Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 550(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Day 28
Bailey,
I read somewhere that flamingos lose their pink when they raise their babies because raising your offspring is such an intense experience.
They get their pink back when they’re done with their parenting duties.
I remember thinking I wish it were true for humans too. I don’t think we parents ever get our pink back. I think we will forever worry sick about you.
And the bigger the babies, the bigger the problems.
But I want you to know that being your mother is the greatest honor.
You’re smart, creative, good-hearted, and innovative. You are a rare gift. A celebration of the best that could come out of your father and me.
I wish you would cherish yourself half as much as we do you.
Love, Mom
I smile and wipe away my tears.
I look up, at my window. The last rays of light slither through the glass, painted yellow and pink.
A dove lands from seemingly out of nowhere on my windowsill. It taps its feet impatiently, as if looking for a nest. It is holding something inside its beak.
A twig…no, not a twig. A branch. An olive branch? Impossible. This is Pennsylvania. An olive tree would have to grow in a greenhouse in order to survive.
But it’s here. Just like me. A sign sent to Noah’s Ark when all hope seemed to be gone.
A symbol of dry land.
Of hope.
A ground to land on.
A safe haven.
There’s one valuable lesson I learned at Juilliard, and it wasn’t taught to me by the professors: Your self-worth is a price too high to pay for success.
It is, in fact, your most treasured possession.
There’s no currency for knowing your worth.
It is time to rebuild my life and start from scratch.
CHAPTER 43
Bailey
Seven months later
I ended up staying an extra four months in rehab.
I didn’t feel ready when it was time to say goodbye. Honestly, it felt right to give my injuries the rest they deserved.
My body is repaying me in kind. I’m no longer weak, dizzy, nauseated, and frail.
I’m waiting for my parents to pick me up from the San Diego airport, encircled by my worldly possessions and a mild case of anxiety.
I’m wearing a cropped, pink argyle sweater, a white tennis skirt, and knee-high socks along with my black Mary Janes. The persistent drizzle threatens to ruin my perfect bow-tied ponytail.
Lev and I haven’t spoken to each other in seven months, and the way we parted ways suggested there was nothing to come back to.
The only update I’ve been given about him from Mom was that he got accepted to the Air Force Academy.
Can’t say I’m surprised, considering the effort Dixie and I went to, paired with his own unquestionable merit.
This means I’m not exactly sure if he is still in Todos Santos anymore, but there’s a teeny, tiny part of me that hopes he’ll come to the airport with my parents to pick me up.
Hence why I’m dressed like a blow-up doll ready to rock some lonely virgin’s world.
A Porsche Panamera pulls curbside in front of me. Being kidnapped by a rich man with a midlife crisis isn’t a lifelong dream of mine, but it still beats a Lev-less life.
The passenger door flings open and I step back instinctively, expecting a stranger, but come face-to-face with Mom.
Dad slips out of the driver’s seat. My heart tumbles down my chest to my stomach, then splits and rolls to both my feet.
“You got a new car!” I put on a fake smile (where is Lev?). “Congrats! It looks…” Green. So green. Radioactively green. “…cool.”
“Oh, honey, you don’t have to pretend.” Mom is clutching me like she doesn’t believe I exist, she hugs me so tightly. “We both know that car is entirely too green for its own good. It’s your father’s age.”
“Better a neon Porsche than a twentysomething secretary with daddy issues.”
Mom flashes him a tender smile, smoothing a hand over her cardigan. “Oh, but, honey, she would look so good next to your prenup-less divorce papers!”
“Wow. Two hundred hours of intensive therapy down the drain in two minutes. You guys are the best.” I erect two thumbs-up.
They grin at each other, then burst into laughter. It was their way to break the ice, apparently.
(WHERE IS LEV?)
“Bails! My goodness, how we’ve missed you.” Mom gathers me into her chest again.
Dad enfolds me from behind. I eventually untangle myself from their octopus arms.
WHERE. IS. LEV?
Dad hoists my bags to the trunk of the Porsche, while Mom is pushing me into the back seat like I’m about to make a run for it.
I’m in a daze. He’s really not here. Foolish as I was, a part of me was certain Lev would show up. That he’d had a change of heart while I was away all these months and realized he still wants me to be a part of his life, despite everything.
A gaping, ravenous hole tears open inside me. It feels like my emotions are devouring my inside organs. Which is…not fun.