Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 72669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“It was stupid,” she whispered, clearing her throat. “I should’ve never taken her. She’d be here right now if I hadn’t.”
She turned to face a picture of the dog I’d gotten her on the fridge.
It’d grown into a cute dog.
Before it’d been a curly mass of black fur.
In the picture on the fridge it was a beautiful black dog with sleek hair that curled on the ends.
“I was taking him to get his picture taken for my Christmas presents for my parents, and I’d just gotten him out of the car in front of the PetSmart. A woman bringing out a cat from the front door caught Blitzen’s attention, and his collar slipped off when he yanked away from me suddenly. He chased after the cat,” she shivered and looked away from the picture. “And got hit along with the cat. Both were dead and there was nothing we could do.”
I felt like shit for even bringing it up, and the only thing I could do was wrap my arms around her and let her cry for the second time in twenty-four hours.
I took in her place as she cried, looking at the walls and realizing that the whole place was a shrine to Blitzen…and me.
I was still everywhere.
And it made me smile.
I wasn’t in any spots of honor, like over the fireplace or anything.
But things I’d bought her over the years were in places of honor.
Like the vase I’d gotten her with the first set of flowers that I’d ever given her were on the kitchen island with fake tulips, exact replicas of the flowers I’d bought, in it.
There was the blanket that I’d had made for her, a beautiful quilt of all the t-shirts that I’d worn over the first year we’d been together, on the couch.
She and I shared a picture on the fridge, her prom.
Then there was the picture of her and I at the Marine Ball that’d been held about two weeks before deployment.
That one had been…perfect.
It was the week after she’d turned eighteen.
She’d been wearing this pink number with glittery rhinestones covering nearly the whole dress.
I remembered looking at her under the harsh lights at the ball, seeing how fucking beautiful she was, seeing the lights sparkle off of her.
She had the attention of quite a few men that day, and she hadn’t even realized it. She only had eyes for me.
Beautiful, brown eyes that were so trusting and honest.
Eyes that were now looking at me with tears in them.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
My brow rose.
“Sorry for what?” I asked.
Her lips thinned.
“For not taking care of Blitz…” I stopped her by pressing my mouth to hers.
“You took care of him. I know you did,” I said. “I kept up with you. My aunt said you made your bi-yearly appointments. You were always up to date on shots. You took him to the groomers, even though that type of breed didn’t usually get groomed.”
She buried her nose in my chest.
“I kept tabs on you through your father,” she admitted.
I knew she had.
I’d been the one to tell my dad it was okay.
“I know,” I said. “He called and asked if it was alright that he gave you that information.”
She shivered, and I tightened my arms on her shoulders.
I leaned down and pressed my lips against the top of her head, breathing in the wild berry scent of her hair.
She hadn’t changed it in all this time.
That smell haunted my dreams for long, long years.
“He told me that you were interested in re-upping, but you came home,” she said.
I nodded. “I almost did.”
She frowned, and that cute little indentation that meant that she was thinking appeared between her brows.
“Well then, why didn’t you?” She asked quietly.
I stayed silent for a few long minutes, and she finally leaned back in my arms to look at my eyes.
“Well?” She poked me.
I debated whether to show her.
But then I berated myself.
If my brother had sent Masen something from beyond the grave as her sister had, then I’d sure as fuck want to read it.
And I wasn’t going to keep that from her…not to mention that it was best to start fresh if we had any chance of working.
Slowly I pulled my wallet out of my back pocket and fished the letter out.
It’d been written on wide ruled paper and the writing was shaky at best.
I’d become somewhat of an expert at reading poor writing, however, seeing as I’d spent quite a bit of time overseas. Any orders we were gotten were written in haste if they were written down at all.
So it’d been easy for me to ascertain the words written in Daniela’s hand.
Handing the folded paper over, I waited while she opened and scanned the contents of the paper.
A squeak passed between Masen’s lips as she read what her sister had to say to me, her hand raising to her lips as she stared in awe at the words.