Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87155 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
All of them started with her.
All of them ended with there being an us.
Given the chance, I still would have covered for Nora. I wouldn’t have been able to live if I hadn’t. But I would have told Thea the truth. I would have let her make her own choices. I would have let her hate me. Or love me. Or whatever the hell she wanted from me. I’d have read every single one of her letters and replied with a million words of my own.
If I had known at seventeen years old that she was going to spend a lifetime loving me, I’d have given her a lifetime of me loving her too.
As if she felt me watching her, Nora lifted her haunted gaze to mine.
I shifted the phone to my other ear. “She’s right here, Joe. You want to talk to her?”
Her eyes flared wide, and she waved me off.
“Nah. I’m going to come get some of Thea’s things and I’ll talk to her while I’m there.”
“Actually, I was thinking Nora and I should get a hotel room until we can find a new place. This is Thea’s house. I don’t want to run her out of her own space.”
“I thought one of the terms of your parole was that you had to keep a residence.”
“It is, but I can call Lee and give him a heads-up. I’m sure he’ll understand after Caskey showed up here today.”
He let out a sigh. “How about you just stay put for a while? Thea’s upset right now, but if anything were to happen with your parole, she’d never forgive herself.”
“It’s pointless to stay though. She’s never going to forgive me, either.”
“Son, you mind if I give you a piece of advice?”
“Please,” I begged. “Anything.”
“My daughter loves you. There is nothing, including this, that she wouldn’t forgive you for. But you have to stop yanking her around. I commend you for trying to let her go when you were kids. A lesser man would have held on to anything and everything he could from the outside, not caring that he was dragging her through the mud in the process. But you aren’t kids anymore. And she didn’t let go. I know you’re only trying to protect her, but at this point, your indecision is what’s dragging her through the mud.”
Guilt shredded me. “I just want her to be happy.”
“You have to figure out what you want. Not what Thea wants. Or Thea needs. Or what Nora wants. Or Nora needs. You, Ramsey. Look in the mirror and decide what you want out of the rest of your life. You might be surprised by how much that answer is exactly what they both need anyway.”
My chest got tight, and I closed my eyes.
What did I want?
What did I want?
What did I want?
It wasn’t a hard question. The answer hadn’t changed since I was eleven years old.
“I want Thea.”
“Smart man. Now, take my advice. Give it a day or so to draw up your battle plan. Your odds are better when she doesn’t have lasers shooting out of her eyes.”
I laughed, honest-to-God real laughter, because it felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. The amount of groveling I had to do was colossal. And if she never forgave me, I wouldn’t blame her one bit. But dammit, I was going to try.
Because deep down, I knew Thea was it for me.
And I’d known it long before I knew what it truly meant.
Thea had been right. I was hers.
Now, I just had to figure out how to make her mine again.
“Hey, Joe, does she still go out to the Wynns’ tree?”
“Only when she’s missing you. Which, assuming she survives Misty’s pot roast, I’d give it about three days max.”
Squaring my shoulders, I sucked in a hard breath, holding it until my lungs burned. Okay, so I had three days to figure out how to fix twelve years’ worth of lies, mistakes, and heartache. Yeah. Sure. Easy enough.
Fuck. My. Life.
I lifted a finger to my dad when he appeared in the doorway. The tiny twin bed in my old bedroom had become my acting office over the last three days. Post-it notes lined the walls, and folders were strewn haphazardly around my laptop.
I pinned my cell phone between my ear and shoulder while typing out a reminder. “Oh, it’s no problem, Mr. Lupica. Italy is beautiful this time of year. You definitely made the right choice. I’ll let the hotel know about the peanut allergy and then you should be all set.”
After a round of thanks on both sides, the world’s easiest client hung up the phone.
Then I looked at my dad. “Hey. You’re home early.”
He shoved a hand into his pocket and leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. “After the beating you gave me in Yahtzee last night, it’s a wonder I was able to get to work at all.”