Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
I glanced down at myself. I was wearing my oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants. “I look like a slob, but I appreciate the compliment.”
He held the folder out toward me. “Thanks for letting me swing by to drop th—”
“Mommmm! I have cramps and I hate everything and being a girl is the worst thing in the world, and if I could cut out my insides I would if that meant no more…” Ava froze in place as she stomped into the living room. The moment she saw Gabriel, a flash of horror and embarrassment spread across her face.
Gabriel held up a hand toward her. “Hey, kid.”
Ava’s eyes darted between Gabriel and me before her jaw dropped and her eyes filled with tears. “Oh my gosh! Mommm! Why didn’t you tell me he was here?” she said as humiliation seeped throughout every inch of her being. “This is so embarrassing!” she screamed as she stormed back to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Hormonal teenagers were not something I was ready for. Then again, Ava seeing Gabriel as she talked about her period cramps was not something she was ready for, either.
“Sorry about that. That time of month makes her a little on edge,” I said.
“Not a worry. I’m pretty sure if men had periods, we’d start wars to get out our rage. Her slamming a door is nothing. I hope she’s not too embarrassed by it.”
“Oh, she is, and I’ll have to beg for her forgiveness, even though I didn’t know she’d come out saying that stuff.”
He smiled and rubbed his jawline. “Anyway, I just wanted to drop those off.”
“Do you want a drink?” I offered. I wasn’t even certain why. I shook my head. “Sorry, that’s a weird thing to ask. I’m sure you have other things to do, but it felt odd to have you come all this way and not offer you anything.”
He paused for a moment. “I’d take a drink.”
I grabbed him a beer and myself a vodka soda, and we walked outside and sat on the ground in front of the house being built. Our legs were bent as we rested our arms on top of our kneecaps as the sun set overhead.
“I do love this land,” I said as I stared forward. “There’s something about nature that brings me a lot of peace. I didn’t have that at our old home.”
“I’m a nature guy myself. There’s something about sitting in it that makes all my worries fade for a little while.”
“Do you have a lot of worries?”
“Luckily, no. I live a pretty happy life. I do what I love. It just…” His words faded as if he realized he was oversharing.
“It’s just what?”
“Sometimes, it’s lonely. I work a lot. I keep to myself a lot. Most of the time, it’s fine. But then I work on projects like this one, and I see families like yours, and I wonder what it would be like to be…more than just me.”
If only reality was as great as the exterior imagery that Henry painted our family to be.
“I think some people in families are still very lonely,” I told him.
“But you’re not,” he said. “I’ll admit I’m a bit envious of the life you have, and how far from lonely it seems.”
Oh, Gabriel. If you knew the shadows of my realm…
“Yes,” I nodded, “Ava makes it easy to not be lonely.”
“And Henry,” he added.
I smiled and I lied. “Yeah, and him.” I shifted a little and stared toward the build. “Do you think it will feel warm like a home and less like a mansion? It’s very big, and sometimes I worry about a house this big feeling cold and lonely.”
“It is massive,” he agreed. “But it will be warm.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because you’ll be there.”
I smiled at him.
He smiled back at me.
I felt his smile in my chest.
I felt him in my soul.
And then, it happened.
That was the exact moment I began to fall in love again with a man who could never be mine. Then again, I didn’t think I’d ever stopped loving Gabriel. That love for him always sat quietly in my heart and would stay there for the rest of time. Loving him wasn’t simply a choice; it was my destiny. I was born to love him, and for a short period of time, I thought he was born to love me, too.
“Gabriel?” I whispered.
“Yes?” he whispered back.
“I really like the person that you are.”
His smile stretched, and I fell for him more.
“Kierra?”
“Yes?”
“I really like the person that you are,” he echoed.
And just like that, I fell some more. Tripping, tumbling, spiraling for him.
And within that moment, I felt the strongest urge to tell him everything. To tell him about us. To tell him about Elijah. Because when love was real, secrets did not exist.