Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 50828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
After some football and casual conversation, Laurel throws the dishes she prepared in advance in the oven. Steve checks the prime rib on the smoker. The scents of scrumptious food fill the house and combine with the smell of pine from their giant tree while snow falls softly outside. It’s the perfect backdrop for Christmas Day.
I take my wife’s hand and lower my voice. “You doing okay?”
“Good.” She sips her wine and fingers her mother’s pendant. “Great, actually. I haven’t enjoyed this holiday since I was a child. You made this year totally different.”
“Better than Oreos and Die Hard?”
“I’ll probably deny it tomorrow, but yeah.”
“Then let’s call cookie baking, stir fry, and sappy holiday movies our new tradition.”
She laughs and thanks me, then joins Laurel in the kitchen.
Steve makes his way to the sofa and sits beside me, looking over his shoulder at the women bustling around the stove. “Seems like that’s going well.”
“Surprisingly, yeah.” I fill him in about her mother’s death, and my big-hearted brother is full of sympathy.
“I don’t blame her for not celebrating the holidays, but I’m glad she has you to help her see Christmas differently.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I changed her outlook in a day. That would be giving myself far too much credit, but I’m hoping by next Christmas, that we’ll have a new reason to celebrate, one with ten fingers and ten toes…”
His jaw drops. “You’re already trying to get her pregnant?”
“You knew I was going to. I started the minute I said ‘I do.’”
He claps me on the back. “Fingers crossed it all works out. You’ll be a great dad.”
“From your lips to God’s ears.”
“You heard from Izzy’s father?”
“No, and it’s weird.” But is it? The asshole has ignored her most of her life. Maybe he really doesn’t give a shit. And the fact that I may not get a rise out of him doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.
My brother shrugs. “I hope everything comes together for you two. The more I watch you together, the more I think you’re a good match. You give her balance and stability. You’re solid, and she can count on you—something it doesn’t sound like she’s ever had from a man in her life.”
I nod. “You’re right. What do you think she gives me? And if you say a piece of ass, I’m going to deck you.”
“She does, but she also gives you something real. Nothing you had with Julia was.”
He’s right, and I hate that I didn’t see it until she and Doug stabbed me in the back.
“In fact, I’ve never seen you like this. You’re smitten.”
It shows? I wince. “Yeah, didn’t account for that.”
Steve chuckles. “Karma.”
“Laugh it up. I know I started this to get back at that son of a bitch I was once in business with, but Isabella is…”
“Perfect for you?”
“I’m starting to think so.” Is that why I keep wondering if I’m in love?
Aren’t you?
“At least you’re wising up,” Steve says. “What you need to do is stop giving a shit about Douglas Shay, choose Izzy, and let your happiness be your revenge.”
It sounds so simple, and on some level, I suspect he’s right, but… “That fucker would skate scot-free.”
Steve shrugs. “Would he, though? Really?”
“He took over a million dollars from me.”
“Like you said, he paid you back. Are you mad he was having an affair with Julia?”
“At the time.” But not after she was gone and I realized she’d lied to me for a decade. She and Doug drop-kicked my pride more than they broke my heart. “Not anymore.”
“Then what’s this revenge really about?”
I tap my thumb on my thigh and sift through my thoughts. “Anger.”
“Dig deeper.”
Fuck, I hate it when Steve reads me this way. “Me trying to force karma.”
“That sounds right. But Doug is always going to have a strained relationship with his daughter because he earned that. And Julia will be old and childless someday, and she’ll wish she had chosen family and love over ambition and adultery. They’ll both die with bitter regrets. You need to give up this revenge, search your heart, and decide what’s truly going to make you happy.”
“Steve?” Laurel calls from the kitchen. “Check your meat. I think I’ll be ready in less than thirty.”
“Think about it.” My brother hops up, leaving me with my thoughts.
I fear he’s right. What the hell am I going to do?
My niece and nephews return. Dinner is served, and classic Christmas tunes fill the dining room along with a lot of chatter, laughter, and love. I watch my wife. Isabella isn’t saying much, but her faint smile tells me she’s taking the scene in. She looks surprisingly content.
After dessert and a ruthless game of poker, Laurel begins yawning. She tries to be discreet, but she cooked an incredible meal for eight, so I’ll bet she’s been up since the wee hours. Besides, I want to spend some alone time with Isabella. I lost myself inside her barely nine hours ago, and I’m already desperate for her again. And I have to figure out how to undo all the damage I’ve done seeking this revenge so I don’t lose her. Maybe I’ll take her on a honeymoon…