Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101622 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
“I’m not stirring up trouble,” I reply, my tone is defensive like trouble is exactly what I’m stirring up.
“Sure you are. You and Delaney together are making a big mess of something that seems straightforward.”
“Seems is not the same as is straightforward. It’s not as simple as you make it—”
“BS.” She shakes her head as if she’s had it with me. Damn, she’s tough. “It isn’t as complicated as you make it. You like her, although I’d call it love. She loves you. Be together. Start a family. Live life together instead of apart. Simple.”
It’s a struggle to keep my eyes in my head and my jaw from hanging like a fish caught on a hook, but she’s got it all figured out, so there doesn’t seem like much left for me to do here. I slow blink twice to bring myself back to reality. “There are things we need to discuss—”
“Talk is for the birds. You’re not birds, Warner. You’re in love. Just admit it.”
She’s good. I’ll give her that. My feelings for Sass have only grown, not dissipated. Time hasn’t done its job if I was meant to move on. “I’m not denying how I feel about Delaney.” The words coming from my mouth stun me. Sure, I felt strongly about her. I was making small strides in hopes of us working through the problems. Even hoping we could move into starting over again. But love? I love her so much that the ache has outgrown me and spread to exist in every facet of my day. I swallow hard around my feelings and say, “I asked her to meet me.”
The response doesn’t seem to be one she expected, as she sits back and appears to process the new information. “What did she say?”
“I didn’t want her to feel pressured. I’ll be there whether she shows up or not, but I’m hoping she does.”
“She didn’t tell me.” She takes a breath that appears to settle the excitement she embodied when she walked in, then smiles. “I can’t tell you what she’ll do, but if I were betting in Atlantic City, my money is on you, Warner.”
I like her. Not only because she supports me and the relationship with her daughter—because approval matters—but she’s also not afraid to pull some levers at her disposal to make things happen. Delaney inherited that trait. I’m pretty sure that’s how we ended up married in the first place. Not married. Whatever we were, a lever or two was pulled.
She stands and wraps the strap of her handbag over her shoulder. “I need to get back to the restaurant. I wanted to bring you cookies as a thank-you for not changing the terms with the residents of the building. I know that wasn’t your original plan, but it saved lives. Thank you.”
I stand next to her. “It was also your daughter. Delaney made me look at things in a new light. It wasn’t a hard decision to make once I knew the details.”
Opening her arms, she hugs me. And I slowly and awkwardly embrace her as well.
Slipping away, she walks to the door and says, “Don’t tell Delaney I was here. She’ll kill me.”
“Your secret is safe.” Before she leaves, I say, “Thanks for coming by.”
She opens the door with a smile on her face. “Don’t forget dinner on Sunday.”
“I think you’re more confident than I am.”
“I believe in love, Warner.” She looks back again. “Hope you’re taking care of that heart of yours.”
“I’m surviving.”
She grins like the cat who ate the canary. “I meant Delaney’s. She left it with you.” She doesn’t wait for a reply. The door closes, and I’m left thinking about Delaney’s heart being in my hands the whole time we’ve been apart. It causes mine to beat harder. Though under closer examination, my chest has been ringing hollow ever since she left. Was it only an echo of what used to exist?
Pamela has said some things that make a lot more sense than they did before. It wasn’t my heart I was feeling. It was Delaney’s.
Shit, I can’t let this opportunity pass me by. I open the door and run after her, catching her in the lobby just before she gets in the elevator. “Mom?” I feel silly, but I also don’t, so fuck it.
With her hand holding the doors open, she looks back. “What is it?”
“Can you help me with something?”
Without hesitation, she says, “Whatever you need.”
CHAPTER 32
Delaney
“Slow down, Mom. The park doesn’t close until ten tonight. It’s not even seven.” She’s been hustling from one train to another to the Boardwalk and now to Luna Park. “What’s gotten into you? I thought you hated this place.”
“I don’t hate this place. I just thought it would be fun for us to come to Coney Island.” Her grip tightens on my wrist as she drags me forward.