Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“Bastard,” Owen seethes, his eyes catching mine.
I can’t speak for the anger coursing through my veins, hearing the story all over again. My arms ache to hold her, to take this all away. I remember the night she told me her past, and my mind finally catches up. She has nothing to do with this. I know that. I feel like a fucking tool for even considering it.
“When did you open your account here?” Owen asks.
“When we moved here. I had a small inheritance from my grandmother. I used most of it for the lease on the bakery, and the little I had left went into my account here. They gave me a loan for the renovations. That’s how this mess started. I got a letter telling me that my payment failed.”
“Is there anyone else on the account?”
She nods. “Aspen.” Her tear-filled eyes find mine, and I break. After walking around her chair, I drop to my knees and cradle her face in the palm of my hands.
“We’re going to figure this out. I promise,” I say, leaning in and kissing her forehead.
“I’m sorry. When he showed up at the bakery, he wanted money. He said I owed him, and he looked… crazy. I just blew it off to him being him. He told me that he would get it one way or the other, but I didn’t take his threat as serious. His words hurt me for so long, and seeing him… it was like my time with him didn’t exist. You healed me, Grant, and I just wanted him to go away. I ignored him, and he left. I haven’t heard from him since.”
“He came to see you?” My voice is tight. I don’t want to yell at her, but fuck me, she should have told me about this. She nods. “Why didn’t you tell me?” My question seems to light something inside her. A fire I’ve never seen before. She sits up taller, squaring her shoulders, and although tears are still falling from her eyes, she locks her gaze on me, and I know that whatever she’s about to say is going to tip my world on its axis.
Chapter 28
Aurora
“He stole my life from me. He annihilated my spirit and broke my faith in men. He tore me down and left me when he knew I was the most vulnerable. I’ve told you the basics, but do you know what it’s like for a man to tell you to not eat for at least a month, if not longer, in order to look good in your wedding dress?” I pause when Grant’s hands drop from my face and his fists clench. “Every day he would ridicule what I was wearing, how bad I looked, and what I was eating. I gave up everything I loved for him. I stopped baking. I stopped eating the foods that I loved to create, and I ate what he told me to eat. It sounds petty when I say it out loud.”
“Fuck,” Owen mutters.
I have their full attention, and I make myself push forward. “I thought he loved me. He told me so, and I didn’t know any other way. He was my first serious relationship. I knew that our love was different than my parents’, but I was okay with that because it was us against the world. I was young and dumb, and I have so many regrets.”
“Rory,” Grant grits out.
“He broke me. It took my sister and my parents constantly riding me to follow my dreams to bring me to Nashville. Their suggestion of a new start on life, to take the risk and open my own bakery, it finally took root, and I began to look at local listings, but nothing was available. It wasn’t until I looked outside of Memphis that I started to get excited. A new start. Moving away from the memories of him and how I let him control me. I wanted that. When I saw the listing for Nashville, I jumped on it. I was prepared to come here alone, but my sister wanted no part of that. She hated her job and said it would be an adventure.”
This time it’s me who lays a palm against his cheek. “I felt this pull to this city that I couldn’t explain. I love the shop location, and the apartment above sealed the deal. Then I met you.” I pause, searching for the right words. “You were this handsome storm who rolled into my life without warning. You were unlike any man I’d ever met. Your confidence in what you wanted, both with me and out of life, was resolute. Trusting was hard for me, but you didn’t let that stop you. You chipped away at my walls and my insecurities until they were both nothing but the dust in the wind of my past. With each day, you taught me what it's supposed to feel like to be respected. You taught me that true love is all-consuming. It’s passion and acceptance. It’s patience and perseverance. Most of all, you taught me that being me is okay. That I can speak my opinions and order whatever food sounds good to eat without feeling as though I’m doing something wrong. You taught me that curves are okay too.” I give him a watery smile. “You showed me what true love means, how it feels, and what it can do to your heart and your soul if you accept it.”