Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
I narrowed my eyes but stepped closer. “If you burp in my ear….”
“I’m not,” he insisted.
I didn’t believe him but all right. “Yes?”
“Closer.”
Okayyy. I did.
He glanced to both sides—Henri and Si were behind him—and mouthed, Get my cousin to marry you.
“Huh?” I almost barked, pretty sure there was no way I’d read his lips correctly.
From the expression he gave me, I knew I had, in fact, not misunderstood. Then, with his face so grave, he said clearly, “You trust me, don’t you?”
That was a stupid question, and I told him so with my own expression.
Marry Henri, he mouthed that time, not tiptoeing at all around it.
There was no hiding the way my heart started beating faster at what he was telling me to do, and we both knew it from the way he made his eyes wide at me before leaning in and giving me another big hug. I was so tense and distracted—and regretful that I hadn’t talked to him about it even though I’d literally thought about it—I barely managed to sneak in one more hug of my own before he pulled back.
The loaded expression he shot me made a knot form in my throat before he turned and went for the bags in the bed of the truck, while Si scrunched up her face, clearly wondering what was going on. I could see Henri’s attention on us, so I shrugged and hugged her one last time. My friends waved as they pulled their carry-ons behind them to the terminal.
Matti stopped halfway there and turned around. “Someone needs to give Henri a hard time. You got this, Nina?” he hollered.
He’d just suggested I marry him, and now he was telling me to give him a hard time?
I blinked and bowed. “It would be an honor,” I told him with a smile that felt a little shaky on my face. I might kill him after all, I thought, as they kept going.
“Love you!” Sienna shouted right before going through the sliding doors. “Henri, take care of my girl!”
I blew her a kiss before we headed to my truck.
Exactly two seconds later, Henri, who had taken the front passenger seat, shifted to face me. I was staring straight ahead.
I couldn’t look at him.
I couldn’t look at anything.
“Why are you crying?” His voice was gruff. “And what’d Matti say that worried you?”
Pressing the tip of my middle finger to the outside corner of my eye, I sniffled. I opened my mouth to answer, had to swallow, then tried again. “I hate saying goodbye.” I skipped his other question, not that I was expecting him to forget about it. I just needed to deal with one thing at a time, and right now, being sad was the winner.
“You were fine five minutes ago.”
I pressed my finger to my other eye. “I know, but I’m not going to cry in front of them. They worry enough as it is.” I sniffled again and attempted to hold back the tears while ignoring the way he turned even more in his seat, like he wanted a better view to watch me cry. “You never know when the last time you’re going to see someone is,” I tried to explain. “I think about that all the time with my mom and dad.”
There was a pause, then, “They’re both healthy, Nina.”
I dabbed at my eye again. “I don’t have your nose, so I can’t tell that, but that isn’t what I mean. You never know what’s going to happen a week from now, much less two minutes from now. And I love them.” That came out like a croak. I had to swallow to get my voice under control. “I get upset every time. Please don’t tell them. I think they think I’m tougher than I really am.” I stopped. “But they might also know and they let me get away with it.” I could see that happening too.
He didn’t agree not to tattle, so I had to peek at him.
“Please, Henri?” I whispered.
Those light-colored eyes narrowed, but he nodded after a minute. “You didn’t live close to them even before Duncan, did you?” he asked.
“No.” With my eyes blurring from the tears I was struggling to hold back, I was thankful we were still parked. “Because I don’t like living in cities the way they do, and they don’t like smaller towns, like I do. We compromise to see each other. I need to stop tearing up. Duncan hates it when I cry. I don’t want him to worry.” But with that thought, even more tears spilled onto my cheeks.
Silently, Henri kept studying me, and I sighed. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I’ll stop in a minute.”
“You aren’t making me uncomfortable.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as another tear spilled over my bottom eyelash.