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)
My throat thickened, and I struggled to breathe.
Mom turned her full attention on me. “I’ve prayed for this day to come, for you to find your way to joy again. That you would find a path that would lead to the place where you belong…and that’s with Tessa.”
She lifted her glass. “To the happiness that you deserve because you, my son, you deserve it more than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Her voice got choppy, soggy with the affection that rippled out.
She shifted her adoring gaze to Tessa.
To the woman who stood beside me vibrating with emotion, too.
It’s not real.
It’s not real.
It’s not fucking real.
I chanted it to myself like I could make it so, but Mom had her hand on her chest like she was trying to keep her heart in place while she whispered, “And I am so thankful it is you. Tessa, you beautiful girl, the morning I showed up unannounced and found you here, I knew there was something so extraordinarily special about you. You are the hope that this family has been missing, and I will be forever grateful for you showing us that it’s a possibility. I love you, and I know that’s new, too, that it came on just as fast, but it’s true. I’m so happy to have you as my daughter.”
Tessa gulped, and I felt her spirit flail.
Her own loss stark.
This beautiful woman who’d lost so much.
It was a rare day my mom hadn’t stopped by to say hello, and they’d established a bond unlike anything I’d witnessed before. It only made this that much harder.
“I love you, too,” Tessa barely was able to murmur.
My mother nodded, and Tessa was moving forward and throwing her arms around her.
Their hug was fierce.
Different from when they’d first met.
Because in it was a promise.
A promise of a new life.
They finally separated, and both were wiping tears from their faces, whispering something under their breath.
And fuck, I nearly fell apart when Mom turned and wrapped her arms around my neck.
I had to bend down, and I was leaning into her as her mouth came to my ear and she murmured, “I see you terrified of finding love again, my son. I see you’re scared of losing it. Let this love be strong enough to carry you through it. Let her hold you when you feel like you can’t hang on any longer. Cling to each other, build each other up. And most of all, you let your beautiful heart live.”
I’m not sure I know how.
She pulled away and lifted her glass, gesturing it around to our guests.
“Now, I think we should officially announce these two as engaged with a special dance, don’t you?” My mother’s voice lifted at that.
Wariness took me hostage.
The music was turned back up, and everyone was standing, and the air was getting dense, even though a breeze whispered through.
Because these feelings were too heavy.
Too big.
Too much.
And Tessa was turning and grinning up at me.
Sly.
Sweet.
Alight.
The sun rising on the darkened day.
I felt her burning me through.
Scorching when she looped her arms around my neck. I banded one arm around her waist and pulled her flush against my chest.
Relief at her touch belted through my being.
“There you are,” she whispered up at my face, and she fluttered her fingertips down my beard, this precious woman who’d offered me everything.
My forehead dropped to hers, and I inhaled her deep into my lungs that kept aching for a way to fully be filled.
Strawberries and cream.
We barely swayed, just stood there together, me breathing her in as that energy burned around us.
Calling me to a place that I couldn’t go.
“Are you going to stand there all day or kiss the poor woman?” Logan shouted from the sidelines.
I eased back and found what was written on Tessa’s face.
The adoration.
The loyalty.
And that feeling rose up again.
Felt it struggling to pull me over.
Trip me up.
Telling me it would be fine to slide into the safety of a girl who wasn’t really mine.
Tessa’s lips parted, and there was no tease to it.
It was bare-naked hope.
Mad love, Milo. Mad, mad love, she mouthed.
Fuck.
I couldn’t do this. Couldn’t.
I pecked the quickest kiss to her mouth before I tore myself away, putting as much distance between us as I could, waving at our friends like everything was just fine.
While Tessa looked at me like I’d just rammed a knife directly through her heart.
TWENTY-NINE
MILO
FIVE YEARS AGO
Milo pressed a soft kiss to his daughter’s temple, the little child long asleep within the darkness of the small room. He brushed back the wild locks of her brown hair and stared at her precious face where she rested.
His spirit flailed.
He would do whatever it took to provide for his family.
He would fix this.
Make it right.
“Goodnight, my sweet Remy,” he murmured below his breath before he stood and walked out into the cramped living space of the trailer.