Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Um, yes, even you. You’re all bossy and commanding. I can only imagine how you will be when your future wife has a baby.” There is something in her voice, something that tells me that she’s not as blasé about this as she would like for me to think.
I want to tell her that she could be that woman, my wife, the mother of my babies, but I’ve already made things uncomfortable with us once tonight. “I’d be chill.”
“Not a chance.”
“Okay, maybe not, but the love of your life and a tiny human that’s a part of both of you… that’s a big fucking deal, Scar.” I realize my words could seem insensitive to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think,” I’m quick to apologize.
She waves me off. “You’re right. It is a big deal. You and your brothers, you’re all good men.” She turns to stare out the window. “Sometimes I like to pretend they were just young and couldn’t afford a baby or didn’t have family support, and they wanted to give me a better life.”
“Maybe that’s what happened.”
“I’ll never know. That’s hard, you know? Not knowing your history or where you came from. I’ve thought about doing one of those mail-in DNA tests, but I’m afraid of what it might say. I might find siblings or my parents, and I don’t know how I would handle that. Jack and Tiffany Hatfield were my parents.”
Reaching over, I take her hand in mine. I don’t have words to help her with this. She’s right. There is a good chance she will never know her birth parents. “They loved you.”
“They chose me,” she says, the sadness evident in her tone. She stares out the window, lost in thought, and I give her the time she needs. “You know what I wish?”
I glance over at her. “What’s that?”
“That they could have met you. They would have loved you for me.”
I feel a weight on my chest. It’s so heavy that I glance in my rearview mirror and signal to pull to the side of the road. Putting the truck in Park, I hit the button for my flashers, check the mirror one more time, and climb out of the truck.
My heart feels like it could explode out of my chest. If I didn’t know that the beautiful woman in my truck was the reason, I might think I was ready to have a heart attack.
When I reach for the door handle to open her door, I see that my hands are shaking. Not from anger but from how deeply I feel for her. I’ve held it in. She knows I care about her, but she doesn’t know to what extent.
She doesn’t know that my heart is hers. But she’s about to.
Gripping the handle, ignoring the way my hands shake, I pull open her door. She’s already got her seat belt off and turns to face me as if she’s going to get out of the truck. I don’t give her a chance as I step as close to her as I can. I place my hands on her thighs and move her legs to wrap around my waist. I crush her in a hug because, damn, I just need to hold her. I need to organize my thoughts, but there is nothing but chaos in my head. Her words bouncing around like a ping-pong ball.
“That they could have met you. They would have loved you for me.”
“Archer?” There’s uncertainty in her voice, and I know she thinks it’s something she said or did, and it was, but not in a bad way.
Pulling out of our embrace, I frame her face with my hands. Her emerald eyes are filled with questions. But there is only one answer. “I love you, Scarlett.” She sucks in a haggard breath at my confession. “I’m in love with you.” My chest is rapidly rising with exertion because I’ve held these feelings in for far too long, and it’s time she knows.
“Archer,” she whispers my name as tears well in her eyes.
“They chose you, and so do I. No matter where life takes us, you will always be the love of my life.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I can. I do. I have never felt this connection with anyone else. You’re my once-in-a-lifetime, baby.” I kiss her softly. “I know my confession doesn’t change things. I know you’re destined for greater things than this small town of Willow River, Georgia, but I need you to know that wherever you are, my heart is with you.”
Wet eyes spill big fat tears that roll down her cheeks. I smooth them away with my thumbs. She opens her mouth to reply but quickly shuts it as more tears fall, shaking her head. She’s smiling, and that smile is so full of love I don’t need her words. I can see the truth written all over her face.