Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 66753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66753 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Her phone rings in her hand and she eyes the screen “That’s him.” She pushes to her toes and kisses me. “I’m going to tell him. Are you okay with that?”
“Yes, tell him.”
She smiles, as if this pleases her and answers the line before disappearing inside.
I follow her inside and Molly is nowhere in sight so I assume she’s with Bella. I sit down on the couch, and the entire idea of another will drives me to reach for a file. My father disliked it when I didn’t figure out his puzzles. Actually, he also disliked it when I did figure out his puzzles. And there was always a price to pay. I have Bella with me now. I can’t risk not knowing that price.
Chapter Fifty-Two
Bella
Dinner is at a steak place nowhere near downtown my father has to go to when he’s in town. He hates crowds during his off time because he lives in them at the tracks. We arrive on time and valet the car. Tyler meets me on my side of the car. We’re casual tonight, in jeans and sweaters, which I think is a good thing. Tyler is far more approachable, far more my father’s kind of person, as he is now.
He tips the valet and I stare down at my ring as it glistens in the overhead lights. It’s not a ring you buy for a fake fiancée. It’s a ring you buy for your future wife, not that the ring has to be expensive to be proper. For me, it’s about him picking it out, and not being able to resist buying it. It’s a plus that he has good taste.
“Something wrong?” he asks, catching my hand in his hand and inspecting the ring with me.
“Not one little thing,” I assure him, and when he slides his arm around me, I lean into him and let him guide me toward the door.
He doesn’t believe me and halts us just before we enter the restaurant. “Why were you staring at it like it’s an alien?”
I laugh. “I was just thinking of the story you told me about picking it out, and how special that makes it.”
His shoulders actually slump, as if he’d been bracing himself for me to back out of everything. I push to my toes and kiss his cheek. “I’m happy, Tyler. I don’t care about the will. I don’t care about the six-month thing. And I’m glad you’re meeting my father. He means the world to me.”
He kisses me and says, “Me, too, baby.”
A few minutes later, we join Dash and Allie at a round table in a private room. Allie notices my ring immediately. “Oh my God.” She eyes Tyler. “It’s stunning. And here I thought you were going to bastard your way to loneliness.”
Tyler grunts and Dash laughs. “Let me see, sis.”
I hold it out and he nods. “He did it right.” His eyes meet Tyler’s. “Keep on doing it right.”
My father steps into the room with the hostess fawning all over him. He’s a chick magnet times a thousand and it’s easy to see why. He’s a good-looking man, tall and blond, and always fit. He’s aged like a movie star, mostly because he’s not a smoker and not even much of a drinker. And, of course, he’s a star in his own right, and women like famous men.
Tyler stands and steps away from the table to shake his hand. They speak softly and despite my father’s support, I’m nervous about what is exchanged. My father tends to like most people, but when it comes to your future son-in-law, I’ve always believed he’d be critical.
Dash and I exchange a look and he mouths, “He can handle this.”
Sure enough, the two men laugh and then I’m on my feet hugging my father. “Good-looking guy,” he murmurs. “Says he loves you.”
I show him the ring. He eyes it and then me. “You did it then?”
“For real, though. We had a long talk and we’re really in love, Dad.”
“Okay, but does the puppy like him?”
“Yes, the puppy likes him.”
“That says a lot about character. Animals know. Let’s sit, baby girl. I want to hear all about your new life.”
I’m pretty sure he’s accepted Tyler, but sitting next to him apparently means in between me and Tyler, so clearly, he’s not done drilling my soon-to-be-husband. But the conversation is light and easy, filled with jokes, anecdotes, and more laughter. Near the end of the evening, my dad motions to Tyler. “Let’s go outside and you can school me on fine whiskey. You look like you know.”
Tyler eyes Dash, and the implication that Tyler drinks too much is in the air, but I don’t think that’s true at all. Tyler stands, “I know a thing or two about what makes for a good pour.”
They disappear and I eye my brother. “He doesn’t drink too much.”