Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“Well, anyone could see that, sweetie.” Grace gave me a disbelieving look. “How could you not?”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Even your dad said Will was in trouble the moment he saw you and Baird together.”
“No way!”
She chuckled. “Yes, way. My goodness, Maia … Baird might be a gregarious character and a flirty charmer, but he watches you like a hawk when you’re in a room together. He follows you around like a puppy dog trying to entertain you and garner your affection.”
My lips twitched at her description.
“Why do you think I was worried about the engagement? I was worried for his sake. I thought you were in denial about his true feelings for you.”
“I wasn’t in denial,” I replied a wee bit breathlessly, disbelieving I could have been so blind. “I just … Baird is gorgeous and popular and a total player. Why would he give up his chance with as many women as he wants to be with me?” Tears brightened my eyes. “He said I’m all he wants and I’m all he’s wanted since we met. But why is it so hard for me to believe that? I’m so afraid to believe it because he could hurt me. And I’m so afraid that even if I give into this thing between us, I’ll always have a hand up, holding him back … that I’ll never let myself love him because of it.”
My stepmum’s eyes brightened with sympathetic tears as she reached to cup my face in her palms. Her thumbs wiped at my falling tears. “My darling Maia … you and I are so similar in so many ways. My family, just like your mum, made me feel unworthy. And small. And somewhere along the line, I started to believe it. So … when a very good-looking man moved into my building, one who was so much of a player he makes Baird’s escapades look like child’s play, I was immediately on the defense with him.”
“Dad,” I whispered. I still remembered the day I turned up at his flat to tell him who I was, and he was out on the landing arguing with Grace. There was such a spark between them even then that I thought they were a couple in the middle of an argument.
“I couldn’t imagine why it would be me, of all women, that would make him want to settle down. Doesn’t it sound familiar, Maia?”
My shoulders slumped. “I hate that you felt that way.” Grace was the classiest, smartest, kindest woman I’d ever met. She challenged Dad. She always had. And he challenged her back. No one in their right mind would look at them together and think they were anything but a perfect match.
Her lovely eyes washed over my face. “I hate that your mum planted a seed that’s grown so out of control in your mind that you can’t see past its weeds and thorns to what everyone else sees. Maia, you’re beautiful in all the ways that really matter. You’re kind and thoughtful and you abhor bullies and try to make everyone feel seen. You have the capability and drive that people often mistake for confidence when it’s just sheer determination to never return to the life you were born into. Then there’s the beauty you have on the outside. I hate to say it, Maia, but I think it’s just as much to blame for the way you see yourself as your mum’s neglect was.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have a physical beauty that terrifies your dad and always has because it makes you a target for unkind people. Yet the fact that you’re so spectacularly unaware of how lovely you are is one of my favorite things about you. But not when it stands in the way of you seeing yourself clearly.” She leaned closer so our noses almost touched. “There will always be shallow people who see your physical beauty as a threat. They’ll make assumptions about your character. And they’ll either try to tear you down so you don’t see yourself clearly anymore or they’ll want you because of the way you look, and they’ll put so much stock into its value, they’ll try to make you believe you’re not that valuable, just so they don’t lose you.”
I sucked in a breath at her revelations because I knew she was talking about Will.
And possibly every other boyfriend I’d ever had, except for Charlie, who was too sweet to do that to anyone.
“I’m not that pretty,” I huffed out.
Grace shook her head, laughing quietly, sadly. “Yes, you are, my darling.”
“People are shallow arseholes, aren’t they?” I muttered, tears burning my eyes as I thought about interactions and relationships I’d had over the years. Truthfully, I had been judged before people really knew me. I think my use of clothes and makeup to present myself to the world in a way that I wouldn’t be shamed had only reinforced people’s preconceived ideas about me.