Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
I flashed her a look. “I’m your frenemy now?”
“I’m kidding.” Chloe played with the straw in her drink. “Thank you again for your help today. I couldn’t have done all that without your truck.”
“Anytime. You probably don’t want me tagging along every day, but whenever you need more stuff carted away, it’s not a problem.”
“I’ll be good for a while, but thanks.”
Chloe was harboring a lot of hurt and resentment over her family situation. I couldn’t blame her. But despite the fact that her father had apparently moved on with another woman after his divorce from Judy, I knew he loved his daughters very much. It had to have been difficult for him to know that Chloe was in town, refusing to see him. But I understood why she needed to protect her peace.
“What?” she asked.
I guess I’d been staring at her a beat too long. So I broached the subject. “You’re really not gonna visit your father at all while you’re here?”
“This again?” She rolled her eyes.
“I just feel like…maybe you’re avoiding him because it’s painful, but you might regret it if you go back to Chicago without seeing him. I remember how close you and Phil were.”
Her face reddened. “He abandoned my mother and married someone else, Evan.”
“They were divorced, though, before Judy started showing symptoms, right?”
She crossed her arms. “The timeline is a little fuzzy to me, but I have a hard time believing my mother’s diagnosis wasn’t a factor.”
“I’m not saying he didn’t wrong Judy. All I’m saying is that shit happens, and if you don’t forgive him, it’s probably going to fester until it makes you sick.”
A flicker of understanding reflected in her eyes as she nodded. “I hear you. I’ll consider it.”
I didn’t want Chloe to have the same regrets I did. When my mother was at her sickest, I’d thrown myself into high school sports to escape the pain, rather than spend as much time as possible with her. “I’d give anything to have one more day with my mother, you know?”
“I do,” she murmured.
“I wasted so much time being lost in my own head as a teenager, time I could’ve spent with her, asking her questions, soaking in her wisdom. I’d do so much differently if I could go back.”
After my depressing admission, Chloe sighed. “You helped me at the storage unit, bought me dinner, and gave me solid advice. Makes sense that I’d return the favor today by ruining your relationship with your girlfriend.”
“What can I say? You’re savage with that French braid.”
She laughed and pulled at the elastic at the end of it. “You just reminded me that I can finally take it out now that Effie’s seen it.”
I watched as she closed her eyes, a slight moan escaping her as she released the tension of the braid. She moved her head back and forth and shook out her long mane. The braid had formed small zig-zaggy waves throughout her hair, which was longer now than when she was younger. It was silky and gorgeous.
“Does it look crazy?” she asked as she massaged her scalp.
“Totally crazy,” I said, still half in a daze from admiring her.
As I sat there, longing to run my hands through her silky hair again, longing to do a fuck of a lot more than that…I reminded myself how dangerous it was to even think those thoughts.
Her phone rang, and as she answered, she lowered her voice and excused herself to her room.
Who the hell was that?
Despite my curiosity, I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know.
Chapter 10
* * *
CHLOE
That weekend, I decided to go back to the storage unit by myself to handle more of the smaller things. I knew Evan had plans with Effie, so I didn’t want to bother him for help, even if there were still plenty of larger items to be hauled away. Those could wait for whenever he was available again.
My phone rang, and I looked down to find it was my friend Liz from back in Chicago. I’d been so immersed in my new routine here, I hadn’t checked in with her since the first night I’d arrived. It’d been a week. She must’ve been wondering if I’d survived the wrath of Evan Ricci.
I picked up. “Hey!”
“Hey, you. I’m just calling to check in. You sort of disappeared off the face of the Earth.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to update you.”
“Did you find another place to stay?”
“No. Still at Evan’s.”
“Ha. I wondered.” She laughed. “Imagine if you didn’t know the person who owned the place. Where would you have gone?”
“Actually, I think I might’ve locked myself away in this storage unit.” I looked around. “I’m not even joking.”
“Is that where you are now?”
“Yeah. I could stay here all day and still barely make a dent. I’ve come here numerous times already, but it’s still going to take me weeks to go through it all. Evan helped me cart away some of the bigger items the other day, though.”