Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“He also doesn’t always know what’s good for him,” she added. “He’s convinced himself he’s better off living the way he is, keeping everyone at a distance. But I know he’s craving happiness. He didn’t know what true happiness was until he met Britney. But now he does know. And I think you being here has made him feel things he hasn’t in a long time. That’s why he’s taken a step back. He doesn’t know what to do with it all.” She sighed. “But don’t let fear stop you from trying to connect with him. He’s not a brick wall. He’s more like…” Felicity paused. “An onion.” She laughed. “You have to peel back the layers to get to what’s inside.”
Huh. “Yeah, well, onions will ultimately have you in tears. That’s my fear. I didn’t come to England to get hurt. I have one task, you know? I don’t want to fuck anything up by getting emotionally attached to him—or worse, the baby. As you can see, that already happened today.”
“I wouldn’t be any different. You’re not a machine, Abby. You’re human.” She began to braid Eloise’s hair. “We can’t help how we feel, can we? Feelings can’t be controlled. When I first met Leo, I was certain we could never be together because we were from two different worlds. That didn’t stop me from falling for him. We impose rules on ourselves that the heart doesn’t recognize. You know?”
“I do,” I murmured. Boy, was I grateful to have someone I could trust to confide in. “Thanks for letting me vent.” I exhaled. “I feel like all I’ve done is talk about myself. How are you feeling? You don’t have too much longer to go now.”
Felicity rubbed her stomach. “I don’t feel prepared to go from mother of one to mother of two. I’ve been trying to be a good mom, work, and juggle social responsibilities as it is. I don’t know how much more I can handle. I won’t know until she gets here.”
Felicity was a lawyer. She worked part time in London teaching American law while balancing motherhood.
“Well, I have no doubt you’ll handle it just fine. You make it look easy, but I’m sure juggling it all is not.”
“It definitely isn’t, but thanks for the vote of confidence.” She wrapped an elastic around the bottom of Eloise’s braid. “Do you think you’ll find out what you’re having?”
“That’s gonna be their choice, right? The Alexanders and Sig? I have a feeling he won’t want to know. He’ll want to be in denial as much as possible until the last minute.”
She nodded. “You’re probably right.”
Felicity made tea for us before I hit the road in her lime green Fiat, headed back to the inn. On my drive, I called my dad to catch up.
“Hey, Dad,” I said when he answered.
“How’s that prick treating you?”
I laughed. “He’s not mean anymore. Just a bit…standoffish lately.”
“I tell you this all the time, but the option is always there to come home.”
“Well, as I get further into the pregnancy, leaving is only going to get harder.” I slowed as I approached a car in the distance, still paranoid after rear-ending Sig. “Overall, I’m happy here. Happier than I thought I’d be. I just miss you.”
“I miss you, too. But I’m glad you’re having this adventure. The one thing I always regretted was not getting to see the world.”
“Speaking of you seeing the world, do you think you could get some time off to visit me out here, sooner rather than later?”
My father worked in masonry for a construction company in Massachusetts, not too far from where we lived in Rhode Island.
“You read my mind,” he said. “I’m gonna talk to Joe Silva about that time off and see what I can coordinate.”
The prospect of getting to see my dad filled me with hope. He was already planning to come when I gave birth, but that was too long to wait to see him. “That would be amazing. You’ll love it here. And there’s plenty of room at the inn. You’ll love Lavinia, too.”
“Well, I love anyone who treats my girl nice.”
We talked a few more minutes, and I hung up smiling. Talking to Dad had really boosted my mood.
When I walked into the inn, Lavinia seemed to be eagerly awaiting my return. I’d gone straight to Felicity’s after Sig dropped me off from the ultrasound earlier, so I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about it. She stood up carefully from the couch. “Sigmund said you have a photo to show me.”
“You spoke to him?”
“He came by briefly to drop something off on his way back to London. I asked him how the ultrasound went, and he told me you had a picture.”
I reached into my purse and handed her the printout.