Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82617 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
I quickly dressed, grabbed the photo of us, and slipped it into my purse. I headed downstairs and met my folks in the kitchen.
“Nolan is on his way; I’m going to go run some errands with him,” I said, setting my purse down. I grabbed a plate, filling it with two blueberry muffins.
“Goodness, two days in a row,” my mother said.
When I looked at her, she didn’t seem to be mocking me in anyway. I peeked over to my father, who busied himself with the paper.
“Honestly, I’m beginning to have some pretty strong feelings for him.”
I watched as they both let my words settle into their brains.
“That’s not surprising, sweetheart. The two of you were very much in love once upon a time.”
My eyes widened in shock at my mother’s words. She didn’t even look up at me when she said them. She was kneading dough for something else she was making, and I swear it was like she was off in another place. Halfway listening to me, and halfway lost in a memory.
When I swung my gaze to my father, his eyes were moving as if he was reading the paper intently.
Suddenly, I felt betrayed. I could ignore the secrets when I was thousands of miles away, but now, now they felt like an elephant sitting on my chest. Each breath I took was harder than the last. I had granted them permission to keep their silence by not asking my own questions, but for some reason, after all this time, now I was bothered. Actually, I was on the verge of being pissed. Why in the hell would the man I was going to marry, and my parents, keep me in the dark for eight years? And why had I let it go for as long as I had?
I opened my mouth to say something when the doorbell rang. Without even thinking, I jumped up, grabbed my purse. “That’s Nolan.”
“Oh, tell him we said hello! Be careful!” my mother called out as I rushed out of the kitchen, my fists clenched tight. I was going to get answers from Nolan right now.
The moment I opened the door and saw Nolan and that crooked smile of his, I seemed to forget all the anger that had been building only moments ago. My stomach flipped and my heart felt like it skipped a beat. The rage that had been there seconds ago dissipated.
“Hey,” he said as he leaned down to kiss me. He was going for my cheek, and I moved so that my mouth met his.
He groaned and wrapped his arms tightly around me as he drew my body against his. I melted into him. This felt so right. Like I had kissed this man every day for the last eight years. When, in fact, I had…only it was in my dreams.
He pulled back and looked down at me. “I think I would like to start every day like that.”
I laughed. “I believe I would as well.”
Nolan reached for my hand and laced his fingers in mine as we headed down the steps of the porch and to his truck. It was a white Ford F-250 that seemed like it was hardly ever driven. It probably hadn’t been since Nolan rarely came back to Texas to visit.
The contact with his body and mine almost seemed to muddle my brain. All those nights I had laid in bed and dreamed of feeling this way. I longed for it, because I had known deep in my heart that I’d had it once upon a time.
My mother’s words from earlier floated back to me as Nolan held the truck door open for me and I slid up into the seat. “The two of you were very much in love once upon a time.”
Nolan climbed up into his seat, started the truck, and headed down the drive. I swallowed the lump in my throat and decided to just ask. Turning toward him, I watched his face as I slowly asked my question. “Nolan, were we engaged when I had my accident?”
The muscles in his neck and jaw tightened. When I looked at his hands on the steering wheel, they appeared to be holding on for dear life. I’m pretty sure I knew what his unspoken answer was just by the tension in his body.
“I believe I asked you not to lie to me before, so I’ll ask the question again,” I said. “I know I told you I didn’t want to know anything, but I’m asking you now. I don’t even know if the accident was a car accident. I’ve always assumed it was, and when I didn’t ask, no one offered up the information. Not even my therapist. I’m not sure if I’ll ever remember us fully, Nolan. But I know for a fact, there was an us. And then there wasn’t, and that’s what I’m struggling with.”