Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 71303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71303 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
“Wyatt and I have both been harassed and teased by old friends about it, too.”
“I’ll bet your friends are just jealous.”
Cam adds the tomato he sliced to the salad bowl. “I don’t know about that, but they would be now, if they saw who we’re dating.”
“You do lay it on thick, don’t you?”
He leans toward me, so close that my body goes on alert. “I’m only speaking the truth.”
“You’re just a charmer.”
“No, you are,” he says, “because you’ve charmed me.”
Jessie’s calling for me, so I give Cam a warning look to get him back in friend mode, though it’s hard for me to keep a special smile off my lips.
CHAPTER 43
STELLA
Twenty minutes later, my mom shows up half buzzed. She wears it well, so maybe someone who doesn’t know her as well as I do wouldn’t even notice.
She gushes over Jessie, acting like she hasn’t seen her in three years, while also somehow simultaneously casting a disapproving eye around the house, which makes no sense, since my mom isn’t exactly a domestic goddess herself.
“You’ve grown so much,” she tells Jessie, while my stepdad shakes the men’s hands.
Shortly after my mom is introduced to Cam and Wyatt, she asks where they’re from and uses her question as a segue into complaining about what a shame it is that I moved so far away from her.
“You arrived just in time. Lunch is ready,” I announce almost immediately. Because I don’t want to prolong the visit, even if they did drive a long way to be here.
I only agreed that they could come here for Jessie’s sake. I still haven’t forgiven my mom for kicking us out, though I understand her alcoholism underlies all her erratic behavior. I love her, but I’d be happier not to see her very often at all.
She actually did me a favor by kicking me out of her house.
Lunch proceeds, with most of the talking done by Jessie and her grandparents. When there’s silence, Cam does a great job reviving the conversation.
Both Wyatt and Cam give me supportive looks when the others are preoccupied, and it’s so nice having someone here who’s on my side.
Outside of having Jessie, I’ve felt very alone for much of my adult life, until I moved in with Marissa. Now, having not one but two men in my corner feels incredible.
“I keep thinking you both look very familiar,” my mom tells Cam and Wyatt at one point as she studies them.
Horrified, I wonder if she’s about to tell us that she’s seen them online, but then she says, “Maybe you just look like some young men I’ve seen around our town.”
I let out a sigh of relief, and inwardly shake my head. There are definitely no men where I’m from who look anywhere near as good as Cam and Wyatt do.
“That reminds me,” she says. “There’s a new pottery painting shop in the plaza by our house. It’s too bad you moved away. I could take Jessie there. I bet it would be fun.”
I try to be the grownup when I’m with my mom, but when I see my daughter’s face fall at the thought of the fun she’s missing out on, I decide to say what I’m thinking for a change.
“There were so many places around town you could have taken Jessie during the first five years of her life, but for some reason, you never did.”
Turning to Jessie, I ask, “Does pottery painting sound like fun? There’s a place just past your school that we could check out.”
“I went to a painting party once when I was a kid,” Wyatt says. “I ended up getting more paint on myself than on the dish I was supposed to be painting.” He lifts up his hand and puts it right in front of his face, inspecting it. “I think my fingers might still be blue, actually.” Holding his hand out to Jessie, he asks, “Do you see any blue on here?”
With my daughter distracted and entertained, I shoot my mom a quick dirty look, then I paste on a smile.
After a couple of uncomfortable hours, their visit is finally over and my parents leave without too much added drama. I brace for Jessie to be upset like she is after their phone calls, but with Cam and Wyatt here, she’s in good spirits.
The guys insist on helping me clean up, and then the three of us relax in the living room while Jessie plays outside with Goldfish.
“Thanks for your help today,” I tell them. “I really appreciated the support.”
“Always,” Cam says, lightly resting his hand on my leg.
It’s so hard to keep a friend-appropriate distance from the men, and I can tell they feel the same, because they take every opportunity to touch me.
“Do you and Jessie have any plans tomorrow?” Wyatt’s tone tells me it’s more than just a casual question.