Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 155(@200wpm)___ 124(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
It’s embarrassing, really. Who develops a crush on their brother? But it happened, and I can’t help the way I feel because Nick Bradley’s always had an insane power over me. As far back as I can remember, he’s been a looming presence: handsome, intense, with a powerful, magnetic personality radiating dominance and masculinity. I looked up to Nick as a little girl, and somehow along the way, that childish reverence morphed into a crush of the most ginormous proportions.
But yes, we’re technically family, so he’s off-limits and out of bounds. Again, it’s downright embarrassing that I even feel this way because I was around ten when my mom married Nick and Milly’s dad, Steve Bradley. It was a huge step up for me and Jennifer, both emotionally and financially. Up until then, we’d been living with relatives for years, and it was only too clear that said relatives resented our presence. I suppose we were the poor relations that everyone speaks of, but in our case, it was actually true. My dad passed when I was young, and Jennifer never got further than a year of community college. She had a job as an admin assistant at a local college, but it didn’t pay much, so an apartment of our own was out of the question after my dad passed, and we were dependent on the grudging hospitality of Aunt Rosa and Uncle Dick.
But when I was around ten or so, my mom married Steve and our situation improved enormously. Just having an actual place we could call “home” was a blessing. There were no longer any resentful side-eyes from Rosa and Dick, nor pointed comments about things like accidentally parking in the wrong spot, or forgetting to water Rosa’s zinnias. My mom and I finally had a place where our presence was welcomed, and not just tolerated. It was a huge weight off our shoulders, and we both breathed a sigh of relief.
Plus, there was a lot more space. While Steve doesn’t live in a palace, he’s a successful surgeon and able to afford a large home in a nice cul-de-sac. There were enough bedrooms for all of us, as well as a living room, dining room, kitchen nook, and family room. There was even a pool with a garden out back, and the mortgage had long since been paid off. As a result, my mom was able to let go of her money fears, and the look of exhaustion lifted from her features for a little bit.
But our newfound peace wasn’t meant to last forever. Jennifer got sick about a year after marrying Steve, and at first, she assured me that it was nothing.
“Your cough sounds bad, Mom,” I murmured in a small voice, my eleven-year-old self shooting her a worried look. “It sounds like it’s getting worse, not better.”
Jennifer managed a wan smile, her features haggard and hair oddly limp, before caressing my golden tresses with a pale hand.
“No, it’s fine, honey. I’m driving the cough down and out. I know it sounds strange, but that’s how you get rid of these things. Besides, don’t worry about me, sweetheart. I’m married to a doctor now, so Steve will make sure I come out of this a hundred percent healthy.”
But my childish instinct had been right from the start. Jennifer wasn’t just fighting a cough. She was fighting the Big C, and in the end, there was nothing that her husband, nor any doctor, could do. Within a year, my mother was gone, leaving me to live with the Bradleys.
“You’ll be fine,” Jennifer reassured me in a whisper on her death bed, her thin frame gaunt and desiccated. “I’ve asked Steve to look out for you. You’re my daughter, and I trust him.”
My panic was approaching a breaking point.
“But Mommy, I don’t know these people! Don’t leave me!” I cried in a panic, tears pouring down my cheeks. “Don’t go, Mommy, please!”
But my rising distress only caused the nurse to usher me out of the room, and soon, Jennifer was in the ground and I was left to live with people I hardly knew. I was withdrawn, shocked, and stunned, all at the tender age of eleven.
I don’t remember that much about the ensuing months. The Bradleys were kind enough, I suppose. Steve was still working long hours as a surgeon then, and Nick was already in college and prepping for medical school. Neither man was around, leaving me and Milly to our own devices, and I suppose it was Milly who saved me, the same way she leapt to Freddie’s rescue. My half-sister has always been spunky, determined, and utterly irrepressible. She’s Huckleberry Finn mixed with Pippi Longstocking, and her bubbly manner helped me pull me out of my depression. With her coaxing, I came out of my shell, slowly but surely, and Milly and I have been more than friends since then – we’ve become real sisters.