Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 86422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
A beautiful, wide smile lights up his face.
“This is what love is supposed to feel like, isn’t it?” I’m safe and cared for with Mac. Protected and cherished. “Like we’re a team.”
Like my parents tried to be, like Lexi and Roman are, like Chase and Cammie. They’re whole separately, but together they’re formidable, admirable partners. We could win the Amazing Race together.
“You’re my best friend, Fee,” Mac says earnestly. “And I’ve been falling for you since the moment I met you.”
CHAPTER 32
MAC
“This is the coolest.” Fee presses her cold lips to the edge of my jaw and hugs my arm.
“It’s magical,” I agree as we pass through a tunnel made of wire trees, the heart-shaped leaves covered in rainbow string lights.
“The time it would have taken to put something like this together is mind-blowing.” Her expression is full of wonder. “All these pieces by different artists that go together seamlessly.”
I discovered this Love is in the Air installation and secured tickets just before it ended. Fee’s huge smile is exactly what I was hoping for. Two days after the copycat surfaced, Fee rebutted with time-lapse video of her in process with some of her works the copycat laid claim to, as well as a new poster that went viral, and dared the copycat to do the same. Since then, the copycat account has gone silent, and Fee has announced that she’s submitting a piece to the spring installation for anyone who wants to meet her in person. We still don’t know who the copycat is, but they must be a Tilton student, so it’s only a matter of time before their identity is revealed.
The outpouring of support from fans has been a little overwhelming, but for the most part it’s also been wildly positive, which I expected. I’m super proud of her for putting herself out there.
I wanted her to see what’s in store when she steps out of the shadows.
Fee hugs my arm as we pass through a string light tunnel that morphs into a tree canopy. The leaves are hearts threaded through with pink lights, and in the center of the trunk is a hot pink felt tip marker. Fee stops to add MM + OFH and the date, along with all the other people who have stopped here.
She turns and grips the lapels on my jacket, tipping her head up, and I bend to kiss her. “It’s so perfectly romantic.”
“It really is.” I hug her for a long moment, smiling at our initials on the heart.
Eventually, she laces our fingers and pulls me to the next piece. We stand under a steel-framed umbrella, pale blue lights fading to white as they stream down the sides to mimic falling rain.
She follows the stream of light with her fingers. “My mom would’ve loved this.”
“She helped you prepare for all your art shows?” I’ve learned that even though Fee gets emotional when she talks about her parents, it’s cathartic. Every story she shares that brings a teary smile to her face is tucked into my heart, expanding the space reserved for her. I’m not just falling for her, I’ve fallen, fully and completely.
“Every single one. And we’d go to them in every city we visited. It was our thing. Especially when we had to go to one of Callie’s weekend tournaments since they were all over the province.”
“And you were too young to stay home alone.”
“I could’ve stayed with my grandparents, and sometimes I did, but my mom wanted us to be together, and she would make it fun for me to come along. My dad hung out at the arena with Callie, and Mom and I would visit local galleries.”
“Were you on the road a lot with your family?”
“Oh yeah. As soon as Callie could hold a stick and stay upright on the ice, she was all hockey all the time,” Fee explains. “My mom wasn’t as involved with Lexi and her hockey trajectory, but she went all in with us. She was forever posting pictures on social media.”
Sadness frays her tone. Lately she’s been more open about her parents and how online they looked perfect, and she believed in that, but now she sees it differently, because of Lexi.
She links our fingers and we move to the next installation: a carriage that looks like it’s right out of a fairy tale. “Before Callie started playing competitively, my parents would pull us out of school for weeks at a time, and we’d go on these random, unplanned vacations,” she confides. “When Callie was little, we went to Europe and visited all the castles and cathedrals. I soaked up all that history and art. It was one of my favorite vacations.”
“They sound like they were really involved.” So are mine, but I can’t imagine having that kind of childhood and suddenly losing it all.