Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88060 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Looking at her, I said, “I’m not.”
She scoffed. “Talk to me, Liam.”
I sat down on a bench and reached into the stroller to take Winnie out, then set her on my lap.
“I don’t know how I feel, Mary.”
“I do!” she snapped back. “You feel guilty as hell because you asked Hope for a divorce, she got sick, then you started to fall for Aurora while Hope was still alive, even though you desperately tried to fall back in love with Hope simply because she was dying of cancer. I was there…I saw it firsthand. I don’t think Aurora fell for you as quickly as you fell for her, but you fell, Liam, and I wasn’t the only one who saw it. Hope did too. Why do you think she made you stay all those times when Aurora came by to spend time with Winnie? Hell, I wasn’t even there all the time, and I could see it. Hope knew you didn’t love her anymore, and she tried to use her cancer to guilt you into not falling for Aurora. Then all that bullshit she put on you was just another way of trying to keep Aurora away after she died.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I looked at Mary. “What kind of man has dreams about another woman when his wife is lying next to him, dying?”
Tears filled Mary’s eyes as she reached for my hand. “The kind of man who wasn’t in love with the woman lying next to him. You and Hope were doomed from the get-go, Liam. You kept reaching for things in the hope of saving your marriage. I know you guys were struggling in New York City, and Moose Village was supposed to be a fresh start. But you can’t force love.”
I looked down at Winnie, who was sitting patiently on my lap, waiting to go to the playground to play.
“Hi, Liam! Hi, Mary!” Melinda Walters, a neighbor who lived two houses down from me, said as she approached us. “It’s such a beautiful day, I decided to bring Emma to the park.”
The second Winnie saw Emma, she climbed off my lap.
“Hi, Melinda,” I said with a wave.
“You two look like you’re having a rather important conversation, how about I take the girls over to the playground. I promise to keep my eyes on Winnie.”
“That would be lovely,” Mary replied before I had the chance to tell her no. I wasn’t ready to have this conversation with Mary, but now that she got me talking, she wasn’t about to stop.
Winnie reached for Melinda’s outstretched hand, and the three of them took off toward the playground.
“How much did Hope tell you?” I softly asked.
She drew in a breath and exhaled. “That you separated in New York City, but then she found out she was pregnant with Winnie, and you worked things out.”
I nodded. “Hope wanted to move back to Moose Village so I could open up The Muddled Moose. She knew it was a dream of mine, and she wanted to raise our baby in a small town. Before she got pregnant, she wanted to travel the world and couldn’t understand why I didn’t. We wanted two totally different things in life. That’s why we separated in New York. Then she got pregnant and we got back together.”
“So what happened after you moved? Why didn’t things work out?” Mary asked.
Turning to look at her, I frowned. “She didn’t tell you why I asked for the divorce?”
With a shake of her head, she replied, “No. I just assumed it was the previous problem. Hope said you both wanted different things in life.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “You were right when you said we were doomed from the beginning. My end game was always to come back to Moose Village and open The Muddled Moose. I told her that from the beginning. We agreed to stay in New York City for a bit, then revisit the idea of moving back to Moose Village. I should have known that someone like Hope wouldn’t be happy being settled down, no matter how hard she tried.”
Sighing, I went on. “We grew apart not long after we got married. Hope became distant, and things were so strained between us we hardly spoke to one another; we eventually separated. When it didn’t seem like things would change, I told her I was going to file for divorce, and she told me she was pregnant. She was so happy, and I thought maybe this was a second chance for us. I don’t know if I believed that or if I was telling myself a lie. Hope fully fixated on moving to Moose Village the moment she told me she was pregnant, so I could fulfill my dream of opening the bar. I honestly wasn’t entirely convinced that she would like Moose Village. And at first, I think she loved it. I truly do. She became friends with Cadie, then Aurora and Harper. She liked doing things with them, but even I could tell she wasn’t herself. She was always tired and run-down. A part of me thought it might have been my mother who constantly rode her ass. She started to decline invitations with Cadie and Aurora, and well…she told me she hated it here. You know how Hope was. She was climbing the walls and ready to leave.”