Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“I heard about your mom,” she starts, and I just nod as the little boy twists in his seat to look back at her, making sure she knows he wants out. “I’m so sorry,” she says and all of the words I’ve wanted to say to her over the years disappear when I see her lean down and unbuckle her son and then pick him up, kissing his head. “Hey, Mr. Big Man,” she coos softly, “this is Everleigh.” She tells him my name. “This is my son, Landon William, but we call him Wills.” I don’t say anything. “I wanted you to meet him.” She has tears in her eyes. “I was hoping that maybe… perhaps, if you had time, you would want to sit down and talk.” All I can do is stare at the little boy in her arms, and it dawns on me how much I missed. How much I’ve locked myself away from everyone and everything.
“You have a baby,” I finally am able to say, “like a real baby.” She laughs through her tears.
“Trust me, he’s as real as it gets.” He slaps her chest.
“I had no idea. Mom never mentioned anything.” I trail off, not really sure I should tell her I forbade Mom to even bring her up. After what she did, I wanted nothing to do with her. I didn’t want to speak to her.
“I would love to catch up,” she states, her voice hopeful, “but I understand if you still—”
“I would like that.” I think even I’m shocked when I say the words. “Are you working at the bar?” I ask, and she nods.
“I’m going to be on tonight since the bartender who is usually on has a family thing,” she answers. “So I’ll be working, but you could drop by.”
“I think I will.” She just smiles at me, the big smile I’ve loved since we were kids.
The smile she would give when she was really, really happy. “Perfect,” she says as she wipes away her tears. “I’ll see you then.” I nod as she turns the stroller and heads to the door. “It’s good to have you home, Everleigh.”
Chapter Five
BROCK
I look up from the transmission part I’m putting back together while sitting down on the stool. The sun wasn’t even up when I walked into the shop this morning, but I knew I had a few more days until Saige returned home. Last night, I was able to pick her up after work and take her out for ice cream, which was not what I asked for, but it was also better than nothing. So I didn’t make a big deal out of it. However, I am getting a bit pissed, and I know I will eventually have to go to the lawyer to have Karla take me seriously. I just wish we could figure it out like mature adults.
The music plays in the background so softly I don’t even know it’s playing. I stop what I’m doing to look out the window, and everything halts when I do. Everleigh is walking by the shop again, something she’s done for the past few days. It started three days ago when I was working, and it was as if a magnetic force made me stop what I was doing and look up, and that was when I saw her. The pit of my stomach burned, and that feeling moved up through my body, and I wanted to scream out my rage. But she didn’t deserve my rage. She deserves nothing from me. She did what she needed to do, and I did what I needed to do. I never thought she would leave me the way she did. Never thought she wouldn’t understand why I did it. I watch her pass with her head down, heading to the bakery and walking in the door. Only when she’s inside do I turn back and focus on the parts in front of me.
Now here I am, working in my father’s garage and keeping up with the legacy of it. It was not what I ever wanted to be doing. I thought I would have my own architecture firm at this point. My goal was always to do my internship and then just start small at first and build it up, but fate had other plans for me. Plans I said I would never make, but when everything went to shit, I knew I had no choice but to try to save the only thing I could, and that was my father’s shop. He taught me everything I knew, and when I was ten, I would come out on the weekends and help him out until I turned thirteen, when he saw I could do an oil change and not fuck things up. But when I turned fifteen, I started tinkering with transmissions.