Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
A short laugh escaped my lips between the tears, and I wiped them away.
“How does he remind you of Dad?” I asked. “Other than the flannel.”
She laughed. “There is that,” she said. “But it’s partially just in the way he looks at you. Al used to look at me like that. He loved just watching me from across the room. I used to get after him for taking so many pictures of me, but now I cherish them. I wish I had taken some of him.” She took a sip of her wine and sat on the bed, brushing her fingers over the dress again. “You two act just like we did when we got married. Couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Always touching, brushing up against each other, kissing. I like Camden. He’s a good man. And he will make you very happy. Just like your father did for me.”
I sat down beside her and took her in for a deep hug. Her body shook as she cried for just a moment and then pulled back, kissing me on the top of my head and wiping away her tears.
“I miss him,” I said.
“I do too,” she said. “But he would fuss at me for crying about him. He’d say ‘Vickie, don’t you sit around and cry about me being gone. You’ll see me soon enough.’”
“Not too soon,” I said.
“No, baby,” Mom said. “Not anytime soon for us. I’ve got grandbabies to hold. Hint, hint.”
“Mooooom,” I said, the fake outrage turning into laughter and a few more happy tears.
21
CAMDEN
Awhole week.
We spent a whole week only seeing each other for lunch twice, dinner twice and she slept at my place one night. And by slept, I mean she literally walked into the house and fell asleep on the couch within ten minutes. I carried her to bed, and she was gone before my alarm.
To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement of the damn century.
Wedding planning was in the midst of insanity, cake decorators, venues, so many different bits and pieces I had never thought of all coming. This was in addition to the ranch business picking up as the weather got warmer, people from all walks of life traveling, sometimes across the country, to take lessons with me because they’d heard about it from an Army buddy or the wife of a guy who came here to rehab. The business model of helping veterans for free wasn’t supposed to be a business model at all. It was just something I wanted to do. But they were taking care of me by sending me referrals, enough that I was booked solid for months.
Then there was school. Both of us were absolutely underwater with work. I was finally in my harder classes, the ones that took time and effort to even begin to understand, all while Kristen was teaching several different classes, filming them for remote view, cultivating lesson plans for private lessons, and helping the dean of Van Hope’s daughter with her own classes as a tutor.
I could tell just by the way she was moving when I did see her, that she was worn out and particularly stressed. So, I decided to do something proactive.
I made a bunch of calls in preparation for her coming over, glad that I had enough people to cover this Sunday, since the last one had been mostly me and a bunch of hopes and prayers trying to get through the day.
By the time her car was pulling into my driveway, I was ready to get the hell out of there. I had a feeling she was going to want to crash on the couch like she had the other day, but I couldn’t let her. She deserved the day I had planned for us.
“Hey, baby,” I said.
“Hey,” she replied, collapsing into my arms as she finally reached the doorstep.
“I’m so glad to see you,” I said. “It feels like it’s been a year.”
“I feel like I’ve been through a year,” she said. “Can we order pizza?”
I laughed and hugged her tight.
“I have something a little bigger planned,” I said.
“Oh,” she said, sounding disappointed. “Should I get dressed up?”
“No,” I said. “If anything, you are already too dressed.”
“Huh?”
“Come on, let’s go.” I led her to the truck, and we drove into a neighboring town.
“A massage parlor?” she asked, looking up at the sign above us with one eyebrow raised.
“Yup,” I said. “A couples one. Fancy.”
“We drove all the way out to Powhatan for a massage parlor?”
“Yes,” I said. “And some other stuff. But mostly the massage parlor.”
“Who are you?” she asked, laughing. “You’ve never told me you went to get massages before.”
“I haven’t,” I admitted. “This will be my first. But Graham swears by it, and he specifically told me this place is the best within an hour’s drive.”