Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
On Sunday afternoon Grandma Spark calls me on video chat. We try to make it a weekly thing, but sometimes her internet reception isn’t all that great.
Today, though, she’s sitting outside, drinking a glass of red wine, wearing a wide-brim hat, looking relaxed and happy. Her hair is longer these days, pulled back in a ponytail, flyaway wisps fluttering around her face. It’s been white for as long as I remember. Like me, she was a blond when she was younger, but it went white when she was in her mid-forties. The corners of her eyes crinkle when she smiles, and there are laugh lines around her mouth. She always talks about how she’s earned every one of her wrinkles and that they’re an homage to everything she’s been through.
“How’s my favorite Harley?” she asks.
“I’m good. How are you?” I prop my chin on my fist and smile.
Her eyes narrow and she purses her lips. “I don’t believe you for a second. What’s wrong? Did you have a fight with your sisters? Is it Spark House–related?”
I shake my head. “No. Nothing like that. Spark House is doing great.”
“Hmm.” She sips her wine. “Spark House is becoming its own force, which is wonderful and awful. It can be hard to keep your head above water when the current is too strong.”
I chuckle. “You see everything, don’t you?”
“I’ve been keeping my eye on social media. I know when it’s your posts or when it’s the ones that the Wizard of Social Media Oz is posting. There’s a difference in voice. Let’s come back to Spark House though, since it’s not going anywhere. What’s happening that’s making you look like a lost soul?”
“It’s annoying that you can read me this easily,” I mutter.
“I raised you, it’s my job to be able to read you,” she reminds me. As much as I wish my parents hadn’t died in that car accident, I loved being raised by Grandma Spark. Because I was the youngest, I spent the most time with her, especially when Avery and London were in college. When I put my degree on hold, she was understanding, being the only person who knew what I was truly going through. But every once in a while she’d throw out a passing comment about whether I wanted to finish it at some point. She was beyond elated when I told her I was going to take that step.
“I know.” I blow out a breath and tell her everything. She already knew about Gavin and Peyton coming back to Colorado Springs and us reconnecting, but I fill her in on the breakup with Chad.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Breakups are never easy, but I will say, from the beginning I knew he wasn’t the right one for you.” She adjusts the brim of her hat.
“Why didn’t you say something if you knew?”
“Because sometimes we have to find the wrong man before we find the right one. I met your grandfather two days before I turned down a proposal from my high school sweetheart.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“That’s because I was saving the story for the right time.” She winks. “Your grandfather delivered a bouquet of flowers sent from my boyfriend. At the time, flower delivery wasn’t common like it is now, and he’d been running errands and said he was happy to drop them off. Now, I’d seen your grandfather around town, but only in passing. He took the opportunity and jumped on it, knowing that my boyfriend was sending them as an apology.”
“What did he do that would warrant flowers?”
“He missed a date or something. I can’t remember now.” She waves the question away. “The important part is that your grandfather brought me the flowers and said if my current boyfriend was truly sorry, he would have delivered the flowers himself. And he was right. Sometimes it takes seeing it through someone else’s eyes before we realize the path we’re on isn’t the right one.”
“I think I just wanted someone for myself, if that makes sense.”
She nods knowingly. “It does. You and your sisters are very close, but they both have partners, and I’m sure that makes it more of a challenge for you.”
I nod. “I needed someone other than my sisters in my life. I think I was so caught up in the idea of having someone that I didn’t really put enough focus on whether we were a good match.”
“He was a good-for-now, not a good-forever boyfriend and that’s okay, Harley. You’ll find your person. And maybe you already have.”
* * *
Later that afternoon I get a message from Gavin asking if I’m around. I tell him I’m at Spark House managing cleanup for last night’s event, and he asks how long I think I’ll be there. I tell him probably a couple more hours.