Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
“Trav, honey?” my mom chimes in, and he looks over at her. “How about you just sit there and eat your food?”
Wendy lifts a hand to cover her mouth, giggles shooting up from her lungs in the process.
And pretty much everyone bursts into laughter. I’m not sure if it’s out of actual humor or a coping mechanism. But all of us laugh for a good two minutes straight over Travis’s observations that he probably should’ve just kept to himself.
“Has anyone heard from the kids?” Daisy asks once our laughter dies down, looking over at her husband—and my brother—Flynn. “I feel like they’ve all been gone a long time to pick up some pizza.”
All day, my mom and Wendy have been cooking up a feast of spaghetti, garlic bread, chicken parmigiana, and sides. But when everyone started to show up and they realized how big the family gets when the Winslows and Hayeses are combined, they decided to send my sister Winnie’s daughter Lexi out on a pizza run. Unfortunately, once she agreed to go, the rest of my new siblings’ kids decided they wanted to join in on the fun too, which is a logistical nightmare because of how many of them there are. Wendy and her husband Howard offered up their Sprinter van for capacity.
Not even five minutes later, Lexi, Remy’s girls Carmen and Izzy, Flynn’s twin sons Roman and Ryder, Ty’s daughter Emily, Winnie’s son and Lexi’s brother Wes Jr., and Jude’s son Hawk and his daughter Meadow all piled into the fucker like the next act on this year’s Circus tour.
Their ages run from eleven to fifteen—which is crazy because they’re not much younger than Willow.
“Have no fear. I have Life 360 on Hawk’s phone, and it looks like they’re only a few miles away,” Jude’s wife Sophie says, and Daisy furrows her brow.
“You only have Hawk on Life 360? Not Meadow?”
Sophie laughs. “Have you met my son?”
“True,” Daisy agrees, and Remy’s wife Maria grins.
“I think Rem and I would be in an early grave if we had a Hawk.”
“That’s because, like Mom says, we’re old as shit, honey,” Remy teases, and Maria nudges him with her elbow. Wendy rolls her eyes. “Or, at least, I am. You, my beautiful wife, don’t look a day over thirty-five. I look fifty-fucking-eight.”
“That’s because you are,” Jude razzes. “You’re old as shit.”
“Yeah, but he ages like a fine wine,” Maria says and presses a kiss to Remy’s lips.
All this open affection is commonplace here, but it’s the opposite of what I’m used to.
I grew up in a house where the only love that existed was the love my mother gave us. I never saw love between my mother and father. Only anger. Only violence. Only hate. Only fear.
Their DNA is shit, but the Winslows are like a flower finding its way through a crack in concrete. It makes me feel like maybe I can be a flower too.
“Hey, Remy,” Maria says, and he looks over at his wife. “Don’t you think now is a good time to…you know…”
He searches her eyes for a long moment, but when realization dawns on him, he nods in understanding. “Oh, right.” He stands and raises his glass in the air. “I know Mom just did a toast, but I have some news that I think deserves another.” He moves his eyes to my mom. “Helen, I know I’m not the only one here who is proud of you for having the strength to leave a man who has affected all our lives. A man who doesn’t deserve a single person in this room.”
A few tears stream from my mom’s eyes. Wendy sniffles.
“Maria and I know the challenges that you face,” he continues. “We consider you a part of our family now. And I’m not sure if you’ve realized this yet, but when you’re our family, we have your back.”
“Yes, we do!” Jude exclaims. Flynn, Ty, and Winnie all nod in agreement.
“And since the man who doesn’t even deserve for us to speak his name is behind bars and awaiting a trial that will undoubtedly lock him away forever, we think you deserve a fresh start. A home that you can fill with happy memories and love,” he explains.
“Uncle Brad wants his lake house back, doesn’t he?” Jude teases, earning a flip of the middle finger from Remy.
“We’ve located a house in Westchester for you and Jack and Travis and Willow. It’s a nice five-bedroom home, big enough for Finn and Reece if they come home for the summers. It’s within walking distance to the high school, and it’s only a ten-minute drive to your job.”
“Remy. Maria.” My mother’s head begins to shake back and forth in shock. “W-what are you saying?”
“We’re saying that the house is yours. It’s fully paid off and ready for you to move in,” Remy announces, and Maria stands up to hand my mother a small white box with a pretty yellow bow.