Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 38335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 153(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 153(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Poppy whirls around at my expression, the same worry etched on her face.
“That was my cousin, Shane,” she explains, a slight tremble in her voice. “He sold the store.”
My stomach drops out from under me, hollowing from the inside out.
Poppy gasps, the small breath sharp and painful. “He did?”
Hollis nods, swallowing hard.
“That’s sad,” my sister adds on a whisper, making the biggest fucking understatement of the century.
“It is, isn’t it?” Hollis’ voice is just as soft, laced with a calm that mocks the chaos storming inside me.
Poppy runs up to her, wrapping her arms around her waist in a desperate embrace.
Meanwhile, I’m rooted to my spot, paralyzed by fear. Unable to move or breathe.
This wasn’t supposed to happen yet. We’re supposed to have more time. I’m supposed to have more time.
“I thought he wasn’t selling until spring?” I finally manage, my voice strained with everything I’m feeling in this moment.
“I thought so too, but apparently, he’s at dinner with a client looking for an international investment. Shane mentioned the store, and the client made an offer on the spot.”
Her explanation feels like a knife twisting in my gut. She talks about it so casually, as if the entire world isn’t collapsing around us, as if my insides aren’t being shredded.
“Is the new owner going to keep it the way it is?” Poppy worries out loud, peering up at Hollis.
“I don’t know,” she answers, her eyes clouded with the same uncertainty. “I hope so.”
She hopes so? Seriously? Our lives are just hanging in the fucking balance here, and she doesn’t know?
“You didn’t think to ask?” My voice slices through the air, a raw blend of anger and desperation.
She tenses at my sharp tone, her posture turning defensive. “I couldn’t. He was still out with the client when he called.”
Of course, he was. I’m sure he was fucking thrilled to give her the good news. After all, he’s making bank. Who the hell cares about anyone or anything else?
The anger that thought brings on overshadows the fear and desperation pumping through me. “Go upstairs, Poppy,” I order, feeling my composure unraveling by the second.
My sister hesitates, her gaze shifting between Hollis and me with obvious trepidation.
Hollis gives her a reassuring smile and a nod that she listens to, as if it trumps the order I just gave and that just pisses me off even more.
I should have never let this happen.
I manage to hold it together until Poppy disappears upstairs.
“What’s going on with you?” Hollis asks, both hurt and confusion coloring her tone. “Why are you upset with me?”
“Because you shouldn’t have said anything,” I snap. “Especially when you didn’t bother asking any questions.”
“I told you I didn’t have a chance. I’m supposed to call him later tonight. I’ll ask him then.”
“And then what, Hollis?” I demand, craving an answer yet dreading the silence that might follow.
“I don’t know, Mike,” she snaps, rubbing her temples. “You’re not the only one caught off guard by this.”
I grunt. “Could have fooled me.”
She lifts her head, a flash of anger mixing with the hurt. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
My remaining composure shatters. “It means you don’t just fucking waltz in here all calm and drop a bomb like that on my sister without answering any of her questions!” I bellow, my roar fueled by the emotions threatening to choke me.
“Because I don’t have any!” she yells back, her anger and frustration crashing into mine like a tidal wave. “Why aren’t you understanding this?”
I get the urge to ask her the same damn thing. How does she not get the wreckage this causes for my sister…for me? Why couldn’t she wait before ripping the fucking world out from under us?
“Look,” she says, breaking the angry silence, her voice a little calmer. “All Shane told me was he had the buyer with him, and they wanted me to get them the reports as soon as possible. That’s it. That’s the only reason why I didn’t ask more question right then.”
“Then I guess you better go home and get to it.”
She flinches as if I’ve slapped her, the pain in her eyes hitting like a painful blow to the chest.
I shove it aside and keep a tight hold of my anger, knowing it’s better than the alternative.
“So, that’s it, Mike?” she chokes out, her face contorted with pain and anger. “That’s all you have to say to me?
I shrug. “Not much else to say, is there?”
It’s a lie. There’s a lot I want to say. Plead for her to stay, to tell her that I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, that if she gives me a chance, I could make her love this place more than California…but I don’t, because I know it wouldn’t be fair, that it would only delay the inevitable.
She shakes her head at my silence, disbelief reflected in the hurt in her eyes. “I guess not.” Gathering her jacket and bag, she moves for the door.