Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
The words ignited a frenzy of hysteria that caused a scrambling chaos over every inch of my body. I rejected him discussing my greatest fear. Instinctively, I responded with a barely audible “pfft.” Of course, I’d never find another. Dash was irreplaceable. As his tears continued to fall, I had to stop them before another round of coughing tortured his body.
“Yeah, right. Tell your lies to someone else. I doubt my happiness was ever on your agenda. What you truly wanted was to prove your soulmate theory was correct, and your resoluteness to make it happen. I never stood a chance against you. And if you think you’ll look down at me with peace as I kiss another dude…hahaha.”
The tears stopped. Dash grinned a big, toothy smile, continuing to stare at the ceiling. “Your bad memory messed with my manipulative, selfless speech where I ensured you only thought of me until we were together again. You hooking up with someone else is gonna piss me off in the afterworld. And whatever I can do to show my anger at you, I will. That’s the truth.”
I propped myself on my elbow to better see his face. It took a second or two for him to glance my way. “If you leave me, I’m hookin’ up with Stone on your desk in your office. He’s packin’. Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“How do you know he’s gay? I’ve seen no evidence?” Dash said, not with accusation, only genuine curiosity. I leaned in further and gently kissed his lips. “He watches your ass too long. I can’t blame him. It’s a great ass.” We shared that look of understanding that close couples did all the time. “I think I’m done sports climbin’. For the whole trip, I missed my family. And I like a real bed.”
“Hmm,” Dash murmured. “I missed you.”
“Again, you’re lyin’,” I said and dropped back to my pillows. “From the second I left, you grew sicker and sicker. You were down almost immediately.”
“Remember when you used to take everything I said at face value?”
“No, I don’t remember that time,” I answered honestly. “I believe I knew you were full of it from the start.”
Dash’s hand tightened around mine. “Hmm. You sure made me work for us from the beginning.”
“Stop bein’ chatty. Go to sleep, reserve your energy. I’ll handle us until you’re back solidly on your feet.”
His fingers threaded through mine. “Thank you.”
“You made me repeat in sickness and health twice during our vows. I think you had foresight that you’d needed double the care than me. As my attorney, doesn’t that mean false pretenses?”
He softly chuckled, echoing me. “I remember you saying in the hospital that we could have more children. Maybe three more.”
In my mind, I thought of a baby, meant one. I let it ride for now. Not too much longer, he fell asleep.
The following day
Of course, Dash didn’t hesitate to overdo it, again. The sigh that left my body was a full-length deal that ended with an exhausted groan. That man might honestly be the most frustrating human being on this planet.
It was hard to assess whether he had regressed from all the activity yesterday, but he sure hadn’t gotten any better. I began to draw lines with him, and since I had to help him move around the house, it actually worked.
I left Dash in bed as I followed my mom, Carter, and Kailey out the front door so we could talk. Those tasked with watching Dash, namely, all our children, and dogs, and Amelia were set straight on the importance of following my instructions and not Dash’s. But getting outside with these three gave me a quiet chance to give my sincere appreciation to Carter without adding my emotionally overloaded husband to the mix.
I stood a couple of feet from my mom and Carter who were in a tight embrace. Kailey stood beside me, seemingly as uncomfortable as I was. “Do they do this a lot?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, taking her cell phone from her back pocket. She lived an easy, sheltered life, but she was also getting old enough to become a real human being. Meaning, she played age-appropriate games on her phone. “But you and Dash do that stuff longer than they do. It’s all kind of gross. I don’t like the idea of exchanging spit. I’m not going to be that way.”
I chuckled at the truth of her tone. We’d see what happened. “I felt that way too when I was young. I wanted to be a fisherman on TV. Scott and I planned to have our own show.”
She smiled at me. “You’re close. Dory told me that you and Uncle Scott had a YouTube channel that got lots of views. Maybe turn that channel into a fishing channel. Put cameras on the boat and make TikTok videos too.” She shrugged like it was the simplest thought. And it was. Scott and I had done a few small videos for advertising on Facebook, but we were missing most of the social media that the world watched. Huh. Maybe the kid was onto something.