Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 519(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
A spark of wrath flickered in his eyes. “If is the operative word. I won’t let it happen.”
“Yeah. Me either. Because I’ll divorce you.” I stood up abruptly.
He followed suit. “Don’t be a hypocrite. You and I are cut from the same cloth, little Apricity.” He caught my wrist like a thief in the dark, his fingers wrapping around my own. “The only difference is that I don’t want to change to appease the world. You do.”
“I’m not like you.” I tugged my hand away, every nerve ending in my body on fire. “Yes, I don’t care when bad people die, but I’d never put you at risk to solve my own problems. If you want this to work, you need to break bread with the Callaghans. I will leave you,” I warned. “I love you, Tate. But I love me too.”
Tate closed his eyes, releasing a ragged breath. He gripped the edges of the table between us, his knuckles bone-white. A storm was brewing inside him. Between the man he was—cruel, careless, vindictive, bloodthirsty—and the man he needed to be to have me. I waited for a full minute, maybe two, before my husband spoke again.
“Very well. For you, Apricity, I’ll stop this war.”
When we returned to Mum’s room, Lina looked like she’d seen a ghost. Which probably was the case, considering her line of work. I stiffly moved toward the blue couch that had become an integral part of my life. Alix and Sadie muttered their quick goodbyes and scurried along, giving me privacy.
Lina took the recliner opposite me, and Tate sat beside me.
“I’ve spoken with your mother, Gia. Not with her spirit guide but directly with her.”
I blinked, not really sure what that meant.
“This is rare,” she explained. “I didn’t expect it.”
“How come?” I tucked my hands under my bum.
“I can usually make a connection directly with people only after they are deceased. This means your mother’s soul is almost fully detached from her body. The two are barely integrated anymore. Because her soul is no longer trapped inside her body, I was able to speak directly to it.”
“Does this mean she’s dead?”
“Almost.” Lina glanced over her shoulder at Mum as if contemplating something. “Our line of connection was very strong. Probably the strongest I’ve had in my entire career.”
“Mum has always been chatty.”
“We spoke in Spanish,” Lina said. “I told her I speak it. I spent a few summers in Spain. She missed speaking Spanish.”
I smiled softly. Mum spoke Spanish whenever she could. Elliott and I spoke it with her.
“She told me you lost your father and your brother a few years ago. It was why she struggled with letting go and leaving Earth. She was very worried about you.”
My gaze snapped to Tate in shock. Did he tell her the details of my family’s tragedy? He shook his head, understanding my unspoken question.
If he didn’t tell her, how did she know? This information wasn’t readily available. Still, I was skeptical. She must’ve found out somehow. Maybe Alix and Sadie said something while I was gone.
“She said you’ve always taken care of everyone around you,” Lina continued. “That you stayed in this job so you could take care of her and send money to her sister, who is struggling financially.”
“Yes. My aunt has a chronic illness.”
Dread made way for panic. If this was legitimate, what else did this Lina woman find out?
“Gia, your mother has been ready to leave for months now,” Lina said quietly. “She stayed because of you.”
“What made her change her mind?” I sniffled. “To disconnect her soul from her body?”
“She said things are different now.” Lina’s eyes darted to Tate. “One of the things she mentioned was that she found out you had a husband. She approves of him. She said he takes care of you. She trusts him to pick up the pieces she’ll leave behind.”
My face heated. I still didn’t know what to believe. This could all be a setup by Tate.
“You think I’m a fraud, don’t you?” Lina studied me with a small, knowing smile. She didn’t seem upset by her own observation.
“I’m more of a science girl.” I smiled apologetically. “Numbers. Physics. That sort of thing. Mum was the spiritual one.”
“Ah yes.” Lina smiled. “She mentioned that. In fact, she told me you would probably be very skeptical. Which was why she told me to tell you…” She looked down at her hands. “Al mal tiempo, buena cara.”
To bad weather, a good face.
An expression my mother often used when life was difficult. The general meaning was to stay positive. To have hope.
Just survive this, and all will be well.
My heart flapped in my chest like a fish out of water.
I believed Lina. I didn’t know who she was talking to really. Maybe her own intuition. But I found my mother in that conversation.