pounds of turkey. I don’t even know if he’ll be able to come.”
“It’s in four days. I should make another apple pie, too. Does he like apple pie?”
“I don’t know. Don’t worry about making extra food for him; whatever you have will be fine.”