Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 608(@200wpm)___ 486(@250wpm)___ 405(@300wpm)
Quiet sniffles came through the line.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Oh my God, I’m so angry right now,” she whispered. “You have no idea.”
Angry? “Why?”
“This stupid storm. If I had my car, I would come over there…”
I lifted my head off the back of the couch. “You would?”
“Yes. And now I can’t because of this weather. And because you’re this amazing man. You drove me home and now I’m fucked.”
I laughed. Jenna rarely cursed.
“Could you come here?” she asked in the sweetest fucking voice, like it would kill her if I couldn’t.
I dropped my head back again. “Fuck,” I rasped. “Marley is out cold. I’d have to wake her.”
“Oh, don’t do that. Let her sleep.”
“I can’t believe you’re telling me you’d come over.”
Her response was immediate. “You need us, Nathan. Why wouldn’t I?”
I closed my eyes. Jesus, that felt good to hear. “I’m really glad I called you.”
“Me too,” she quietly replied. “Do you want to talk more?”
“Yeah.”
“Pretend I’m there and talk to me.”
“I don’t know if I’ll fall asleep anytime soon,” I responded. I could talk to her all night. She would need to be the one to end this call.
“Talk to me, Nathan.”
With her voice in my ear, I did. And again, it was so fucking simple.
I blinked and let her in.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
JENNA
My heart had become its own protector. It let me love, but it held me back. It hoped, just like it always did, but it wouldn’t believe anymore in the certainty of what I was feeling. With every wish it allowed, it whispered caution behind it. Be careful. You know how I can break.
Now I could feel my locked heart unlocking. It reached out again for love without restraint, and after all the things Nathan was doing to prove he was ready to be with me, all the ways he was fixing it, after everything he shared last night—how could I not be sure of this?
And if I was sure, then what was I waiting for?
I thought back to that morning in my kitchen when he kissed me in front of Oliver and Olivia for the first time. “Come on,” he’d spoken against my lips.
I’m coming, I promised.
Butterflies danced in my stomach as I parked in front of Jamie and Tori’s house the following night. The anticipation of seeing Nathan here sent a thrill through my body. We’d texted earlier while he was at work, and it had killed me not to tell him then how I was feeling, but I knew doing it in person would feel so much better.
I wanted to see him and say it.
Vehicles lined the driveway and filled in parts of the grass in front of the large beach house Jamie owned and lived in with Tori, but I didn’t see Nathan’s truck anywhere yet. I wondered what time he was closing Whitecaps for this. I hadn’t asked.
Closing Whitecaps for a party…so strange.
After I parked, the kids bounded up the lawn and into the house without knocking.
Jamie had an open-door policy, and even if he didn’t, we used to live here with Brian when we first moved to Dogwood Beach, and in the eyes of my children, this was still their second home. Good luck keeping them out.
Tori greeted me as I stepped through the front door.
“Hey, girl!” She wrapped me up in a hug that smelled like sweet, floral perfume.
“Hey! How are you?”
“Good.” She wore a yellow sundress and had a flower behind her ear. Her makeup was pretty, sun-kissed with a red lip. “This is for you,” she said, holding up a near-identical flower to the one she wore. She stuck it behind my ear, explaining, “Theme of the party. All the girls are wearing them.”
“Oh.” I smiled and touched the soft petals. “That’s cute. It’s really dressing up my outfit.”
I glanced down at my black tank and washed-out cutoffs. My toes wiggled in my gladiator sandals. I suddenly felt way underdressed for this.
“You look perfect. Let’s go.” Tori grabbed my hand and pulled me farther into the house.
There was soft music playing and chatter all around me. I recognized some of the crowd hanging in the foyer and waved at Shay and Stitch. They were seated on the staircase. J.R., the other cook at Whitecaps, greeted me with a chin-lift. He was against the wall talking to Jamie’s sister, Quinn. I heard she had moved here recently and took up as a waitress at Whitecaps. Tori had hired her. I waved to her as well. I hadn’t seen her in years.
“Hey, Jenna!” She squeezed my arm as I passed.
Once we stepped inside the great room, I spotted Kali and Cole sitting together on the large sectional sofa. Oliver and Olivia were seated there as well and already fighting over the remote to the TV.
The crowd was heavier in here. There were a lot of faces I didn’t recognize, and I considered Sydney’s job at the hospital. Maybe she had invited a lot of her colleagues. Jamie stood near the slider, talking with Travis. I waved when they noticed me.