Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59690 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 298(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
“Y’all made it!” Dayna said with a smile.
“Hello, Dayna,” Chase said formally.
He’d mastered the wince that I could feel under the surface. Under other circumstances, this girl could have been going after him, but somehow, she was with a man twice her age.
“Come on in. Dinner is almost finished. Arnold should be out any minute.”
I followed Chase inside, wishing that I were the one holding the wine. So that I’d have something to do with my hands.
“You must be Chase’s new girlfriend.” Dayna held her hand out. “I’m Dayna. It’s so nice to meet you.”
“Harley,” I said, shaking her hand.
“So glad to have both of you over. I know Arnold is as well.”
Chase covered a scoff with a cough. Then, he thrust the bottle of wine toward Dayna. “We brought you this.”
“That’s so thoughtful,” she said. “I’m more of a white wine drinker, but this looks amazing.”
“It’s my favorite,” I offered. “I used to drink it with my mom all the time.”
“Well then, I will have to try it. Arnold prefers red anyway.”
A battle cry rang out from the upstairs, and suddenly, a little kid was throwing his body down the stairs at full speed. Dayna giggled as her son vaulted toward her.
“Silas, baby, what are you doing? Mommy and Daddy have plans. We talked about this. You’re with the nanny tonight.”
“Mama!” he cried, throwing himself on the ground.
She flushed at his behavior and apologized to us. “Sorry about this. He’s such a mommy’s boy.”
“No need to apologize,” I said automatically.
“Always want to see my little brother anyway.”
Chase beamed at the kid. In every way, he should loathe how this child had come to be. His father had ruined their family, and this little boy was the result. But it wasn’t his fault after all. He was the innocent in all of this. And Chase said he was a sweet little boy. So unlike their father, which was probably more indicative of who was actually raising him.
“Chase!” Silas cried, abandoning his mother for his brother.
Chase hauled him up around the middle and swung him in a circle. “Little man.”
“You’re going to get him all riled up,” Dayna said, but with no bite. She was smiling. Her eyes alight at the sight of them. Almost a look like she wished this were her life and Chase wasn’t her little boy’s brother, but father instead.
“Tell me all about what’s been going on,” Chase said.
The little boy began to speak in incoherent babbles while waving his hand animatedly. I only caught every fifth word, but Chase and Dayna hung on to every single thing he said. Like they knew the shape of all of his words, even when they weren’t exactly intelligible.
“Okay. Okay. Go back upstairs,” Dayna said. “You can spend time with Chase later.”
“Have to?” he asked with a pout.
“Yes, up you go.”
She gently patted his butt, and he hurried back up the stairs, waving at us as he went.
“Sorry again.”
“It’s good to see him,” Chase said.
“He’s the joy of my life,” Dayna said. “It’s good that you spend time with him. He needs it.” She smiled sadly again and then forced those emotions away. “Let’s open this up.”
She hoisted the wine up and herded us toward the dining room. We had just crossed out of the living room when Arnold Sinclair stepped out of what I imagined was the master bedroom.
He was an imposing man. Thick around the middle with thinning hair and a sour expression. I’d never understand why women threw themselves at him, but money made fools of so many. Plus, he had to be charming. Even if he was currently looking at all of us as if he’d just sucked a particularly tart lemon.
“What the fuck is a Wright doing in my house?” he snapped.
14
CHASE
Here we go.
“Dad, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Harley.”
He looked between me and Harley and back, as if he couldn’t quite believe the words that had just come out of my mouth.
I’d told him at work that I was seeing someone.
That it was serious.
That I was in love.
And that I wanted him to meet her.
He’d joked with me. Delighted that I was finally settling down. He’d been so happy at the prospect. Like I was becoming the man he wanted me to be. Even if that was an absurd idea. I didn’t want to be my dad. Not when I saw what he was like with everyone else. Me, my mom, Ashleigh, Dayna, Silas. We were all just collateral damage. I had no doubt that he’d ditch Dayna and his son as soon as he found someone younger.
“No,” was my dad’s only reply.
“Arnold, they brought us wine,” Dayna said, holding up the bottle.
“Trash it,” he snarled.
Her eyes rounded. “It’s a red, just like you like it.”
But he wasn’t even looking at her. This girlfriend that was playing trophy wife. She was nothing to him in that moment.