Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94279 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
“Sometimes we say what we mean, even when we don’t mean to, honey.”
I nodded. “Honestly, that’s exactly what I did. I think I just expect things to not work out, based on my past experiences. And that’s not fair to put on Wilder.”
“We all bring baggage to a relationship. The important thing is what you do with it. You can carry it with you forever, or you can unpack it. The choice is yours.”
I nodded. “That’s a really good analogy. Would you mind staying for a few minutes more, Dad? I’m going to go in the back and call Wilder, see if I can catch him before he takes off.”
“Take all the time you need, sweetheart.”
But the phone rang three times and went to voicemail. Wilder should still have had a while before he took off, so I hoped he wasn’t ignoring my call. When voicemail picked up, I decided to leave him a message.
“Hey. It’s me. I was hoping I’d catch you before you boarded. I wanted to apologize again for what I said this morning. It’s been bugging me all day.” I took a deep breath. “I’d like to get to know your dad better. Maybe next time you’re back in New York we can have that lunch? Or maybe I can make you both dinner at my place?” I paused. “Anyway … give me a call if you have time before you take off, okay? Talk to you soon.”
I swiped to end the call and tucked my cell into the pocket of my apron. I hoped I hadn’t screwed things up with Wilder because of my experience with Josh. That man had really left his mark. Maybe I should call the jerk back after all and give him a piece of my mind.
Though when I walked back out to the bar, I realized a call wouldn’t be necessary. Because my ex-fiancé had just walked through the front door.
Not surprisingly, Dad spotted him first. He’d been putting on his jacket and stilled. I wasn’t sure where to go first, but I ended up waving to Dad to tell him everything was okay and walking over to Josh.
“What are you doing here?”
He smiled. “Hey. I took a chance that you still worked Wednesday nights.”
“I see that. But why did you come?”
“I want to talk to you, and you won’t return my calls or messages.”
“That’s because I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Josh frowned. “Can we just talk for a few minutes?”
I glanced over at Dad. Josh did the same and waved, but Dad didn’t return the sentiment.
“He’s still pissed, huh?”
“Did you ever really know my father at all? There’s no coming back from leaving his daughter standing at the altar. You’re lucky Will and Travis aren’t here tonight.”
Josh looked down. “Yeah, of course. Should I go over and apologize again?”
“No. I think you should say what you came to say and leave before he chases you out.”
He nodded. “Can we sit for a minute?”
I sighed. “Fine. Go sit in a booth. I need to talk to my dad first.”
“Okay.”
Dad already had the baseball bat on top of the bar. I shook my head. “You don’t need that.”
“Jury is still out on that one. What’s he doing here?”
“I’m not sure. He said he wants to talk to me.”
Dad clapped the bat to his hand. “He can talk to me instead.”
I smiled sadly. “It’s fine. I’ll talk to him. Why don’t you go home?”
“I’ll leave after he does.”
I knew there was no point in arguing with my father about that. But his tremors got worse when he was stressed, so I needed to make it fast. “I won’t be long.”
Josh was seated in a booth with his hands folded. I took the seat across from him.
“What’s going on that you needed to speak to me?”
“Do you know what today is?”
“Wednesday?”
“The date?”
I had to think about it. “July thirt—” Halfway through, I realized this was the day we’d met and the day he’d proposed two years later. But it no longer meant anything, and I was proud of myself that I hadn’t even noticed. I shook my head. “Is that why you’re here? To remind me of the date? Because my dad’s tremors get worse with stress, and him seeing you sitting here is not helping. So why don’t you get to the point?”
“I’m sorry.” He looked down. “I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to you for a long time, so you would think I’d have something more eloquent planned, but the only thing that sums it up is…” He looked up and met my eyes. “I miss you, Sloane.”
I felt my face twist. “What?”
“I do. More than anything. I made a giant mistake leaving the church that day. I was immature and scared, worried I was making the wrong choice like my parents did, and I couldn’t see that it didn’t matter what else was out there because the best thing in the world was right in front of me all along.”