Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 111400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111400 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 557(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 371(@300wpm)
“You saved a life either way, jackass. And maybe that little girl is going to grow up and cure cancer. Or be President. Or save the whales. You never know what good things can happen, Cole. But you have to believe they can.”
I frowned, although I fucking loved the idea of that tiny baby growing up to do great things. Nothing made me happier than imagining the good Mariah was going to do. I loved being a father. Watching my daughter grow up was the greatest gift that life had ever given me.
Suddenly I pictured her perfect-day collage, which was still hanging on my mother’s refrigerator. It was obvious from the photos she’d chosen what mattered to her—family, tradition, love. Those things mattered to her because I’d raised her that way—they mattered to me too.
I thought about my perfect day—it was summertime, and I was on the pitcher’s mound at the ball field, and Griff was over on first base, Moretti was at second, and Beckett was behind the plate. The Mavs were down, and I had a no-hitter going. I looked over to my right, and there was Mariah, playing by the fence with her friends, and in the stands, there was Cheyenne. She was holding a baby on her hip and pointing at me with a smile on her face, and I knew she was saying, That’s your daddy right there.
It was so real I could feel the sun on my skin, smell the dirt and the sweat, feel the love in my heart.
I wanted it—and it wasn’t going to happen at the bottom of this rut.
Could I claw my way out? But how?
Cheyenne had said I had to fight—but when the enemy was something buried deep within you, how could you face it down?
“You think she would talk to me?” I asked Griffin.
“Now I’m going to call you an asshole. Of course she would. She loves you.” He pointed at me. “And even though I told you jerks never to touch my sister, I’m going to let this go.”
Finally, I managed to laugh. “Sorry about that.”
“You should be.” He finished his beer. “I will say this, though. Do not mess with her. She’s always been a pain-in-the-ass little punk sister, but she’s my pain-in-the-ass little punk sister. And no matter what she says, she still needs her big brother to look out for her.”
I nodded. “I hear you.”
“Good.” He clapped me on the back. “She’ll be at our place for New Year’s Eve. Show your face. Say nice things. Don’t be a dick.”
As if it were that simple.
But I would try.
Thirty-One
Cheyenne
I checked my phone for the hundredth time, agonized to see it had only been ten minutes since I’d last looked.
“Will you stop?” Blair said, taking a tray of spring rolls from the oven. “It’s not even nine yet, and already I can tell you want to go home. You’ve got hours until midnight.”
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.”
“Into what?” she asked, grabbing her kitchen tongs to transfer the rolls to a platter. “Leaving your house? Putting on lipstick? Trading your I-give-up sweatpants for a gold sequin miniskirt?”
“All of it.” I looked down at my outfit. “But especially the miniskirt.”
She laughed. “You look fucking hot, and every guy in here is trying to work up the nerve to approach you. You need to stop hiding out in the kitchen.”
“Give me a break. Most of the guys in here I’ve known since I was born. They’re all Griffin’s friends.”
“Not true,” she argued. “I specifically invited some new people tonight to make the party more interesting. See that guy talking to Beckett by the window?”
I looked over and saw who she meant. “Yeah.”
“Well, he’s been staring at you since he got here.”
Self-conscious, I touched my hair. “Who is he?”
“His name is Zachary Simon. He’s a lawyer, new in town. Just moved from Mason City.”
“How’d you meet him?”
“He’s a regular at the bakery every morning. He said he had no plans tonight because he doesn’t know many people in town, so I invited him. You should go introduce yourself.”
“Blair! He could be a serial killer or something. You don’t even know this guy.”
“I’m not saying you should go out to the alley with him, I’m just trying to get you out of my way here.” She moved around me to grab her oven mitt. “And it wouldn’t kill you to have a conversation with someone new.”
“It’s no use,” I said with a sigh. “I’m not over Cole. I don’t know if I ever will be.”
Blair gave me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry.”
“Still no word on whether he’ll show up tonight?”
She shook her head. “Griffin didn’t say much about their conversation. Just that Cole said he still loves you and he’s trying to work through some stuff. He might come tonight, he might not.”