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 need to get back to Chloe. “Anything else?” I huffed.
“No. I’ll be staying at my mom’s place while she’s in Florida. I have a couple of job interviews lined up for this week, but I’ll be around if you need me to take care of Effie.”
“I’m sure she’s gonna want to spend time with you, so that’ll be fine.”
Katerina ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “I’m hoping someday you’ll want to spend time with me again, too.”
Chapter 41
* * *
CHLOE
I stared at the stack of mail on my kitchen counter in Chicago. While I’d had the important bills forwarded to Evan’s place in Wyoming, a fair amount of junk mail and miscellaneous stuff was still waiting for me here.
I’d been back two weeks now and still hadn’t bothered to open anything. My apartment was eerily quiet, the low hum of the refrigerator all too noticeable. I’d never realized how lonely it was. While I used to relish the quiet of living alone, compared to the house full of life I’d come back from, this seemed depressing.
A knock at the door startled me, although I knew it was my friend Liz, who’d said she would bring over a bottle of wine so we could catch up. While we’d spoken on the phone, I hadn’t seen her since I’d returned to Chicago.
“Hey,” I said as I opened the door.
“Hey, you.” She gave me a big hug and handed me the wine, along with a box of cookies from the bakery around the corner. She must’ve been running around because her short blond hair looked a bit disheveled.
I inspected the cookies. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“Well, they’re for me, too. Don’t worry.”
“Let me get some glasses so we can nosh.”
Liz sat on one of the stools at my small kitchen counter. I popped open the bottle of Riesling and poured us each a glass.
“I was glad I could catch you,” she said. “I was away when you first got back and worried I’d miss you. You originally told me you were only coming home for a week, but you decided to stay longer?”
I ran my finger along the rim of the glass and frowned. “Yeah. I’m not sure if it’s a good time for me to go back to Wyoming just yet.”
She took a sip. “What’s going on?”
“A lot has happened.” Sadness washed over me.
“I think it’s time to break out the sweets,” she said as she opened the box.
Over wine and cookies, I explained the status of my relationship with Evan, ending with his ex-wife returning to Dry River just before I left.
Liz spoke with her mouth full. “Did that woman have a radar? She sensed that you were leaving or something?”
“Seriously…” I rolled my eyes. “The timing couldn’t have been worse.”
“Why should you let her deter you from going back, though?”
That led to the part I hadn’t mentioned and why I’d been particularly torn up as of late.
“About a week after I left, Effie sent me an email.” I hesitated. “She told me how happy she was that her mother was back, and apparently Katerina has assured her that she won’t be leaving this time. Effie alluded to hoping her parents get back together.”
Liz’s eyes widened. “She thought you’d be happy to hear that?”
“Apparently, Evan and I have done a great job of convincing Effie that I’m just a very good family friend. I’m sure she didn’t understand that her email would upset me.” I closed my eyes for a moment. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”
“You don’t think Evan would take her back, do you?”
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. “I mean, they separated for a reason. But…” I paused. This was the part that made me doubt my instincts. “I also know Evan would do anything for his daughter. And there’s nothing Effie wants more than her mother back in her life.”
“He couldn’t possibly trust that woman again…”
“I would hope not. But then I think about how things have played out in the past. They’d broken up before he found out she was pregnant. He got back together with her because of Effie. He told me he grew to care about Katerina, too. Who’s to say he couldn’t decide to give it another try if she’s claimed to have straightened out her head?”
Liz grimaced. “But what about you? You can’t just pretend what you and he had didn’t mean anything.”
A knot formed in my chest. “We were supposed to have told Effie about us right before my mother died. Then Katerina came back to town, and it never happened. And then, of course, I left.” Misery washed over me. “But now that I know Effie has her hopes up about her mother and father getting back together, how could I break her heart? She’s going to hate me.”