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)
Flustered, Tessa let go of a haggard breath.
She warred, and something flashed through her expression when she glanced at me, something that shouldn’t have been there, something that should have been missing when she whispered the lie, “I do. Very much.”
I could feel Remy searching her, like the child wished she could dig through her mind, that her trust wasn’t quite there, which was no surprise since this world hadn’t given her much to believe in.
I cleared my throat, unable to take the tension for a second longer. “We should get set up.”
Scout hopped to his feet without care. “Lunchtime!”
I pushed to stand. Remy remained pinned to my side, though she barely made it to my waist. Reaching out a hand, I helped Tessa to her feet.
“Thank you,” she murmured, her eyes on me for a beat before they were on Remy, her expression riddled with this empathy that made emotion clot up my throat.
Then she reached out and ruffled her fingers through Scout’s hair. “Let’s get you fed, Rocketman.”
Scout giggled like it was the best thing he’d ever heard, then the two of them went skipping toward where I’d dumped our things.
A playfulness took over Tessa as she said something that made Scout crack up. She grabbed the blanket and started to spread it out under the shade of a tree, and Scout was right there to help her, fumbling to get a grip on one side. He tripped and fell backward onto his butt. Instantly, he popped back up, still holding onto one side of the blanket, the kid likely making the job a whole ton harder.
All while a quiet sadness and confusion emanated from my daughter.
“You good, Remy Girl?” I mumbled, still staring ahead, tucking her closer to me where I had my arm slung around her shoulder.
“It just feels weird that you came here with someone,” she whispered like she was ashamed of admitting it.
“Are you okay with that?”
Pain clouded her eyes when she looked up at me. “I don’t like you being alone, but I heard Grandma say you don’t deserve love and that you don’t have any of it to give, either.”
My attention snapped to where Paula sat at a picnic table under a ramada.
Anger burned in my guts.
How could she fucking say something like that in front of my kids?
Turning to Remy, I knelt in front of her and brushed the locks of brown hair from her precious face. “Your grandma is still very, very sad, Remy, because she misses your mom so much, and it’s really hard for her to see through it. It makes her say things that aren’t true.”
I took her by the outside of her shoulders. “But no matter what she says, I need you to know that I love you with every part of me. You and Scout? You are my life. You are what is important to me. You are the reason I live.”
She blinked, processing, before she murmured, “And Tessa, too?”
Fuck. I looked to the ground for a beat before I returned my gaze to my daughter. “Yeah, Tessa, too, but what I feel for her will never take anything away from what I feel for you and your brother. Do you understand?”
“I think so.”
“Okay, good. Now how about we go get some lunch before your brother eats it all?” I forced an easy smile.
Remy gave me one of her half-lopsided grins. “We’d better. Grandma said he’s eating her out of house and home.”
Yeah, well not for long.
“Go, go, go!” Tessa jumped up and down, rooting on Remy who’d thrown the Frisbee and was currently rounding the bases.
I scooped Scout into my arms, and he and I raced toward the Frisbee that’d rolled out the right side of the baseball field.
Scout was bouncing all over, his laughter filling the air, my little guy kicking my sides like I was a horse. “Hurry, Dad, hurry, Remy is so really fast, and we gotta catch her before she gets all the way to home base.”
I dipped down to snag the Frisbee, holding tight to Scout as I tipped him upside down, making him holler and laugh uncontrollably while Tessa was shouting, “You’re almost there, Remy! Whoop, whoop! Team Remy-T Wreckers coming in for the win. Yeah, baby!”
Scout’s eyes went wide. “Go, Dad! We gotta catch her. Rocket speed!”
I shifted him, tucking his side to mine so he could stretch out his arms like he was flying, and I was supplying the rocket propulsion as we bounded back the opposite direction, a bunch of sounds bubbling out of my mouth as I found a lightness I hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
Remy rounded third base.
Tessa jumped up and down on the pitcher’s mound, waving her hands in the air and cheering on my kid. “Go, Remy, go!”
Both their faces were red.