Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 123171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 123171 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 616(@200wpm)___ 493(@250wpm)___ 411(@300wpm)
“I love you, Mom,” she says softly.
“I love you, too, pumpkin.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Never!” I kiss her cheek. “You’ll always be my little pumpkin.”
“You need to get married and have another kid if you want to keep using baby names.”
I let out a snort of laughter and brush her hair back. “Let’s just say I met the perfect man in like a month or so. It’ll take like a year before we’re married, and then like another year until I pop out another kid. You’ll be the same age I was when I had you.”
“That’s so weird to think about. I don’t want to have a baby in two years.”
“I don’t want you to either. And speaking of that, if you need birth control of any kind, you come to me, okay?”
“Mom,” she groans, having heard this over and over. I refuse to let the subject of birth control or being sexually active be embarrassing to talk about. I won’t attach shame to either, because if I make Everly feel ashamed of anything she’s doing, then she’ll hide it from me. Like I did from my parents.
“I’d rather you be prepared.”
“I’m only fourteen.”
“And I was only fifteen when I went all the way with my first boyfriend.”
“I’m much more educated than you,” she says matter of factly and I laugh again. I hold her closer and let my eyes fall shut, thinking about what life would be like if I actually did find someone to settle down with.
Josh came back six years after he left us. He had graduated college at that point and had just landed a decent job. He told me he had tried to move on but couldn’t get us out of the back of his head. At the time, I was still young and naive and loved the idea of being one big happy family.
And for a few weeks, everything seemed like we were headed in the right direction. We “dated” for a bit before I even let him meet his daughter. What I thought were unrequited feelings for each other quickly surfaced, fanning the old flame between us. But it didn’t take long before the flame sparked a fire, and it wasn’t the burning hot passion I wanted.
It was destructive, leaving a trail of ashes in its wake.
After only a month of playing the role of a family man, Josh left again, saying that this life just “wasn’t for him.” Louisa, now working for a prestigious firm, handled all the custody issues. Though, it wasn’t hard to get Josh legally written out of Everly’s life. He happily signed away his rights.
Like some sort of demon crawling out of the bowels of hell to perform some sort of ritual, he came back another six years later on Everly’s twelfth birthday. He was completely wasted, caused a scene in front of her friends, and demanded to be a part of his daughter’s life.
Pair all that with the only other serious boyfriend I’ve had turning out to be toxic, controlling, and dangerously obsessed with me, it’s clear to see why I’ve written off relationships. I’ll never give up on love—and I really do think soul mates and true love exists.
Some people find who they’re meant to be with. They’re the lucky ones. Some people will know a love so pure and true their lives will forever be changed for the better.
And some people—like me—don’t.
Chapter Six
JACOB
Leaning back, I tip my head up to the sun, soaking up a moment of peace and quiet as the boat gently rocks on the water. It’s another hot day, but the breeze coming off the cool water makes it manageable.
I’m out on the lake with my siblings and their significant others. We grew up fishing and swimming on this lake—Chloe too. She’s been a family friend for years and we all knew she and Sam were secretly in love with each other since they were teenagers. It just took them until their thirties to finally admit it to each other. It’s tradition for us to come out on the lake when we’re all together like this—weather permitting that is.
We’re on the quiet side of the lake, which is horseshoe shaped. One side is a no-wake zone and is ideal for fishing. The other is for tubing, water skiing, or taking a jet ski around for fun. It’s an unseasonably warm day, but since the water is still cold, not many people are out today, making it an ideal time to just hang out on the water.
“It’s totally infected,” Chloe says to Mason with a slight recoil. “I have the least amount of medical training out of anyone here and I can tell.”
“Second to least,” Rory corrects. “Mason is dead last, as proven by that nasty cut.”
Laughing, I blink a few times to readjust my eyes to the bright sunlight. “I told you, I’m used to treating dirty, unruly animals in the clinic. I’ll happily give you an antibiotic shot.”