Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71165 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
So, there they were, the two most selfish people I knew, out there happily making plans for their wedding while I sat here in my tiny apartment alone.
My shoulders slumped.
My personal life was in a shambles. After what Steven and Tiffany did, I left Bison Ridge, and everything that was familiar to me and moved to New York City where I was still finding it hard to make friends. My neighbors preferred a nod and a distant smile to anything real, and I was still too raw to actually go out and make new friends. Hearing that Tiffany was getting married made my nonexistent social life seem even more pathetic.
“Willow? Are you still there?” Olivia asked. A note of worry had crept into her voice.
“When is the wedding?” I croaked.
“Er… in eight weeks.” In my mind’s eye I could see her wincing as she said it.
“January? Tiffany is getting married in the dead of winter?” I noted, surprised. For as long as I could remember she had always planned a spring wedding for herself.
They must be in a hurry to get hitched. I really read them both completely wrong. Tears filled my eyes and I quickly wiped them off with the back of my hand. I hated that even now they could still hurt me.
“Willow darling, are you okay?” Olivia asked.
“Yes, of course,” I replied immediately, even though I was clearly not okay. Not by a long shot. I felt mortally wounded. As if I was a small animal in the woods and someone had thrown a spear at me, and now it was stuck in my side.
I gripped the phone tighter and gritted my teeth. I was not a loser and I was not going to let my family see my pain. My whole family had all taken Tiffany’s side. Had my father been alive, he would not have tolerated that kind of behavior in his family. Dad had been the fairest man I’d ever known.
Tiffany would have been the outcast, not I. After I left, the family had embraced them both, even though they all knew she had stolen him from me. A wave of grief came over me, almost knocking me over, as a deep longing for my father swept over me.
“Um… one more thing…” Olivia trailed.
“What?” I asked, dreading her answer.
Olivia hesitated for a couple of seconds. “Tiff is pregnant.”
I thought of petite, glamorously skinny, snake-hipped Tiffany and for a few seconds, I couldn’t even imagine her pregnant, but it sure explained the January wedding.
“Poor thing suffers from terrible morning sickness,” Olivia mumbled into the bruised silence.
I was the oldest, my father’s child, Tiffany was my stepmother’s child from another marriage, the spoiled one who got her way all the time, and Olivia was the youngest, the child who belonged to both parents. Consequently, she took their love as a given as she never had to win favors from either parent. That made her confident of her place in the world and she became the one who tried to make everyone happy. She was doing it now too.
“Of course, Tiffany suffers terribly,” I muttered bitterly.” Tiffany can’t get a cough without thinking it’s lung cancer.”
“Yes, she can be a bit of a drama queen,” Olivia agreed with a small awkward laugh. There was another uncomfortable silence before she rushed into it with what was obviously a prepared pitch. “Um… are you going to come for the wedding? Obviously, we’d all love you to come, but you don’t have to. I mean, no one would blame you if you didn’t. It could be awkward and really difficult for you. Why should you put yourself through the pain of watching Tiffany marry your ex-boyfriend—”
“I’ll be there,” I cut in firmly.
“Willow—”
“It’s fine, Olivia,” I interrupted in a weirdly crisp voice. “It won’t be difficult for me at all. To tell the truth Steven is a narcissist. We would eventually have broken up anyway, and I’m actually quite happy he’s found someone who suits him better.”
“Really?” Olivia asks doubtfully.
“Yes, really. To be perfectly honest, I’ve moved on and even met a nice guy. While its early days, things are looking promising,” I babbled on while a part of me stood aside and watched incredulously at the brazen lies that were flying out of my mouth.
“Oh! You already met someone new?”
“Yes,” I squawked. My whole body felt hot with guilt.
“Well, that’s really great news, Willow. I’m so happy for you. I’ll tell everyone at home. They’ll be so relieved. We’ve been worried you might still be broken-hearted. Family gatherings have not been the same without you.” She paused for a second, then said the words that made my head spin. “I know… why don’t you bring your new man along to the wedding?”
“Okay, I will,” I heard myself say calmly, but my eyes were squeezed shut with horror at the mess I’d dug myself into.