Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 92474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92474 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
But not as much as not knowing whether or not she’d sent sexy, mysterious Victor running from her. And it really didn’t help having Anita point out the obvious.
Anita leaned against the counter as Gracen swept. It wouldn’t hurt her to pick up a rag and start cleaning. But Gracen bit her tongue. It would only take her a minute to do it and she’d do a much better job. Plus, she’d avoid an argument.
Avoiding confrontation was kind of her thing.
“I mean, I knew you were, like, awkward and stuff, but I didn’t realize how bad you were at talking to guys.” Anita shook her head and checked out her nails. “Guess when you’ve gone as long as you have without a guy you just get flustered and shit, huh?”
“It hasn’t been that long,” she muttered. Had it? How long since Jacob had broken things off with her? A year? No, wait, it must have been longer. Two? And she hadn’t had sex since then.
Two years. Wow. She really was out of touch.
“If you want, I can hook you up with one of Ice’s friends.”
Ice was Anita’s boyfriend. He was a little asshole who spent his days hanging with his friends and his nights doing things that Gracen really didn’t want to know about. He was in his midtwenties, but as far as she could tell, he’d never had a job. Some of the guys she’d seen him hang out with belonged to the Ventura gang. They were becoming increasingly troublesome in this neighborhood.
She hated that Anita was dating Ice, but as usual, she wouldn’t listen to a word Gracen said.
Their last big fight had been about Ice, and Gracen hadn’t seen Anita for a week. Trying to keep the bakery open had been a nightmare. She’d had to call on Paloma, the older lady who usually only worked on Mondays, to come in to work full-time.
“Thank you, but no.”
“Are you sure? Some of them are into fat older chicks.”
“Anita!” she snapped. This was getting too much. There was only so much she could take from her niece.
Remember, she’s the only family you have left.
Anita was the sole reminder of Christopher, her older brother. Her best friend. The only person who knew what it felt like to lose their parents. When he’d died four years ago, Anita had come to live with her. Her mother had died when Anita was young.
Anita had taken the death of her dad hard. He’d spoiled her, and when she came to live with Gracen, she’d started acting out. Getting into trouble. Gracen got it, she was angry at the world in her grief.
Then a year after Christopher’s death, Gracen had lost her grandpa. That had almost killed her. If she hadn’t had the bakery and Anita to take care of, she wouldn’t have had much reason to get out of bed.
Then Jacob had left. Probably because she’d been so busy with everything else in her life. She couldn’t blame him. But she . . . she was just so lonely and scared of losing someone else. And that included Anita, who’d moved in with her boyfriend, Ice as soon as she could. Ice wasn’t a good influence on her, but Gracen hadn’t been able to talk her out of living with him.
She knew she let Anita get away with too much, but speaking to her like this wasn’t acceptable.
“You cannot call me old and fat, Anita,” she said firmly.
“That’s not a very nice way to speak to me,” Anita said with a pout. “I’m just trying to help you. If you don’t want my help, then just say so.”
She stopped what she was doing to stare straight at her niece. “I don’t want your help.”
Anita’s face screwed up in anger briefly before relaxing again. “Fine.”
Great. Now she felt guilty. Sighing, Gracen closed her eyes for a moment. “Look, I know you were trying to be helpful. But Ice’s friends aren’t my type.”
“You don’t exactly have guys knocking your door down.”
Gracen winced. She wasn’t wrong. And the one guy that she’d hoped might be into her, had been scared off by her awkwardness.
Well, then she guessed he wasn’t the man for her. Because she was pretty much always awkward.
“Look, we haven’t had any customers for the last ten minutes. Why don’t you leave early.” There were fifteen minutes until close, and it wasn’t like Anita was doing anything.
Turning, her face lit up with a smile. “Aw, thanks, Aunty G, you’re the best.” She raced off to grab her stuff.
Sure. Now she was the best. Before, she’d been a horrible person.
“Bye!” she called out as she sped off with a bag of goodies that were no doubt for Ice and his friends. Gracen sighed but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t a big deal if she took food to her boyfriend.