Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
I pull up in the road that leads to the house and park behind the truck. I get out now and look over through the tall grass and see her hopping by herself. I watch her, and I swear to God I can’t explain it, but I would do anything in the world for her. She looks up now and sees me. “Uncle Reed!" she yells and runs to me, pushing her hair behind her ears. I squat down now as she gets close. “Did you think about me?" she asks, and I look at her smiling. “My ears were ringing." She laughs, and I want to take her and pull her to me and kiss her neck. I want to tell her how sorry I am for not being there for her first step. I want to tell her how sorry I am for missing everything.
"I thought about you all day,” I say, blinking away the tears. “Where is your mom?" I ask, looking around.
"She is making me cookies ’cause I fell, and I bleeded.” She points at her knee. “Over a fucking rock.” I roll my lips.
“I don’t think you should say that word,” I say. “Where did you fall?”
“Over there.” She points at the tall grass. “I didn’t see it, and I fell."
I reach out and touch her knee with my finger. “I bet you were really brave,” I say, and she shrugs. "What kind of cookie is Mom making?"
"Chocolate chip." She smiles now. “Is that your favorite?"
"It is." I don’t add in that it is now. "It’s my favorite."
The door opens now. “Sofia!" Hazel yells her name, and her eyes find mine. "Come get cookies."
I look back to see Hazel standing on the porch. “Momma," Sofia says. “Uncle Reed was thinking about me all day. My ears were ringing." She starts walking, then turns and comes back to slip her hand in mine. “Come on, I’ll share my cookies with you."
Chapter 18
Hazel
I open the door and yell her name. “Sofia. Come get cookies." I look for her, and my eyes find Reed. My heart speeds up as I watch the two of them.
"Momma!" Sofia yells. “Uncle Reed was thinking about me all day. My ears were ringing." She starts to walk to me and stops, turning back and going back to Reed. She slips her hand in his and looks up at him. “Come on, I’ll share my cookies with you."
The lump in my throat grows even bigger as they walk toward me. He’s wearing jeans and a white shirt, and he’s even hotter than he was six years ago. He made my stomach flutter even back then, but now that he’s all grown up, he’s taken it to a whole different level. "We have to wash our hands,” she tells Reed. “Or no cookies."
She walks into the house, and Reed stops in front of me. “Hey," he says softly. “I didn’t."
I just shake my head. “It’s fine." He walks in, and I wait a couple of seconds before walking in. Putting my hand to my stomach, I let out the breath I was holding when he walked by me. This whole day has been one thing after another, starting with him showing up here this morning. Then Savannah came over, only to have Sofia fall and scratch her knee. The sound of her shrieking made my blood run cold. I got there in record time, and I was expecting to find something broken. The blood was running down her leg in thick drops. I carried her in and cleaned the area, thinking for sure she would need stitches. How the fuck would this look to Reed? I’ve second-guessed every single thing I’ve said and done since he found out that Sofia is his.
"You put soap." I hear Sofia. “And then you sing your ABCs," she sings now. “Now I know my ABCs, won’t you come and play with me,” she sings louder. “Now you can rinse." I walk into the kitchen and see her sitting on the counter, knowing he picked her up and put her there. “See,” she says, turning now and grabbing the rag, and semi wiping her hands down. “All clean."
"Thank you," Reed says when she hands him the towel. He wipes his hands and now picks her up, and I see that he wants to kiss her cheek, but all he does is smile at her. His eyes are filled with all the love I thought they would be.
"Momma," Sofia says, looking at me. “Can we have a cookie before the spaghetti?" she asks, and I look over at Reed.
"I usually don’t feed her dessert before dinner." I have this crazy need for him to know that I’m a good mom. "It’s just, she fell before, and I …"
He holds his hand up to stop me from talking, and I thank God since I have a feeling I would have word vomited. It’s like I can’t stop saying the wrong thing. "Sometimes, a cookie before dinner makes you even hungrier." He smirks at me. “But only one."