Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“I know everyone on earth wants to be a photographer now, but Will knew people who knew people, and all I had to do was pick up a camera. It was always a hobby, but when I started putting in the time and effort, it wasn’t hard for Will to arrange a show for me, and also, just like that, I started getting jobs. I opened a studio, sold images, and took bookings. It had very little to do with my own talent and much more to do with Will and all the people he knew supporting me at first, but I’d like to think people hire me now because they love what I can provide.”
“Of course they do, Mom.”
I want to say that over and over again. Mom. Mom. Mom.
She blinks back tears and looks at me with so much love and pride. I think she could stand here and hear that word over and over again. “You’re always welcome to come to New York with me.”
“Thanks.” I have to set the doll down on the dresser because I don’t want to keep playing with her hair and wreck it. There’s only so much handling that poor stuff can take. It was mighty decrepit when I used it in the first place. “That really does mean everything to me. I told Apollo that if I ever found you, I’d want to move out wherever you were and be with you. He said he’d follow me if I wanted him to. That we could go anywhere. But I’m just not sure I’m ready for New York. I wasn’t even sure until a few days ago that I wanted to stay here, but I think this is what I want. I want to take a chance on my wounded heart healing and still have lots of love to give. It’s so beautiful out here. I love Bitty Kitty. I love the mushroom house. I love these silly rooms. And I love the tree fort outside and the yard and the mountains. I also love the garden and the flowers and the woods. I’m not even sure what I want to do with my life yet, but I’m taking small steps. There’s one thing I’m sure about, though, and it’s that I want a relationship with you, Apollo, and Dad. I know it’s a complicated thing to work out, but I’m going to figure out a way. I need all of you in my life. I need all of you in my heart.”
“Oh, baby. I’m so, so proud of you,” Mom gushes.
We fling ourselves at each other, crush-hug the crap out of each other, and bawl some more.
“You have no idea what it means to me, hearing you say that. Hearing it in person, I mean. I just want to hug you forever.”
“Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”
We stay like that for a long time. Long enough that, for anyone else, it would be awkward, but not for us. We finally let go and head to the window because something catches our attention. I don’t know when Will had the time to change. He must have raided the trunk of whatever their rental was because no one came into the house. I would have heard them unless they were super stealthily quiet. Apollo is out there, too, stripped down to his boxers.
They don’t yell anything. They just take off from the far end of the yard, sprint as fast as they can, and leap off the end of the pool. We both gasp as they make perfect cannon balls with giant splashes, and we release our breath at the same time when they both surface.
Mom and I look at each other. “Do you think…” she asks.
“That we should go outside and give that a try?” I finish.
“I did bring a bathing suit.”
“And I have one here, too,” I say.
“It does look fun. And it would be pretty refreshing.”
I don’t tell her I hate swimming or that I detest water because I don’t think that’s true anymore. I don’t hate something as abstract as all the pools in the world for taking Apollo away from me in a way. Because I haven’t lost him, and he’s not gone anymore. He’s right out there, laughing wildly, climbing out the side of the pool alongside Will, and getting ready for another round of cannonballs.
“You live in such a magical place. Your house, your skunk, your pool, and your mountains. I can see why you wouldn’t want to leave.”
I’m pretty sure she’s watching Will while I’m watching Apollo. I can think of another reason not to leave. Even if he said he’d come with me, he seems the most at home out here. Just like Mom would never want to leave New York if Will’s heart wasn’t in it, I don’t think Apollo’s would be in moving to a big city like that. Not saying it won’t be that way in the future, but right now, I think we’ve both found a measure of real happiness, and that’s rare in the world.