Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
She couldn’t call her decision a sacrifice, but it felt a little like one simply because she was so scared of the unknown. Love required sacrifice. In many ways, the sacrifice was his. He was taking on her daughter as well, and doing so without hesitation. Already, he had spent a great deal of time wooing Grace. He was unfailingly gentle and soft-spoken with her daughter. He carried her close to his body, relaxed but protective. Grace had taken to him right away.
Contentment. Peace settled into Leila. This was what she’d always longed for but hadn’t been aware of. She hadn’t even known it could exist, but she wanted this kind of life, not just for herself but especially for Grace. For any future children.
“You haven’t had a chance to see Diego’s home yet,” Nonny said. “It’s beautiful, built of cypress and treated to last, even with all the insects and weather.”
“You have a house?” She turned her head to look up at Diego. The look on his face caught at her, made her reach up and cover his hand with hers. No one had ever looked at her that way, with that focused intensity, with something very close to love etched into his hard, masculine features.
“I told you I had a house,” Diego said. “But until you and Grace are in it, that’s what it is. A house. We’ll make it a home together.”
“It’s really beautiful,” Nonny said. “Rubin and Diego took me there to see it. Their houses are next door to each other, just set back far enough from the river, like this one is.”
“Swamp and waterway exits in an emergency,” Diego said. “Plenty of cover for us, but at the same time, we’ll see anything coming at us.”
She had to smile. How many women would want to be reassured they had emergency exits if they were attacked? Her first thought hadn’t been the river might flood and they’d need to evacuate, it had been, What if soldiers come to try to take Grace? Soldiers from Pillar or Whitney. Before she could voice her concerns, Diego had already indicated the house could be protected, and they could get out several different ways should they need to.
“Drawback,” Diego said. “Living next door to my brother.”
She felt his amusement and knew he was teasing. “That could be a problem,” she agreed soberly. “But he is married, and you said his wife is sweet.”
Nonny lifted her unlit pipe to her mouth, chewed on the stem for a moment and then indicated Diego with it. “That boy is a tease, Leila. He keeps that straight face of his, so you don’ always know what he’s up to, but half the time he’s full of…” She broke off with a laugh.
Diego’s eyebrow shot up. “Full of what? Really, Nonny, I can’t believe you just told my woman that.”
“On your side, boy, always,” Nonny assured. “Your woman has a good sense of humor. You need that when you make a life with someone. Long-term relationships are full of compromise and sacrifice. Berengere, my man, and I had a few ups and downs, but humor and commitment always got us through those tough times. We turned to each other, never to anyone else, for emotional support. Always look to each other just as you are now. Times will get rough, but you both have what it takes for the long run. At the end of the day, it will be well worth it.” Nonny stuck the stem of the pipe back in her mouth and bit down, as if adding an exclamation point to her brief words of wisdom.
Diego’s fingers brushed through Leila’s hair. “She definitely has a sense of humor. We were in some fairly sticky situations, and she always managed to make me laugh. It didn’t matter how dicey the situation, she found humor in it somewhere.”
The way the pads of his fingers moved in her hair, barely there but skimming down the back of her head, somehow massaging her scalp, sent a rush of heat through her. A rush of awareness. She wanted that connection with Diego for the rest of her life. In that moment, sitting on Nonny’s porch with the wind skipping over the river water, turning the surface to diamonds and ruffling the leaves in the trees, she knew it was always going to be Diego. She knew it with absolute certainty.
“Relationships can be hard, but if you rely on each other, don’t turn to others for emotional support but to each other, if you’re willin’ to hash things out, even if that means being upset, you’ll do just fine.” Nonny continued her advice. “Watched these boys and their women struggle at first to become good at a relationship when they really had no road map. But they are committed.” She leaned toward Leila. “If there’s one thing I can guarantee about my boys, they know what absolute commitment is.”