Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 114368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 572(@200wpm)___ 457(@250wpm)___ 381(@300wpm)
Happy Mother’s Day to your mother.
She raised the best one of the best ones.
Con amore,
Milo
“So…” Whitney walked into the room and caught me as tears rolled down my cheeks. She patted me on the shoulder and sighed. “Is he your person?”
I nodded. “He’s my person.”
But I wasn’t sure what it meant. I wasn’t sure how to feel about everything. It had been weeks since I’d seen him, weeks without a single word, yet this reminded me exactly why I loved that man so very much.
He wasn’t only my person, but he was my heart. He was my spirit. He was my light.
“Well?” Whitney asked. “What are you going to do?”
I shook my head, confused. “I…I…I don’t know.”
“You have to go to him!” she ordered.
My stomach was knotted up thinking about that idea. I couldn’t just go to him. I couldn’t…could I?
Oh gosh.
I was going to be sick.
“I need air,” I told her, shaking my head in disbelief as I stared at the bicycle in front of me. “I need air,” I repeated.
I took the bike, put on my helmet, and I went for a ride to talk to the wind.
After taking the ride and still being filled with confusion, I took the bike back to the dorm. Then I hopped into my car and drove the two hours to my dad’s place for dinner that night. Within seconds of walking into his house, I poured out everything about what Milo had done for me with the bicycle. Dad listened to every detail as he cut up carrots for the stew he was making.
“Wow. Sounds like a winner to me,” he said.
“A winner? Dad! He sent me a custom-made bike after not talking to me for weeks.”
“You have to admit, it’s kind of really damn thoughtful,” he urged.
Yes. It was. But still. I was confused. “I don’t know what it means.”
“I think it means he loves you.”
“Please tell me what I’m supposed to do. Tell me how I’m supposed to respond to this.”
“I don’t know, babe. It’s your life.”
I grumbled. “I know. But if it were yours... What would you do?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but personally, I like him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Milo. I like him.”
I snickered. “You don’t know him.”
“I mean, I did help him build the bike, so we have had a nice connection over the past few weeks.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’ve been hanging out a few times for the past few weeks, so I’d like to think I know him pretty well.”
My eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Remember when I gave you Scouts honor that I wouldn’t stalk your ex-boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I was never a Scout, baby girl. So, I stalked your ex-boyfriend. I’ve been visiting him once a week since then.”
My eyes bugged out of my head. “No way!”
“Sorry, kiddo. I couldn’t stand the idea of that guy being alone after everything he went through. Especially when he put your life’s comfort ahead of his during his hardest times.”
“You drove over two hours back and forth each week to come to check on him?”
“Yeah.”
Tears flooded my eyes as I took in my father’s words. “You were there for him? He wasn’t alone?”
Dad placed the knife down, picked up a dishrag, and cleaned his hands. He turned to me and smiled. “No, baby girl. He wasn’t alone.”
Without thought, I rushed into my father’s arms and pulled him into a tight embrace. Emotions spilled out of my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. “Thank you, Dad.”
He kissed my forehead and held me back. “Always.”
When I let him go, I wiped my tears away. “Is he okay? How is he?”
“He’s a strong young man. He’s still moving forward. He’s about to go into his finals at school, but from what I can tell, he’s passing all his classes. I haven’t been much help in his math class, but my Spanish isn’t half bad.”
My eyes widened. “You’ve been tutoring him?”
“Sí, mi hija,” he replied, making me smile. “Your mother might’ve been the teacher, but I wasn’t half bad at studying.”
“You’re the best person I’ve ever known,” I told him.
He pulled me into a side hug. “To be fair, you’re pretty antisocial, so that’s not saying too much,” he joked.
I laughed. “Should I reach out to him? Or should I wait a while?”
“Well, I actually have an idea. But you might hate it because you’ll have to wait a little bit longer.”
CHAPTER 40
Milo
“You’d be happy to know that I passed my math exam,” I said to Eric as I heard footsteps behind me as I sat on the bench on Friday morning. I was getting better at using my other senses to tune into my surroundings. As I turned around to see him, I paused, seeing who was standing beside him. “Dad. What are you doing here?”
“I finished my last day in the rehab center, and Eric was kind enough to offer me a ride home from Chicago.”