Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 77663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77663 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
I had no use for it, but I’m pretty sure when I told her to choose a house when she was twelve, she picked this one for that room alone. The shit makes me look like some soft-ass robber baron. A castle in the damn Rockies; whoever thought of that shit was into some serious shit. And since the place was built in the eighteen hundreds at the height of the gold rush, I can just imagine.
Another ten minutes went by before she came down the stairs, late for her own party. The doorbell rang one last time, and I told her to get it her damn self which she ignored. I opened the door and almost swallowed my tongue.
“You…. what are you…?” Before I could finish asking Amanda what she was doing here, my sister brushed by me and pulled her into the house.
“You’re finally here. I’ve been telling everyone about…. It’s her.” She exclaimed once she got a good look at Amanda.
Fuck! She’s about to blow my shit wide open.
“How did you find her?” She looked back and forth between Amanda and me with a shocked expression on her face. “You’re….” She actually went to grab her hand, but the boxes stopped her.
“Joy, Kyle’s looking for you.” Luckily for me, the kid was hanging out in the doorway to the kitchen, looking like a love-sick puppy. I needed her to shut the hell up and not give my shit away.
I’d forgotten that she knew what Amanda looked like from the picture I’d had two years ago when I first started investigating her. I didn’t know that she’d even remember what she looked like, given that the picture hadn’t been the best.
I ushered her out of the room while Amanda stood there with a questioning expression on her face. “Hi again. Um, I’m sorry; where should I put these?” She held out the boxes of cupcakes she was holding, and I took them from her.
“There’s more in the car; I’ll be right back.”
I stood there holding the boxes because I’d forgotten what I was supposed to do with them. Why does this keep happening? How did she know to show up now? There’s no way she could’ve known that I was coming to get her.
Geoffrey had only gotten back to me a couple of days ago because, apparently, she had gone to great lengths to make everything about her life secret. It took him longer than usual to cut through the red tape.
I wasn’t interested in anything else but the fact that she was divorced, but then he told me the background story behind that shit, and as much as I appreciated her asshole ex for being a cum bucket, the fact that he’d done her like that had my hackles raised.
I tried to find out all I could about her life here, but apart from the fact that she’d made some very powerful friends and had opened her bakery, there didn’t seem to be much else going on in her life. That was fine by me because I had plenty of ideas how to fill that shit up.
I was working on my strategy before going for her because I figured with a burn like that, she’d still be raw or something from the whole ordeal. But she’s here, in my house, huh. Yeah, whoever is sending these messages is coming through loud and clear.
CECILE
“What’s this I hear about you putting Deidre out of the house?” Why is this house such a mess? I don’t recall my son living like this. Granted, this place is nothing like the home he lost because of that bitch, but still.
There were dirty diapers on the couch and empty bottles all over the mantle. The place looked like it hadn’t been dusted in weeks, and the baby’s toys were scattered all over the floor. I started picking up while waiting for my son to answer.
He'd opened the door and gone right back to the couch where he’d been sitting before I showed up. I could barely stand to look at him because he didn’t look like my son. This person sitting in front of me looked lifeless, like he’d given up on life and nothing at all like the fun-loving, carefree boy I’d raised.
“Leave it alone, mom, it’s my personal business.” And why does he sound so mean all the time?
“I don’t understand; is this because she wants to get married? Why won’t you just marry her? She’s already given you a child. My grandchild deserves a happy home. A complete home, with both his parents.”
“Mom, I already told you I have a wife. I won’t marry anyone else.”
“Hah, that’s rich. You’re divorced, and besides, you don’t even know where she is. That selfish bitch just up and left the state without telling anybody anything, and that stuck-up family of hers are no help. At least Deidre stuck around.”