Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
“Yes,” Rhodes said clearly.
I wished I could deny a word of that, or even voice a word to defend my parents, but Rhodes was spot-on. Actually, he was putting it nicely.
“But how come she can play with me now?”
He paused, considering that. “Because of Halmeoni.”
I frowned. What?
“Your grandmom only got to be Mommy’s mom for twenty-eight years, and in that whole time, they never got to have any fun together.”
“Really?” Lily whispered. “That’s so sad.”
Something broken and screaming in me went very, very quiet.
“It is sad. It’s even more sad because they’ll never get the chance to have fun together again.”
Lily’s mouth trembled—her little frosted nose wrinkling.
“But she doesn’t want it to be that way with you and her,” he said. “For as long as she’s your mommy, she wants to have lots of fun with you.” Rhodes wiped her cheek, catching a tear. “So, what do you say? Should we keep making the best frosted cinnamon ginger cookies ever?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah?!” he cried, tickling her.
Bursting into giggles, she belted out, “Yeah!”
“All right!”
They high-fived—tears abated as the two of them went back to working on their little cheer-Mommy-up surprise.
I stepped out of the gloom, clearing my throat. “Hey, guys. What’s going on in here?”
“Mommy, no!” Lily dropped her spatula, dropping over the cookies to cover them. “Don’t look. You’re ruining the surprise.”
“A surprise? I am?” I clapped my hands over my eyes. “Oh no, I can’t ruin the surprise!” I ran into the fridge and bounced off. Spinning around, I ran the other way and bonked into the pantry.
If Lily wasn’t already on the countertop, she would’ve fallen on it laughing.
“That’s right. No peeking,” Rhodes said. “We’re going to hide these, because you don’t get to see them until after dinner.”
I tucked myself in the corner while Lily and Rhodes put the cookies back on the pan, and stuck them in the oven.
“Nicely done, Lilybug. Can you go and get your other daddies for me, please?” Rhodes asked.
“Okay.” There was a clomp from her jumping off the stool.
Suddenly, little arms were around me. “I love you, Mommy.”
My throat closed—my heart filling to burst. Three days since losing Omma, and it was her three little words that put the first crack in the dam of my tears.
“I love you too, Nari.” Twisting around, I hugged her tight. “So much.”
Leaning back, she popped a kiss on my cheek, and then took off—just a happy, sweet little girl who trusted and felt safe with her family.
Only after her footsteps faded did I turn to Rhodes.
I studied the back of his head, watching him flit through the kitchen finishing off what, from the smell of it, seemed to be one-pot chicken and potatoes.
Even the back of him was handsome. Rhodes Newbury was tall, fit, and a great dresser. Even when he went out for a run, he had the best running shoes and nice, tight running pants that motivated anyone running behind him to keep up... but never get ahead of him.
He was an amazing father. So sweet and patient with Lily, and he always made time for her no matter how tough a day he had at work. Yes, there were many things to love about Rhodes Newbury—
—but that didn’t make him any less a complete stranger to me.
I’ve been an idiot. I crushed on him from afar for one year when I was fourteen, and then four years later, I made a date with him that I never got to go on—and I’ve acted like that’s enough to know a person.
Ten years have separated me and Rhodes, no matter how much I wanted to ignore that fact. I wasn’t here for the fights, the disappointments, the early growing pains of fatherhood, or the weight of his parents’ failed marriage falling upon him.
I don’t know this man at all, I thought as he turned to me, beaming away. So how do I know he didn’t kill my mother?
“Hey, babe.” He saw the look on my face. “Everything okay?”
“Um, no,” I said slowly, moving closer to the island. “Not really.”
“Is this about your friend?” Rhodes busied himself wiping the chocolate off the countertop. “How’s she doing?”
“Not good.” I was fixed on his face—studying his every twitch and tic. “Her father got her the best lawyer in a five-state radius, and she’s poking all the same holes in their investigation that I did, but it’s tough because she can’t explain why she attacked Omma with confectionery if she didn’t have a grudge against her.”
“Why did she do that?” Rhodes didn’t look up from his task. “I mean, it was so bad onlookers called the cops. Did she tell you at least why she flipped out on an old lady?”
“I already know why.” My voice was measured—calm. “It was because Omma drove a wedge between us. Courtney is the sister I never had,” I said—speaking truer than I ever had before. “And I’m hers.