Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 84370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84370 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“No apologies, Ells. I want your honesty, baby. I want your pain. I can’t repair what’s broken if you don’t give it to me.”
“This isn’t all on you,” I tell him. “I could have reached out. I was just as stubborn.”
“Maybe, but that was so last week,” he says, pitching his voice, his eyes crinkling at the corners with a smile. I can’t help but smile at how ridiculous he sounds. “We’re past that. Only looking ahead and healing this,” he says, pointing to my chest, “and this,” he says, leaning in to press his lips to my temple.
Stepping back, he offers me his hand. “Dinner?”
I smile and nod. “Dinner.” I place my hand in his and allow him to lead me downstairs, where no doubt we have an audience waiting for us.
“You have our girl home by midnight,” Courtlynn says as soon as we clear the bottom step.
“She might turn into a pumpkin.” Baylor laughs from the iPad.
“Just tell us if you’re not coming home,” Leighton says. “So we don’t worry.”
“I like where your mind went, Lei.” Kinzie grins. “We just might corrupt you yet.”
“I’ve been working on her.” Courtlynn cackles with laughter.
“No way,” Baylor says from the screen. “She will forever be our quiet, sensible sister.”
“Hey!” Leighton says, as if she’s offended, but we all know she’s not.
“I love you. All four of you, even if you’re a traitor,” I say, my eyes landing on Kinzie’s.
“I’ll always step on the battlefield with you, Ellie, even when the war’s not mine.”
“She’ll be home tonight. I don’t know what time,” Copeland tells them. He looks down at me. “Before you go disappearing into the beautiful head of yours again, it’s not because I wouldn’t give everything I have to spend the entire night with you. It’s because we’re doing this right. I'm going to show you you’re worth it.”
“Worth what?” Baylor asks. I can hear the amusement in her voice over the speaker.
The corner of Copeland’s mouth tips into a grin. “All of it. The work, the pain, the heartache, the smiles, the laughter, the love. She’s worth all of it,” he says, his voice growing quiet.
“Right, well, you kids have fun.” Courtlynn waves, and with that, Copeland gives my hand a gentle tug and leads me out of the house and to his truck. He opens the door for me and waits for me to be buckled in before closing the door and rushing to his side to slide behind the wheel.
“Where are we going?” I ask once the truck is in motion.
“Not far,” he says evasively.
“How’s your mom today?” I ask, turning to glance at him.
He nods. “She’s doing well today. Feeling stronger than the last few days. The quilting ladies are there with her.”
“I’m glad everyone has rallied around her to help her through this.”
“Yeah,” he agrees as he parks his truck in the lot of the Wooden Spoon.
Tears instantly well in my eyes, because this is where we had our first date. We went for milkshakes after school. “Cope.”
Cautiously, he reaches over the console and laces his fingers with mine. “Ells, not a single memory of our time together has faded. I thought about you every day, and so many times I wished, more than anything, that we could be back in this diner, sharing an order of fries as we sip our shakes, with so many possibilities in front of us.”
“I remember, too,” I whisper.
“We can go somewhere else if you want to. It’s not that I want to recreate the old memories. I want to be us again, Ells. I want to be Copeland and Ellison, and more than anything, I want to be yours.” He turns away from me, staring out the front window of the truck. “I don’t care where we do that, but something inside of me said that this was a good place to start.”
“People will see us together,” I tell him.
“Good.” He squeezes my hand. “I’m back, Ellison, and I’m yours if you’ll have me.”
“I want to say yes so badly.” My voice cracks.
“And you will when you’re ready. However, I’m not going to stop telling you. I’m going to try my best to not only tell you but show you every day.” He turns his gaze back to mine. “We can go in. We can go somewhere else. I can go order us some food, and we can take it to go. Whatever you want, Ells. My only stipulation is that we do it together. Whatever it is, this is my time, my night with you, and I don’t want to give that up.”
“A bacon cheeseburger and a peanut butter shake sound excellent right now,” I answer.
His blinding smile lights up the cab of the truck. Leaning over the console, he presses his lips to my cheek. “Stay put,” he says, before grabbing his keys and sliding out of the truck, racing around the front to open my door. He offers me his hand and helps me down, before lacing our fingers together and leading us inside.