Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
“Well, you have plenty of time to figure it out.”
“Not if we want to get married in the spring,” Ryan argued. “I need to book a venue, get a caterer, a dress, a preacher. The list goes on and on. It’s a nightmare.”
“Maybe you should consider getting a wedding planner.”
“Yeah, but they’re so expensive.”
“This is your wedding, Ryan. It’s supposed to be your special day, not a nightmare.”
“I know, I know, but I really want to try to do it on my own.” A thought crossed her mind, and she pursed her lips before saying, “You know, it would be awesome if I had someone to give me a hand with all this. Someone who is a dear, dear friend who knows all my likes and dislikes.”
“Oh, sure!” I smiled as I teased, “I think Keeley would be perfect for that.”
“Umm, I was actually thinking about you.” Ryan shrugged. “I think Keeley would be great to help here and there, but she’s not really in the best headspace these days, especially when it comes to me getting hitched.”
“You know she’s happy for you.”
“Yeah, well, she has a crappy way of showing it.” Ryan rolled her eyes. “She won’t even go with me to look at dresses.”
“Just because I couldn’t go last weekend doesn’t mean I don’t want to go with you,” Keeley sassed as she walked through the front door. “I do, but I had some things to take care of last weekend and couldn’t make it.”
“Are you sure?” Ryan pushed. “Because it seemed like you were put off by the idea of shopping with me.”
“Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not looking forward to it at all.” Keeley turned to Ryan and smiled as she teased, “You are the most indecisive person on the planet. It took you hours just to pick out a pair of boots last week. I can only imagine what you’ll be like when it comes to picking out your wedding dress.”
“She’s got a point there,” I giggled.
“I’m not that bad.”
“Weren’t you just telling me what a hard time you were having finding a venue you liked?”
“Yes, but I’ve made up my mind,” she lied. “I’m doing the lighthouse.”
“Really?” Keeley gasped. “That will be so beautiful.”
“You think so?”
After several days of awkward silence, it was nice to see them back in each other’s good graces. I left them to carry on with their conversation and started getting ready for my next client. I was just about to start sweeping when my cell phone chimed with a message. I picked it up from the counter, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw it was from Ronin.
Ronin:
Hey, beautiful.
How’s it going?
Me:
Hey!
Things are good here. How about with you?
Ronin:
Can’t complain.
Just wanted to let you know I’m going to be out of pocket for the rest of the day.
Me:
Is everything okay?
Ronin:
Yeah, all is good.
I just have to take care of something.
Me:
Gotcha.
Well, I hope it all goes okay.
I waited for a response, but there was nothing more. I thought it was sweet that he took the time to tell me that he was going to be gone for the day. It was a far cry from what I dealt with in the past. There were times I couldn’t get in touch with Chad for hours, especially when he was at work, and it was beyond frustrating. I could only assume that those were the times when he was off somewhere with Crissy, but I’ll never know for sure.
Not that it mattered now.
My time with Chad had come and gone.
I’d moved on to greener pastures, and it was time for me to put all thoughts of him behind me. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. It seemed like every time I turned around, I would hear his voice in the back of my mind:
‘Maybe if you put me before the kids once in a while...’
‘Maybe if you took better care of yourself...’
“Maybe if you put some effort into making me happy...then I wouldn’t have felt the need to go looking for someone else to fill my needs.’
It was those words that haunted me in the thick of the night, making me wonder if I was the reason my marriage fell apart. I could feel myself starting to spiral when Ryan called out to me, “Hey, Mags! Your ten o’clock is here!”
“Okay. Coming!”
I quickly shook the negative thoughts from my mind and rushed over to greet my client. I was thankful that it was a busy day, and I didn’t have time to get lost in my head. Once the last customer had gone, the girls and I worked together to close for the night.
By the time I made it home, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed. Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen. Samantha had volleyball practice and math homework, and Nathan had a science project that was already a day late. I decided to make life easier on myself and grabbed some Chinese takeout when I went to pick up Samantha, and we all sat at the kitchen table and ate while we worked on homework.