Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 43827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43827 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
The last time we were at a social gathering together I had come way too close to letting the cat out of the bag, when he had shown up with that mealy mouthed trollop Marcy Cane, the woman I’d overheard my parents discussing. It galled me that she was my age, and that I’d disliked her since high school because she’d always fancied herself in some sort of competition with me after mama cut our friendship short. It was then I knew I had to do something or become the laughing stock of the town.
Joel was safe. We’ve known each other since kindergarten for heavens sake, and I knew I could count on him to be there for me. It wouldn’t be the marriage of the decade, but I was sure we could make each other happy. We liked a lot of the same things, like long drives on a Sunday afternoon, picnics down by the river and old repeats of Paul Newman movies in the theater.
He hadn’t balked when I’d proposed to him; in fact he’d seemed very receptive to the idea. Then again he’s always on board with whatever I had planned. I refuse to believe that he would’ve said yes to spending the rest of his life with me if he didn’t really mean it. Now this farce; the whole town knows that I have been made the fool, and it was all Grant’s stupid fault.
“Whatever evil you’ve got running through your head that has put that look on your face, you can forget it. I’m not that boy you bullied into marrying you, you mess with me I’ll hit back.”
“How dare you.” Just as always, my breathing went off the rails and I wasn’t sure which side was up. It never fails, just a few minutes in his presence and I’m postal. “I didn’t bully anyone into anything you jackass, and what do you know about it anyway? I’ll have you know that I can have any number of suitors vying for my hand if I wanted. I would think that you would have some sympathy for my plight as any true gentleman would.” I was close to tears and spitting mad. If I could just smash his face in for being stupid it would go a long way to making me feel better I’m sure.
“You’re a spoilt little brat who thinks daddy’s money can get her anything her little heart desires you mean. I’m sure you think that I along with the rest of the county should feel bad for you, but I don’t. Anyone with a lick of sense could see that you were mismatched.
You’ve been leading that poor sap around by the nose since you were kids, and only heaven knows what led you to think marriage was the next step. No doubt you browbeat him into it the way you do everything else.
So no, I don’t feel bad for you, I feel bad for the sap who’s had the bad sense to get caught in your web. The only thing I hold against him is that he wasn’t man enough to tell you, and instead made a muck of things, but I could imagine that someone as weak willed as him was no match for the likes of you. Now I suggest you calm the hell down and stay put until your daddy comes home because I’m not in the mood for any more of your bullshit tonight. Sorry you didn’t get your way this time princess, but the world does not revolve around you.”
I will not let him get to me. It took all my willpower not to crumble in front of him. Is that what he really thought of me? And here I was all these years acting the part, being careful not to give away too much; well fuck this. “Why don’t you go fu…?”
“Uh-uh-uh, you finish that sentence little girl and I will do something your daddy shoulda done a long time ago. Now sit your ass down and be quiet if you don’t have anything nice to say. Better yet why don’t you sit there and think of all the reasons why what you did tonight was wrong.”
I hate that smug know it all look on his face; it would be oh so very satisfying to wipe it clean off. “You know what, I think I’ll walk back over to my place, I can’t stand to be around you for another minute.” I slammed the half empty bottle of water down on the counter top and headed for the door. If he thought for one minute I was going to hang around here after all that then he was dumber than a bag a hammers.
“Stay your ass inside and don’t make me come after you. You’ve already destroyed my evening so don’t make it any worse than you already have.” He’d lost his damn mind if he thought I was going to be spoken to like a recalcitrant two year old. I was halfway out the door before I found myself lifted off my feet and practically dragged back inside.