Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Get back to me when you have an answer.” I stare at her for a moment, dumbfounded. Give her an answer like I’m deciding whether I want chicken or beef for dinner. But she’s unflinching, her jaw set as she watches me for my reaction.
“Well, okay,” I say, shaking my head in disbelief. “Thanks for lunch and for … whatever this was.”
She laughs. “You’re very welcome. And I know this comes as a shock, but I think it’ll make more sense once you’ve had some time to think about it.”
Likely not.
Mira is planted on the couch, still refusing to look at me. It’s probably for the best because she’d see the look on my face if she turned my way. And at the moment, I’m not sure what that look would say. I am sure I’m probably better off not knowing.
“Thanks again,” I mutter and let myself out of the house.
I don’t breathe again until I’m halfway down the driveway.
CHAPTER
NINE
Mira
“Come on, Miles,” I say, waving at Mayor Blackwell’s little girl on the side of the street. “Pick up the freaking phone.”
What is it with men not answering my calls?
His voicemail greeting begins, but I hang up before the beep. “Let’s see what you get for Christmas, pal.”
It’s probably for the best that my brother missed my call. I don’t exactly feel hysterical, but I don’t not feel hysterical either. Despite being the oldest of the three of us, he doesn’t really have oldest-child energy. He’s our father’s oldest child, conceived before Dad met my mom. But Miles is his mother’s middle child—and that’s the vibe he brings to the party. And sometimes you just need a person who will let you melt the heck down and will fan the flames, so you get it out of your system.
“You two must be married for a full year.”
My palm hits the steering wheel as another wave of energy rushes through my veins.
There’s no way this is really happening. Marriage to inherit a house?
Is Lolly out of her freaking mind?
I pull into Markie’s and have my feet on the driveway almost before the engine is off. My sister opens the front door as I take the stairs two at a time.
She winces, and it’s clear this conversation was expected. “I was heading to—”
“The couch.”
Sighing, she pivots on her heels, flinching when the door slams behind us. “I take it you talked to Lolly.” She flops onto the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest.
“You knew.”
She nods slowly. “Yes. I did.”
“And you didn’t tell me?” I chirp. “You’re supposed to be my sister. My best friend. How could you let me be bamboozled like this?”
“I found out just before lunch.” She sits up, dropping her hands to the cushions. “There wasn’t time to tell you.”
“And how could you agree to it? Lolly said you gave this your full support.”
A grin catches the corner of her mouth. “I gave her my full support to cash me out of the house and give it to you. She dropped the marriage part of it and then answered a call, so I rushed inside to try to catch you, but Hartley was already there.”
My palms run down my face, pressing hard enough to release a bit of the frustration building inside me. I want to be angry with my sister. She should’ve told me. But, in reality, this isn’t about her.
“Look,” she says, softer this time. “I walked into the kitchen, and you two looked … natural. Just like you looked together at Patsy’s.”
Heat colors my cheeks as I take a seat next to her on the sofa. A dull headache begins to throb behind my eyes as I remember the warmth of his arms on the dance floor, and the way he moved so easily around Lolly’s kitchen. This is an emotional clusterfuck of epic proportions.
“And I figured if you didn’t want to do it, you’d just say no,” Markie says, watching me carefully. There’s a long pause before she speaks again. “So did you say no?”
I take a deep breath, letting the air hold in my lungs until it burns.
I’m not sure how to answer that because I didn’t say no. But I didn’t say yes, either. And Hartley walked out without saying a word to me, and I don’t know what that means.
Marriage?
“I’m not asking you to fall in love. I’m not asking you to have a baby. I’m simply asking you to give this place that I love dearly a chance before you sell it or let it ruin you. That’s all. And marriage is the only way I can see it working.”
“That’s what I thought,” Markie says.
My gaze lifts to hers. “I’m just replaying it in my mind. I can’t believe this is real.” I shrug. “Why didn’t she offer it to you and let me cash out?”