Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Harper stared at me. “That’s your next best thing? The bathroom?”
“If it means I can get up and walk there by myself, then yes. The bathroom is the next best thing after sex.”
She giggled as she opened the oven door. “I’ll set the table, and you go do what you must in the bathroom. If you need any help, let me know.”
I rolled my eyes. “If I need help taking a piss, then we really are in trouble.”
Harper
“If you slam a vase down any harder, you’re going to eventually break one.”
I looked at Aunt Olivia. “I’m not slamming anything down.”
She laughed. “You are, Harper. Tell me what’s going on.”
Sighing, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “It’s Declan’s mother.”
When I opened my eyes, Aunt Olivia was nodding. “What has she done now?”
I grabbed another vase and was about to put it down…when I slowly and carefully set it on the counter, causing my aunt to let out a soft laugh.
“Declan got the all-clear from the cardiologist last week. Which is a good thing because he was going crazy, even with the increased activity. The man cannot sit around and do nothing.”
“Evident by him hanging around here in the flower shop, making arrangements—which, by the way, he is really good at.”
I smiled. “I know! He really is. Anyway, he got the all-clear to return to work, and his mother stopped by last night and threw a fit. She demanded Declan stop being a cop. Said that he should just work for me in the flower shop, or for his father. I know the heart attack was from the smoke, but I still don’t want him getting upset or having any anxiety, and his mother is one giant anxiety…blob!”
“Blob?”
“I couldn’t think of anything else. Aunt Olivia, she’s driving me mad. Declan is good at ignoring half the stuff she says, but she had the nerve to call me this morning and insist I shouldn’t let him go to work.”
Her brows lifted. “And what did you tell her?”
“I told her I wasn’t the boss of Declan, that he was his own man, and the doctors had cleared him. She said if I loved him, I would talk him into another profession.”
“What a bitch!”
“I know!”
With a shake of her head, she asked, “What did you tell her after that?”
“I told her because I love him, I won’t stand in the way of whatever he chooses to do with his life. I put emphasis on his. Just to drive the point home to her. I honestly thought she’d be invested in Sean and Caroline’s relationship and leave us alone. I was so wrong.”
“She loves her son, so you can’t blame her for that.”
“I don’t, but she has no right to tell a thirty-five-year-old man what he can and can’t do. Thank God he stands up to her, though, unlike Sean.”
The bell above the door rang, and when I looked up, I cursed. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered.
Maddie walked in and made a beeline straight for me. “Olivia, how are you?”
“I’m doing well. How are you, Maddie?”
“Fine. I’m fine.”
Turning to me, she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. “May I have a word with you, Harper?”
“Sure.”
When I didn’t move, she looked at Aunt Olivia, then back to me. “In private.”
“I’m sure whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of my aunt.”
Maddie sniffed. “Fine. I’m disappointed in you, Harper.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Really? Do tell?”
“You let Declan go off to that dangerous job this morning, and I want you to know I am not happy about it.”
Laughing, I slowly shook my head. “First of all, I ‘let’ him, as you say, because it’s his life. Not mine. I don’t own Declan, and neither do you, regardless if you’re his mother. Second, this is Moose Village, not New York City. Yes, something terrible could happen, but I can’t control that any more than you can. Third, you have no right to come into my store and try to bully me like you do your sons. It’s a wonder Sean even speaks to you, given how you spent years manipulating his life for your own happiness.
“Fourth…you’d better start treading water carefully, Maddie. Because I can promise you right now, if Declan and I ever get married and have kids, you will not have control of my children. Ever. Fifth, you’re obviously a great mother because you raised two amazing men…so why do you feel the need to control them? They’re adults, for crying out loud! Let them live their lives the way they want. They love you, Maddie. But if you keep acting like this, you’re going to push them both away and end up with neither of them in your life. Is that what you want?”
She lifted her head higher, and I prepared for her to unleash.