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)
“That I think I can do.” I turn back and walk to the table to grab our beers before heading over to the kitchen. I walk around the island to hand him his beer. He reaches up for it and gives me a soft smile.
“Thank you,” he says, and I can feel the electricity in the room between us. It’s always been there. My question is, will it always be there? He stares at me longer than he should, yet not long enough for my liking.
I pull out the stool and sit on it. “Tell me what you’ve been up to.”
He walks over to the fridge, grabbing the meat. “Not much. You left.” The words sting. “Dad died soon after. I was stupid and drunk and got Karla pregnant after one night with her.” He takes a deep inhale, and the words hurt. “Had Saige, and she’s been the second best thing that ever happened to me.” He tosses down the package of meat before grabbing his beer, extending one hand to the side of the counter. “You being the first thing.”
I pick up my own bottle of beer, bringing it to my lips. “She’s pretty amazing.” I take a pull. “Your daughter, not Karla.”
He chuckles. “I would agree with you on that one.” He puts his beer down and grabs a bowl. “So tell me,” he says as he walks around his kitchen, grabbing things, “what have you been up to since you left?”
“Well, I live in Chicago,” I say, and he nods. “Which you probably know anyway.”
“I don’t,” he admits. “I know nothing about you. I know you left, but I refused to hear anything that had to do with you.”
“Well, same,” I confess to him with a chuckle. “I knew you had a daughter.” I bring the beer to my lips to keep my hands busy. “But I stopped Mom from telling me anything else.”
“What do you do in Chicago?” He veers away from the conversation about him having a child with someone else, someone who was always all over him.
“I work for a company that does marketing for all different companies,” I say. “If you need marketing for whatever, you come to the company and they outsource it.”
“Do you like what you do?” he asks as he prepares the steak, and I shrug.
“It’s work, so sometimes I love it, sometimes I don’t.” He nods. “What about you? Why didn’t you ever go back to architecture?”
“I wanted nothing to do with it. I didn’t want to look at another drawing. I wanted none of that,” he explains. “I’m happy running the shop. I make my own hours. I’m there to take Saige to school and pick her up. I provide a decent house for her.”
“It’s beautiful.” The words slip out of my mouth before I can stop them. “You created a beautiful home.”
He doesn’t say anything, but instead, he nods at me. “I’m going to go and do the grill.” He motions with his head toward the door. “Can you set the table?”
“Yeah, I can do that.” I push away. “Do you want to eat at the island or—”
“You decide, baby,” he says softly, walking out of the room, making me watch his back. Trying not to let the way he said my nickname get to me, I walk behind the island and open a couple of cabinets before I find the plates. I grab two plates and then walk over to the dining table off the kitchen, and I’m wondering if we should eat at the island. I’m in the middle of looking from one to the other when the back door opens, and he comes in and looks at me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m thinking I don’t know if you eat at the table or the island.”
“Breakfast is at the island,” he says. “Dinner, we sit at the table.”
I nod at him, the tears stinging my eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” I say because I may not have seen him in nine years, but I am not that different of a person that he doesn’t know me.
“Well, what did I say that you got that look on your face?”
“The fact you eat breakfast at the island and then dinner at the table,” I say, putting down the one plate. “That you have this routine you never had with me.”
“We had a routine.” He doesn’t move from his spot by the back door. “We would always have coffee sitting out on the deck,” he reminds me, “no matter what time it was, and dinner was always with us sitting next to each other. Whether it was on the couch, side by side, or standing, you were always beside me.” I nod. “I wanted Saige to have a routine.”
I smile at him, and I don’t plan to have the sob rip out from me, but it does, and it takes him five steps to take me in his arms. “I’m sorry.” I close my eyes. “It’s…” I shake my head. “I have to get over it.” I step out of his arms. “You should check on the steaks,” I say. “Is there a bathroom where I could freshen up?” I ask, and he looks at me.