Total pages in book: 170
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160166 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 801(@200wpm)___ 641(@250wpm)___ 534(@300wpm)
I don’t move just yet, trying to smile but my lips barely curve. “Not really. But I guess there’s nothing I can do but wait for him to get out. And…I’m hungry.” Before I can ask her if she’s eaten, she cuts me off.
“That last one we can do something about.” She glances behind her and then quickly blows out the candles. “Would you rather cook or order something?”
“Cook,” I say instantly. “I need something to do…you know?”
She nods in understanding as she steps out into the hallway. “Cook first, then we could read cards, if you wanted. Or just talk. Or watch a show.” She rattles off options and doesn’t hesitate to the lead the way. The mix of emotions that comes over me is sudden and unexpected.
This woman owes me nothing. She barely even knows me. Yet she walks beside me, willing to stop whatever she was doing just to be here for me.
My throat tightens as I tell her I’ll be better once I’ve eaten. I think.
“I get that, too.” Aria locks up the studio. We head to the kitchen as she tells me Carter is going to fix it all and everything will be all right. All the while she talks. She never stops talking as she rummages through cupboards and the fridge. “Pasta and Bolognese sauce?”
I can only nod, not trusting myself to speak and just grateful that she’s doing this.
Aria gets out a pot and passes it to me. It’s one of the fancy ones, heavy, and looks brand new. With the tap above the stove, I fill it and then light the burner.
“So…how’d it go? Before…before the cops showed up and killed the mood?” she asks me as she leans against the counter.
It takes me a moment to speak up, I have to clear my throat first.
“It was really good.” I turn away from the pot. My mom thought the old saying about watched pots was true, so we always angled ourselves away while we waited for the water to heat. “Until it wasn’t.”
“Before that, though, you had a good time? Like did you find a ring?” she asks, glancing down at my hand that is very much lacking a diamond.
I nod, and then wish I had it with me. I wish I could show her.
“I bet he loved that.” Her tone is soft and comforting and something about it soothes a sadness that won’t let go.
“I think he did,” I say and a gentle smile finally pulls my lips up.
“Well whenever you’re ready I would love to see it,” she tells me while reaching up for a wine glass.
I can’t help it, I ask her what I couldn’t ask Nate, “Do you know why?”
She shakes her head gently as the glass hits the counter. As she removes the cork from the bottle she says, “I wouldn’t worry about it. Carter said the warrant should have never been approved.”
“So he knows?” I ask, my tone hopeful and I don’t know why.
She pours the wine, humming a yes and then says, “I wouldn’t ask unless you really want to know.”
I can only nod and then look back to check the water. Since its not boiling, I check the flame and realize it’s on low. I increase it, pushing down the emotions and all the questions piling up.
I don’t want to know. I don’t want to be a part of it. But my heart clenches, I want to know that he’ll be all right.
“What else?” she prompts me, changing the subject back to the good parts of today. “Was it tough to pick out a ring?”
“No. Nothing could measure up to the first one I really loved. Took a little while to convince myself of that, though.” I can’t help where my mind goes, “Maybe if I hadn’t taken so long—”
“Hey.” Aria looks me in the eyes. “Don’t second-guess yourself like that. None of this has anything to do with you.”
I only nod and try to avoid her prying gaze for as long as I can until I’m forced to look up.
Aria gives me a look that’s only slightly skeptical. “It seems like something else is on your mind.”
“I’m scared for Declan.”
“Don’t be.”
She’s so confident in her answer, lifting the glass to her lips and offering me one. I let out a laugh. “I don’t think I can stop worrying. I was also thinking about my mom and just…being married without her there, or without her even knowing. Getting married is it, you know? It means I’ll be in this life forever, and it doesn’t make sense to me that she wouldn’t know about it.” The words pour out of me in exasperation.
There’s so much that goes into a life. Kids laughing in a bedroom when they’re supposed to be asleep. Cooking meals with your husband, as long as he’s not in jail. A thousand little things like a wedding ceremony that your mom can be at and wedding pictures to look back on and….things like a wedding gown.