Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
I wonder if Will’s wife was his greatest love and that’s why he won’t marry again.
Though I’m not sure I really want the answer to that question.
I was there to pick up the pieces after my father died. My mother worked so hard. She poured all of her love into me, and at times, I wondered if I was a burden. It’s why I’m unsure if I want to have children. I couldn’t do it on my own like my mother had. She’s the strongest woman I know. Then again, maybe the thought of starting a family terrifies me. After all, nothing’s guaranteed. It’s so much easier for the man to up and leave. And it’ll be me picking up the pieces again.
She’s lived in the same house since I was a child. My parents bought this house before I was born, and my mother loves it here. It’s a modest three-bedroom brick home. When my father passed away, she used most of his life insurance to pay off the house, keeping some for us to live off. She was able to afford things that she wouldn’t, have living off one wage and raising a child. She had the same car all while I was growing up, and when I hit twenty, that’s when she bought herself a new one.
She still has it.
I think it’s why I crave change. I’m so used to my mother not wanting it.
“You know you could move on, Mom. You could open your heart to someone else, and it wouldn’t diminish your love for Dad any less,” I tell her.
I only have a few memories of my father, but I recall the way he would twirl her around every day when he got home from work, then he would dip her and kiss her. After he said hello to her, that’s when I would get my hello.
He always said that she came first. She was the most important person in his life because she created his love, and me, but most of all, that love came from them. So why wouldn’t he treasure the most important person in his life?
I never felt less than. I just loved my father, and I loved watching him love my mother.
When I was a child, I thought I’d be like some princess and one day I would have a love like that.
But the day my dad passed, and with everything that happened afterward, I learned that love can also break a woman and leave many pieces behind. I ended up seeking validation from men who didn’t deserve me, and at the time, I was too naïve to realize it. For some reason, I was always attracted to the bad boys, until I snapped out of it and fled the last guy I’d been seeing.
I have kissed so many frogs that I’m unsure if I will ever get my prince. I don’t even know if I believe in them anymore. Some people might think Will is prince-like, but he’s anything but. He’s an utter asshole. The only charming thing about him is his accent, and even then, when he speaks, he grates on my nerves. But that mouth can do so many other magical things.
“It’s not that I haven’t tried, Alina. I have gone on a few dates. But none compare to your father, so why even bother?” She shrugs and goes back to cooking her soup. “Tell me about Will.”
I sigh, exasperated, knowing better than to try and change a topic with my mother. “There’s not much to tell.”
“There’s always something to tell. Now, open up, missy, or you won’t be getting any of this soup.”
I roll my eyes because she knows I want that soup, and I haven’t eaten since… Well, since I had two bites of my toast and Will ate the rest.
“He used to be a detective,” I tell her. She looks over her shoulder at me.
“Used to be?”
“Yes. Apparently, he now gets paid a lot to track people down.”
“Like a bounty hunter?” Her brows raise in surprise.
I smile wickedly, wishing he were here to hear it. “Exactly like a bounty hunter.”
“What an unusual job. How do you know he gets paid a lot?”
“He told me. And if you ever saw him prim and proper in his immaculate suits and expensive cologne, you would know the guy isn’t any pennies short.” I don’t want to go into the fact that he’s so loaded he can so easily bet away a plane and how my bank account is flush with cash right now, thanks to him.
I’m not complaining.
“I’m confused,” she says. “He sounds like he has his life together. A businessman with ambition in his career is willing to meet your mother, dresses nicely, and has an accent. Where is he falling short?” Her mouth goes wide. “Oh. Is he… not well endowed?”