Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
"Oh my God." That’s the only thing I hear, and it's from Shelby and Presley, who are now standing in the doorway. Louise looks over at them, and the fear fills her face, and I can tell she wants to run.
"These are my sisters." Those are the only words that come out of my mouth. "Come in and close the door, please." My voice is almost robotic as Shelby and Presley come in, closing the door behind them. Shelby's eyes never leave me as Presley walks over to the table and grabs a water bottle. "How much did you hear?" I ask them, not sure I can see them through the tears filling my eyes.
"Enough to get the whole picture,” Presley confirms, handing me the water bottle, and my hand comes up, but it's shaking like a leaf. I can't even hold the bottle, so I shoo it away.
"I'm sorry," Louise whispers as her shoulders start to shake. "He doesn't know I'm here, and to be honest, I don't know what he will say, but I figured that if it were me and I was marrying Edward, I would want to know."
Shelby looks at her. "Do you want something to drink?" she asks her, and Louise just shakes her head.
Louise reaches around her and grabs a white envelope out of her back pocket. "I didn't know if you would believe me"—she holds the envelope for me—"so I had these printed so you would see."
My hand moves on its own accord, reaching out for the envelope. It's almost similar to the one that I opened not too long ago with the diamond bracelet. I pull open the flap in the back and take out the stack of pictures. The first one is of Louise and Edward with the baby in her arms. It was when she gave birth to him. Edward with his arm around her shoulders as she holds the baby to her chest. The tears stream down her face. I take a minute to look into his eyes, wondering if I would see anything, but nothing is there. I slip to the next picture, and it's Edward wearing shorts, sitting on a couch with the baby on his chest as he bends to kiss the child's head.
The last picture is of their gender reveal, both of them holding something in their hand as blue confetti falls down on them. Her face is filled with happiness as well as his, and when my eyes find the date, I almost drop the picture because he proposed two days later.
"My number is on the back of the picture," she says. "I know you must be in shock, and it's a lot to take in. I don't know if you'll marry him or not." She shrugs. "All I know is that you deserve to know." She moves the baby, placing him up higher. "I'm going to go." She looks at my sisters and then at me. "Thank you for not kicking me out," she tells them, and they just smile sadly at her. "I've been the second choice for a long time." She smiles through tears. "I won't be that anymore. I deserve better." She kisses her son's head. "He deserves better." She takes one more look at me and then turns to walk out of the room. The door closes behind her at the same time that the pictures fall from my hands.
Chapter 12
Clarabella
The photos fall from my hand, and my knees finally give out. I'm about to hit the floor when Presley wraps her arm around my waist and tries to hold me up. Shelby grabs the other side, and the two of them help carry me to a chair. I sit in the chair and don't even notice that tears are running down my face. Were they there the whole time? Did she see me cry? "This isn't happening?" I say, wiping away the tears from my cheeks angrily. "Like, this is a dream." I look at Shelby and then at Presley. "I mean, it's more like it's a nightmare." I nod at them. "It's a nightmare, and any minute I'm going to wake up, and we are all going to laugh about it." I laugh nervously when Shelby gets up from beside me and walks over to the bar area that she set up.
"I didn't think we would need this." She squats down and moves bottles aside as she pulls out a bottle of scotch. "I only had it here in case you got jittery and nervous." She opens the bottle and pours three shots and then comes over.
"I don't know about you,” Presley says. "But this was the best idea you've had in a while." She hands us each a shot. The minute my hand grips the glass, I just swallow the shot without waiting. I then look over at Presley, giving her my empty glass while I take hers. "Well then," she notes, looking down at the empty glass in her hand. "I guess you need it more than I do." I don't say anything as I breathe through the burning that is now spreading from the top of my throat to the bottom of my stomach. Shelby doesn't even try to take her shot; instead, she just holds it up for me. Grabbing the empty one from my hand, she transfers me the full one. Only when I swallow the third shot do I say something.