Total pages in book: 156
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 755(@200wpm)___ 604(@250wpm)___ 503(@300wpm)
I winced. “You’re right. I don’t know why I’m being so snippy with her.” It was as if my father’s behavior had made me overly self-conscious of my mother’s, which wasn’t fair to my mom.
He squeezed my hand. “It’s probably just jitters. Moms are easy targets.”
When we got back to the penthouse Hale and Elara had arrived. The welcome was awkward and tense, so I took Elara and carried her around like a shield. I also tried my best to get Tyler to stay, but he eventually had to go back to his room to unpack.
Hale watched me suspiciously, but I mirrored him like a flipped magnet, never letting him come within a few feet of me. While I was making emotional progress, I still felt overly fragile. Too much focus could break me in ways I really wanted to avoid.
“Andrew’s setting up Elara’s crib and changing table. Soon as he’s done she can go down for a nap. Then we need to talk.”
I didn’t want to talk. The wedding stuff was starting. Guests were arriving. We spent so much time and money arranging everything and, now, wedding week was finally here. I didn’t want my deadbeat father and his crappy behavior to touch any part of the precious moments Hale and I had spent so much time planning.
I realized then that my sadness had transformed into anger. I was furious with my dad but also irritated with myself for ever trying to involve him. More stuff to work through. But the last thing I wanted to do was talk about the man at the root of my aggravation.
Yesterday was over. It was time to move on. Time for fun, happy wedding stuff.
Pretending I didn’t hear him, I went about changing Elara’s diaper.
“I just did that, Rayne.”
“Well, she smells like she made a tinkie.” She didn’t smell. I was totally avoiding him. “I’m going to take her upstairs and clean her up.”
I didn’t have to see his face to know he watched me. My goal remained. I would avoid any and all confrontations that could wait until after the wedding.
Unfortunately, Hale wasn’t easily sidetracked and he followed us into the master bedroom. “Hard to change a diaper without a diaper bag.”
“I was just going to grab it.”
“Rayne.” He caught my arm as I tried to brush past him. “Are we okay?”
“Of course. We’re fine.”
He frowned and I felt horrible for making him question us when he’d done absolutely nothing wrong, but I couldn’t have this conversation right now with guests coming and going and everyone asking a million things of me at once.
He studied me. “Before everyone gets here, I want to—”
“Hello?”
Relief washed over me as he cocked his head. “Is that my mother?”
“Hale?” she called in a tone that commanded a response.
I’d never been so grateful for my future mother-in-law. “You better go,” I rushed him toward the door. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
As it turned out, Naomi, Hale’s mother, was able to get an earlier flight. The woman loved her son and I loved how much she was going to monopolize him while I dodged his questions and suspicious looks.
He watched me like a hawk as his mother doted on Elara and asked about the plans for the next few days. The second we were alone he’d corner me. I suddenly wanted to be around all the people.
When Andrew arrived to announce the nursery was ready, I insisted on going with him to inspect it. Unfortunately, when I came back to the penthouse Hale and I were, once again, all alone.
“Are you finished avoiding me, now?”
“I’m not avoiding you, Hale.”
He just looked at me, not even dignifying my lie with a response. “Come on, Rayne.”
That was the tone he used to broach big discussions, so I blurted, “Phina made us an appointment for a couple’s massage. We have to get moving or we’re going to be late.”
“Huh?”
“A couple’s massage, Hale.” I grabbed my purse and handed him his phone. “It’s for our lymph nodes.”
“When did this happen? No one told me.”
“It was a gift. A surprise. Let’s go.”
I typically didn’t like wellness salons, because they felt like stuffy libraries with too much nakedness. But today the spa suited me just right.
In the common areas, signs requesting silence hung on various walls and a sense of safety cocooned me. A serene flute harmonized with soft bells and the air smelled of fresh lemongrass. The ambiance demanded quiet, so when Hale tried to speak, I pressed my finger to my lips and whispered, “Shh, no talking.”
As soon as we checked in, Hale and I were escorted to private dressing rooms where we stripped out of our clothes and changed into robes. I waited in the dressing room as long as possible before returning to the lounge.
“Right this way, miss. Your fiancé’s waiting,” one of the spa attendants whispered.