Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
I look around, making sure no one is trying to shoot off any more guns before I see Shelby and Presley walking toward me, holding up a glass of champagne. “What is that for?”
“That is for this,” Shelby declares, holding her hand up, and I look around at all the hard work I did the past two weeks to make this a reality. I can’t help but feel proud I actually pulled it off.
“It was easy with you guys helping me,” I tell her, and she just throws her head back and laughs.
“This was all you,” Presley compliments, “the little touches of detail are everything.” She turns and points at the empty wine barrels I found with rustic glass vases on top with candles. Instead of round tables, I put long tables so everyone can more or less be together. In the middle of the tables are little round pieces of wood that hold the flowers on them.
“That shake it like a Polaroid picture is amazing,” Shelby declares, pointing at the big board that has string hanging, waiting for pictures to be added. There will be a photographer snapping pictures of everyone when they arrive and then hanging the pictures up. “She’s going to love it.”
“I hope so,” I tell them. “Speaking of the bride, I need to make sure everything is going okay, and everyone is less sweet tea and more normal.” I smile at them as I turn and walk out of the barn.
The sound of birds chirping off in the distance fills me with a peace, of sorts. Until I hear shots again. This time I look up and see Billy and Cooper Sr. standing together, while he shows him how to hold the gun.
I put my hands on my head before I run toward them. “Do you think we can hide all the weapons for today?” I ask Billy, who just smiles at me.
“Will do, lass,” he agrees, ignoring me and turning and walking away from me. I turn back, running to the bride’s room, and when I’m about to open the door, another shot fires through the air.
I rush, gasping for breath. “Everything is fine,” I pant out when I walk into the room. I try to settle my breathing as I push my hair to the side and put a smile on my face, even though it’s a fake smile. “The men were thinking of maybe saluting you guys by shooting off guns and one sort of misfired.” I see the horror on Sofia’s face, and I know I have to calm the situation down. “No one is hurt.”
She laughs at me at the same time someone knocks at the door. “Can I come in?” a male voice says as he sticks his head in. “I come with gifts.” I turn my head to look toward the door and the voice.
It’s as if everything happens in slow motion. I can literally hear myself blink as it happens. My eyes fall onto the man who is coming in. I can feel the blood drain out of my whole body as he steps in, his six-foot-four frame filling the room. His black hair that felt like silk under my fingers is styled perfectly on his head. He doesn’t have to look at me for me to know that his eyes are green. He’s wearing tan pants with a white shirt and a tan vest; the same thing the groom’s party will be wearing. Someone gasps and I have to wonder if it’s Sofia, and when I turn to her, I see her looking at me with confusion on her face. It’s then I realize I’m the one who gasped. It was me. This can’t be happening, I think to myself; my head feels like it’s spinning around and around at the same time that I feel the room spinning the complete opposite way. My mouth goes drier than the desert on a hot summer day, my tongue feels like it just grew in my mouth. The back of my neck slowly starts to get clammy and my fingers are tingly. Am I having a stroke? Maybe he’s not here in front of me. Maybe it’s my mind playing tricks on me from the sun and heat from outside. Maybe I got shot by one of the bullets.
All these things run through my mind but halt when his eyes stop looking around the room and then, finally, he’s looking straight at me. “Oh my God,” I declare as I put my hand to my mouth. “It’s you.” It’s him, the man who has been haunting my dreams for the last five years. The man I met one night in a bar and went home with. The man who all I knew is I fell in love with his name. The man who is the father of my child. The minute I think of Avery, I know I have to get out of here and get her away from here. Except, I have no idea where she is. I know she’s somewhere with Shelby’s kids and she is fine.