Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“Do you need money?” I asked him. I had to do something. He’d done it all for far too long. I wanted to offer more but my head was spinning with what it was I could possibly do.
He shook his head. “No, my job pays well. I may not have gotten to go to college, but that’s not needed for all careers in this world. I’m good at what I do.”
Chance had been working for the power company for the past two years. He was a hard worker and a fast learner. I was proud of him and all he’d accomplished.
“What about furniture? Could I at least buy Bella a bedroom set? Something girly like I never had?” I asked him.
He grinned. “She’d love that. Especially is she knew it was from you.”
I wanted to do more but I didn’t know how to or what that could be. I leaned forward and reached out to grab his hand. “I wasn’t there for you. I didn’t think you needed me. I thought they were good to you. She acted like she loved you. I was wrong, I am so sorry, Chance. I failed you. Both of you.”
He shook his head and squeezed my hand. “I was fine. Dad was around for most of my life, and when he split I was so busy taking up the slack with Bella, Mother relied on me. She didn’t give me any shit. She never treated me like she did you… but Bella… she treats Bella badly.” His tone went dark when he said the words, and my heart ached more than I thought was possible.
“I should have taken her from there years ago, but I wasn’t financially ready. I am now. I know she’s dying, but she won’t change. She won’t stop spewing her venom. I can’t sacrifice Bella’s emotional well-being.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” I assured him. “And I want to help in any way I can. If you need me for anything call me. Please,” I begged him.
He nodded. “I will. She’s as taken with you as I knew she would be. She needed a mother and didn’t get one. You got Nonna, and I wish she’d been given the same. Now that she’s met you, she’s going to want to see you more.”
I was going to make sure that happened. He was right, Nonna had been my mom. She’d been what healed me. I could be there for Bella. I would love her unconditionally. She was young and I had years, a lifetime to make up for missing out on so much. For not being the sister she needed. For the pain she’d been through because of our mother.
“Good. I want to see her. I regret so much,” I said, then sighed, looking back at him. “What happens with Mother, her house? Who is going to take her to the doctor?” I hated to ask this, but she was our mother, and she was dying. Even if she was evil, she wouldn’t be able to do this alone. I didn’t want to care but something deep inside did.
He shrugged. “I’m trying to figure that out. I have my hands full with work and being a parent to Bella. I thought maybe hospice would step in soon. Until then I can fit in time to stop by once a day.”
“I’ll hire a private nurse to stay with her,” Gunner said, walking back into the room.
Chance shook his head. “I can’t let you do that. This isn’t your problem.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Something affects Willa and Ms. Ames, then it is my problem. They’re my family too.”
Chance looked at me, and I nodded my head at him to accept. My brother looked torn, but in the end he shrugged. “Okay,” he said, then stood up and held out his hand to Gunner. “Thank you.”
Gunner shook it. “Anything I can do to help make this better for the people Willa loves gives me purpose.”
Chance glanced at me and smirked. “You got a good one.”
“I know,” I replied. Gunner was one of the things I believed God had given me to make up for the mother I’d been born to. I wanted Chance to find the same thing in life.
CHAPTER SIX
WILLA
When I had woken up this morning, Gunner was gone and a note was lying on his pillow. I had rubbed my eyes, then sat up and taken the note to read:
Meet me at the tree house
Confused, since the tree house was not on Nonna’s property but on the former Lawton estate’s property, I had decided to go with it. Maybe he was moving it today so that Bella could use it when she visited Nonna. Deciding that was most likely what was happening, I hurried to get dressed, then grabbed one of the brownies Nonna had sent over on my way out of the house. No one else seemed to be at home, or they were still in bed.