Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
“He is.” She said it with a smile in her eyes. “After I gave birth to each of them, he pretty much took care of them for a week while I recovered. He steps up without having to be asked. And I love the way he shows them love. He’ll be their favorite, but I’ve made my peace with it.”
“A father can never replace a mother. And a mother can never replace a father. They’ll love you both the same, just differently.”
“I hope so.” She finished the sandwich before she drank her wine. “How are things around here?”
“Peaceful. Quiet. Easy.” My body was bathed in the waters of luxury, but my mind had been left behind in that burning house. It was still hard to accept this new reality, that a man had risked his life to save mine. And not just any man, but a man with a heart even more beautiful than his face.
“And with Theo?”
I looked down at the wineglass that I hadn’t touched. “We haven’t talked much. He said he needed time.”
“Time for what?”
“To be ready to talk about what happened. He’s having a hard time with it.”
The glow in her eyes faded like the setting sun. “He’s such a sweetheart.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“He’s stone on the surface but soft earth on the inside,” she said. “Are you…in the same place you used to be?”
“In what way?”
“Do you still have feelings for him?”
A laugh almost burst from my chest. “More than feelings.” Anytime I looked at him, I was struck with a surge of longing that almost floored me. “I would give anything, and I mean anything, to go back and do things differently. I fell for him so fucking fast, and when he ended things…the bullet hit the bone. I wish I’d let it go. I should have let it go.”
“You made the best decision with the information you had at the time. You didn’t know Bolton was a liar.”
“But Theo warned me, and I didn’t listen.”
“It would be hard for anyone to believe their very own husband would be so disloyal. That they could lie better than they told the truth. You’re being hard on yourself. And Theo is being hard on himself too. It’ll take time for both of you to move past your own issues, but when you do, I think you should give this another chance.”
“I want another chance, but I’m not sure if Theo will give it to me.”
“He will,” she said. “He’s been a wreck since you left.”
Another round of guilt hit me.
“Your time together was so brief and constrained. Imagine how incredible it could be if you were given a real chance.”
I didn’t want to let myself entertain the idea. It made me too hopeful and excited. Like a kid about to get exactly what they wanted on Christmas morning. It was in close reach, but just too far to touch. “He always said that he wasn’t emotionally available. Now I know it’s because of Shayla.” Because he’d loved someone with all his heart and lost her. I didn’t want to compete with a ghost he revered. I would lose every time.
“He’s like a rock in the ocean tide. Give it enough time, and he’ll soften into sand.”
Over a week had come and gone.
Theo and I only spoke once. I spent the majority of my days in my bedroom, and I wasn’t sure where he was most of the time. There was no way for me to know whether he was home or not. The place was so big that I wouldn’t be able to hear his door open or close. He seemed to have an unpredictable schedule. Sometimes out all night and sometimes in bed right after dinner.
I ventured into other parts of the house, having my meals in the dining room as I looked out the window, seeing the beautiful view of the Duomo a couple blocks away. The food was great, and the solitude was exactly what I needed to find a sense of calm. To begin to accept that the past was gone and out of reach. A whole life was before me, and I hoped that life included Theo.
I sat at the dinner table and enjoyed my first course, a small salad with homemade champagne dressing, with wedges of grapefruit and avocado. A different glass of wine was brought to me with each course, so I never had to decide what kind of wine I should drink.
When the second course came, the butler put a plate in front of the seat across from me, a piece of steak with greens and long-grain rice.
My heart burst in excitement…and nervousness.
Theo walked in wearing just his sweatpants, the bandage on his shoulder gone, with a scar to replace it. It was a thin line, distinct because it was still slightly inflamed, despite the fact that it had healed.