Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
However, in the height of summer, I still couldn’t get parked on the main thoroughfare at seven thirty p.m. My visits to the Gloaming had been rare since marriage, and I glanced into the mottled front window to find it packed inside. Georgie might even be in there with a few locals we used to share a weekly pint with. To my surprise, I didn’t feel the urge to go in and be with my mates.
Instead, I carried on my way, turning down the cobbled lane between the jail museum and the Chinese restaurant. Once the nights got darker, the lane would be lit by the Victorian-style lampposts, but this evening they weren’t as the sun still hadn’t set. My destination was William’s Wine Cellar. It sold a wide selection of alcohol, and as Allegra had just told me, a fairly good selection of nonalcoholic wine. She liked a particular brand that William’s sold. She’d mentioned offhand she fancied a glass, and I didn’t mind a quick trip to the village to retrieve it.
Now that the security system was installed, I felt safer about leaving Allegra alone in the house.
Pushing the glass doors open, I came to an abrupt halt at the sight of Aria standing at the counter, chatting to William. I hadn’t been alone with Allegra’s sister … well … ever.
She glanced at me, her eyebrows rising. “Jared.”
“All right?” I approached her reluctantly.
“Yeah.” She gestured to the two bottles on the counter. “Just grabbing some wine.” Pain I didn’t understand flashed across her face. “’Cause I can drink it.”
“Okay.” Looking to William, I nodded in greeting. “You got any Binnie’s NA red?”
William pushed away from the counter. “How many bottles?”
“Eh, make it two.”
“So, Ally sent you on an NA run, huh?” Aria gave me a small smile, even as she searched my face. I didn’t know what she was looking for, but I felt under inspection. Since I’d married my wife, I’d only seen Aria twice, and yet each time it was clear I was being judged. And I didn’t like it.
“I offered.”
Awkward silence fell between us as I pretended to study the whisky bottles behind William’s counter.
“So … how are you both?”
“Good.”
“How is Ally really doing? You know, after the chickens? She was pretty upset.”
“She’s getting there. Even talking about getting more chickens.”
“Oh, that’s good. How are you?”
I frowned and repeated, “Good.”
Aria snorted. “You’re not big on the talking, huh?”
I shrugged, not sure what she wanted me to say.
She leaned in. “I just want Ally to be happy. To settle down. To stop … to stop doing impulsive stuff.”
“Impulsive stuff?” I bit out.
“Look, you don’t know Allegra’s history. But this is not the first time she’s done something insane and paid for it. I don’t want her getting hurt again.” Concern etched Aria’s features. “I’m worried that she’s just built to self-destruct. I don’t want that to be true … so I really hope that whatever is going on between you works out. For both of you.”
Agitation thrummed through me. It was seriously difficult to keep my tongue in check. Because Allegra was right. As much as her sister might love her, she didn’t know her. Aye, she didn’t know the real reason Allegra went off the rails in high school, but it was clear she’d started to believe Allegra was just a fuck-up.
And fuck that.
I scoffed. “You don’t need to worry about Allegra self-destructing. The mere fact that you are tells me that in less than two months, I know and understand Allegra more than you ever tried to in twenty-five years.”
Aria’s jaw dropped just as William returned to the counter.
“How much?” I asked abruptly.
William frowned at my tone and told me.
I swiped my card over the payment terminal, feeling Aria’s eyes on me but refusing to look at her. Thanking William gruffly, I grabbed the bag with the bottles of NA and strode out of the shop.
A few seconds passed and I heard her heels on the cobbles behind me. “Jared, wait!”
Anger still thrummed hotly in my blood, but I stopped. Aria rounded me. The woman was taller than me in her sky-high shoes. Indignation snapped in her green eyes. I’d always found her a bit too cold and aloof for my tastes, but right then, she was as fiery as her sister as she growled, “What the hell does that mean?”
I shrugged. “Just what I said.”
“No one knows Ally better than me.”
I gave a bark of incredulous laughter and I moved to pass her. “You know fuck all about Allegra.”
Aria gripped my biceps. “What don’t I know?”
Shrugging out of her hold, I gave her a hard look. “Everything.”
I’d barely given her my back when she pleaded in a broken voice, “Jared, please.”
Instant remorse cut through me when I glanced back and saw the tears she struggled to hold in.