Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138683 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
“Paula isn’t going to be excited to see you,” I reiterated for about the tenth time, trying to prepare Tessa for the shitshow that was likely to go down.
“I know, and that’s okay.” The words were barely wisps from Tessa’s mouth.
She peeked over at me.
Ocean eyes swam with a thousand different currents.
A riptide where I was going to drown.
An encouraging smile lit on her sweet mouth. “We have this, Milo Hendricks. We make a great team, remember?”
My guts fisted when I looked at her.
“Yeah, we make a great team.” The words were shards, filled with these broken feelings I couldn’t get free of my skin.
Hot and sticky.
She rubbed her palms on her jean-covered thighs like she was wiping the feeling away, too, before she popped the latch to her door. “Ready?”
“Yup.”
I opened mine, and we climbed out. We rounded to the back, where I lifted the tailgate and pulled out the cooler we’d packed this morning at the house before we’d left.
Tessa grabbed the picnic blanket, a Frisbee, and a football, the giant bundle tucked to her chest. It was piled so high that I could barely see her face from behind it, the girl so goddamn cute as she shuffled anxiously from foot to foot.
“Got it,” she asserted with a resolute nod.
We started across the rambling lawn of the park. We passed by a smaller playground up front, a soccer field, and ramadas housing picnic tables and barbecues.
My pulse thudded harder with each step that I took, knowing I was leading Tessa into the eye of a quiet, deathly storm.
I knew when Paula felt our approach, the way her spine went rigid and revulsion crawled over her flesh.
A palpable hatred that gutted me all over again.
It took her a second to gather her strength before she finally turned to look back at me. Her angry, grief-stricken eyes widened in surprise before they narrowed in spite when she saw I wasn’t alone.
She whipped the rest of the way around and all but ran toward us, cutting off our path.
Tremors rocked from Tessa as she prepared herself for a fight.
Paula started hissing as she quickly closed in, her voice held from my kids who still hadn’t noticed we were there.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Autumn’s mother was younger than my own, but her hair had fully grayed, the lines on her face carved by the torment she’d succumbed to for the last four years.
I swallowed down the hurt that wanted to spew from my mouth as hatred because she was good to my kids, and I knew what it felt like to have your heart ripped out.
It was the same pain that made Paula strike at every turn.
I set the cooler on the ground, took the blankets from Tessa, and set them on top of it, trying to keep my shit together, to guard myself from the loathing that flooded from Autumn’s mother.
I wound my fingers through Tessa’s and tugged her to my side, clearing my throat. “Paula, this is my fiancée, Tessa McDaniels.”
I might as well have kicked her in the gut with the way she took it as a physical blow.
Her body swayed, and her hand wrapped around her stomach before she was rebounding and forcing herself upright.
Disgust and pain left her on a condescending laugh. “Your fiancée?”
“Yes.”
Tessa fidgeted at my side, though she did her best to hide her nerves. “Hi, it’s very nice to—”
“I don’t want your whore anywhere near my grandchildren.”
I wanted to tear into her, get in her face, but I forced myself to keep control.
Not to let go or give into the demons that howled.
Monday had been a glaring reminder of how easily I could.
I clutched Tessa’s hand. The girl a lifeline. “You don’t get a say in that, Paula. This is my day.”
I’d already confirmed it with my attorney when I’d set an appointment for the upcoming week.
“Not if it puts my grandbabies in harm’s way,” Paula spat.
Tessa swallowed, hurt and sympathy coming off her in waves, the girl drowning in this turmoil, too.
“I can assure you I’m no threat to them. I’m a teacher at Redemption Hills Christian Academy, and I run the Hope to Hands Foundation. I’m CPR and first aid certified, and I—”
“I don’t care what you are.” Venom whipped from Paula’s tongue, cutting Tessa off.
I should have expected it.
Hell, I had.
Still, there was no stopping the rush of protectiveness that exploded in me. The way I wanted to wrap Tessa up and shield her from Paula’s vile slurs.
I pulled Tessa closer. “You can direct your anger at me, Paula, and I’ll take it, but Tessa doesn’t deserve it, and I won’t stand for it.”
“You won’t stand for it? I don’t think you have any say in the matter.”
Tessa inhaled a sharp breath. Yeah, I’d warned her, but I doubted much that she could imagine a single person being so cruel.