Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
I blink the painful memory away and take off my shoes. The temperature dropped significantly after the sun set, and Dad is cheap when it comes to keeping the house warm. It was a constant battle when I lived at home, with me sneaking out of my room to turn up the thermostat so I wouldn’t freeze to death in the middle of the night.
After washing my hands, I turn the temperature up to sixty-eight and then join Sam at the kitchen table.
“Thank you again,” I tell him as I unwrap my taco. “You took good care of me.”
“I’ll always take good care of you, I promise. Having you in my life…it’s all I ever wanted.” He looks in my eyes and then away, but this time there’s isn’t any stress or fear like before.
“It’s all I wanted too. I mean, a fulfilling career and self-acceptance were on my list too.”
Sam smiles. “Do you have those things now? The fulfilling career is a given.”
“Yes,” I say, covering my mouth with my arm to cough. “For the most part. I’m happy with who I am, though it took me a while to realize it doesn’t matter if other people aren’t.”
“The way things work out,” Sam starts and looks away again, letting out a breath. “How so many years have passed yet here we are. Things haven’t always been easy, and not everything has worked out like I planned.” He locks eyes with me and my heart flutters. “Things feel right when we’re together and I…I…” He takes a second, inhaling deeply. As soon as he opens his mouth to continue talking, a noise comes from the front of the house.
“Did you hear that?” I ask, setting my taco down.
“Yeah.” Sam gets to his feet. “Stay here.”
I don’t, of course, and follow behind Sam as he goes to the front door. It swings open right as we get into the foyer.
“Dad!” I exclaim, and Balloon squirms out of his arms, running over. “You scared me!”
Wendy steps in behind him and closes the door. “I told you we should have called.”
“Gotcha,” Dad says and crosses the foyer, wrapping me in a hug. “And I didn’t intend on scaring you, honey.”
“It’s okay. What are you guys doing here?”
“We were worried,” Wendy tells me, coming in for a hug now that Dad stepped back. “You poor dear. How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” I say honestly. “I’m very much looking forward to getting back to Chicago tonight and sleeping for more than like an hour before someone wakes me up.”
“You have to go?” Wendy pats my back before letting me go.
“Yeah. Sam has to work, and my computer is at his place. I need to get back to writing or I won’t meet my deadline.” The thought causes a bit of panic to rise inside me, but at the same time I know I’ll still procrastinate. I haven’t missed a deadline yet, and that enables me to put things off until the last minute where I’m crying at three AM because I’m so tired yet can’t sleep until I get my book done. Someday I’ll learn…but today is not that day. “We were going to leave soon, so I’m glad you came home now. How’s your sister?”
“Crazy,” Dad huffs and Wendy gives him a glare.
“She’s having a hard time. Not so much over the divorce but over not knowing what to do with her life now. Fingers crossed she doesn’t go off the deep end again.” She looks at Sam and smiles.
“Hi,” Sam says, and it hits me that they haven’t formally met. “I’m Sam.”
“I figured as much.” She looks at Dad. “You’re right, he is handsome.”
“I only tell the truth,” Dad replies.
“It’s nice to meet you in person,” Wendy says. “And we are both so glad you were here to take such good care of Chloe.”
“Of course,” Sam says as he slips his arm around my waist.
“Sam’s a doctor.” I look at him proudly. “He’s good at taking care of people.”
“I enjoy taking care of you much more than my other patients,” he tells me, and I blush just a little. I know he didn’t mean it sexually, but dammit, that’s just where my mind goes.
“I’m glad,” I say back.
“You kids got dinner?” Dad asks and opens the front door again to get two suitcases off the porch.
“Yeah, tacos,” I say. “If you didn’t try and be all sneaky, I would have gotten one for you guys too.”
“We ate on the way,” Wendy tells us, and we all go into the kitchen. “You go ahead and eat. You got a long drive ahead of you.”
“It’s not too bad until we get into the city,” Sam says as we sit down. It’s normal for me to go a while without seeing my dad, but having him here right now is making me so happy.