Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140604 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
“Like you are the sun in the sky. Like my dads look at my mom. Like your dads look at your mom.” Her lips curled up. “Of course, I think they’re more like your parents than mine because I also see how they look at each other.”
The very thought did something to her. “They’ve never touched each other sexually before.”
“Really?” Miranda asked. “Because there’s some heat between those men.”
“I know. I think they need… I think they’re a lot like my dads.” She’d thought about this endlessly. “I asked Papa once when he knew he loved Dad. He told me he knew he loved him a long time before they decided to be more than friends. I asked him why, and he said they were waiting for my mom. Mom made things possible that weren’t before. They were afraid to lose the friendship. They depended on it all their lives. But my mom saw what they needed and when my dad offered to do whatever she wanted, she said she wanted them to kiss.”
That story had played through her head a million times since she met Keane and Garrett.
“I would bet they didn’t look at each other like this before you,” Miranda said. “I would bet they’re starting to open up to the possibilities. Does it bother you?”
“Yes. It’s killing me.”
A loud laugh came from her friend. “You know some people would think you were talking about the fact that the two men you’re into are into each other and it bothers you.”
“No, I want to watch.” She really did. “But I also don’t want to push them. I haven’t wanted to push them because it didn’t feel right. Not if I wasn’t staying. But what if I want to try?”
“Then everything is open to you. I love them so much,” Miranda admitted. “Keane is quiet but sweet. He comes out and helps Gigi with all the medical stuff that she takes out to the resort. He just started packing it. Now Gigi leaves it by the car and gets an extra coffee because she knows he’ll do it for her.”
“I would talk to her about using one of my men for free labor, but he likes it. Keane’s the kind of guy who needs to feel needed.” She winced. “He’s like my dad. That should scare me more than it does.”
Miranda shrugged. “Nah. Your dad is a good man and a great husband. I don’t think you could do better than your dad, and Garrett might not be your papa but he’s close. This could be so good for you.”
She held her friend’s hand for a moment. “I needed this. Thank you. How did you get so good at the whole therapy thing, because this feels like therapy.”
“I am the firstborn child of a man who lost everything to cocaine and strippers once,” Miranda declared. “My dad is big into therapy. And coffee.”
Olivia felt a real weight lift. She didn’t have to make a decision today, but she could start trying. She could start not thinking it had to be temporary. She could talk to her mom.
Oh, she could talk to her mom and her sister, and they could give her advice and she would listen because they loved her.
“Olivia,” Garrett began, “we need to… Baby, are you okay? Keane? Keane, she’s crying.”
He sounded like that was the worst thing that could happen. Like this was an emergency that had to be handled right this instant. Like she was precious.
“What happened?” Keane was there in seconds.
She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. “Nothing, Master. I was reminiscing with Miranda, and the memories were sweet. They’re making me think about things in a different way.”
“In a good way?”
“In the best way,” she said, and went on her toes to kiss him.
“Uh, what’s Gabe doing?” Miranda asked.
“Damn it.” Garrett strode off, following Gabe.
Keane smiled and took her hand. “Come and dance with me. We need to keep Gabe from making an idiot of himself. He doesn’t like the guy Gigi’s dancing with. Says he looks like a criminal. I asked if I looked like a criminal and he said yes, so he’s also an asshole.”
Olivia grinned but the thought of being on that dance floor with all those people around her held little appeal. Especially since the music had picked up and everyone was two-stepping. She could be klutzy. “Take Miranda. I want to sit and drink my margarita for a minute and watch the soap opera playing out around me.”
Miranda stood, ready to play her part. “I noticed that Clancy and Penny are not speaking to each other, and it looks like Jonas brought his sister-in-law. Does Hannah know?”
It was a small town, and there was always drama. Always. Miranda loved the gossip in Willow Fork. Despite the church ladies, who swore that being in small towns was the only things that kept people from sinning, there was a shit ton of sin to go around.