Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“I’m stuffed,” Ellison says, groaning as she sits back and rubs her belly. You can’t even tell she had a baby three weeks ago.
“We have a little over an hour left before this one’s daddy comes home,” Leighton says, cooing down at Lainey. “What’s next?”
“I’ve got nothing,” Courtlynn says.
“Me either,” Leighton agrees.
“You already heard my drama.” I shrug. We all turn to look at Ellison.
She takes a long pull from her bottle of water before placing it on the table next to her. “There’s actually something I’ve been meaning to talk to you all about, but I just never happened to find the right time. I didn’t want to do it with Baylor over the phone, and since she’s been home, well, this is our first night with all of us all together in a long time. I wasn’t sure I was going to tell you, but I think you need to know.”
“Are you okay?” I ask her, my mind going to all kinds of terrible things from the look on her face and the tone of her voice.
“I am.” She smiles, but there’s something there, something I can’t name, and it’s unnerving.
“What is it, Ellie?” Courtlynn asks.
“You can tell us anything,” Leighton adds.
“I know. I love you guys. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I’m still struggling with it.” She takes a deep breath. Whatever it is she’s about to tell us has been haunting her. I can see it in her eyes. “Cope and I were in the attic before the wedding. I wanted to see if I could find Mom’s wedding dress to wear.”
“Did you not find it?” Leighton asks.
“We found it.” She nods. “But I chose not to wear it.”
There are a million questions on the tip of my tongue, and from the looks on my two younger sisters’ faces, they have a list of their own, but none of us speak as we wait for what else she has to tell us.
“When we were digging around, I found a small tote with my name on it.” She closes her eyes, takes a shaky breath, then slowly exhales and opens them again. “In that tote were letters. Every letter that Cope had ever sent me.”
“What?” the three of us ask at the same time.
Ellison nods. “Mom hid them from me.”
“How do you know it was Mom?” Leighton asks.
“There was a letter from her on top of all of his.” She goes on to tell us details about the letter from Mom and the letters from Copeland. “I couldn’t wear her dress. I was so mad at her. I’m still mad at her,” she says, wiping tears from her eyes.
“I don’t know what to say.”
Ellison shrugs. “There’s nothing you can say. I’m grateful that she wrote the letter, that she kept the letters from Cope and didn’t toss them, but we wasted so much time.” Her voice cracks.
“But the love the two of you share was stronger,” Leighton tells her. “Look at you now. Happily married, a beautiful baby girl, and you’re building your forever home. They say everything happens for a reason, and while I don’t understand hers, maybe it just wasn’t your time.”
“I know.” Ellison nods. “I’m sorry I kept this from you, but I was angry, and it was right around the time of the wedding. Then I knew I didn’t want to tell Baylor over the phone. It needed to be in person, and well, I’ve been kind of busy growing and birthing a tiny human.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Courtlynn says. “I just—I can’t believe she did that. I know I was young when he left town, but even I knew how devastated you were. I’m pissed at her for you.”
“Hey, potty mouth around my niece.” I point at Courtlynn, and she rolls her eyes.
“Aunt Bay thinks she’s in charge because she’s older than me. She’s not,” Courtlynn says, as if Lainey can understand what she’s saying, when she’s still sleeping in Leighton’s arms. She woke up to eat about two hours ago and fell right back to sleep.
“Her days and nights are mixed up.” Ellison laughs. “We’ll get her on a routine eventually. And we probably shouldn’t have held her the entire time. She won’t want to sleep unless we’re holding her.”
“Just one night won’t hurt,” Leighton says. “She’s so sweet and snuggly, and she’s our first niece, and this is her first sisters’ night. It’s a special occasion.”
“Besides, we know that Copeland would be hogging her and doing the same thing if he were here.”
“He’s such a good daddy,” Ellison says, and her smile is one that reaches her eyes. You can feel the love she has for her husband and daughter pouring off her in waves.
Seeing her this happy has my mind going to Macklin, even when I said I wasn’t going to think about him anymore tonight. I can see him as a dad, and I know he’d be just as attentive as Copeland is. Instinctively, my hand moves to my belly as my phone vibrates on the chair next to me. Grabbing it, I smile when I see his name.