Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“Now that everyone’s here, please head to the dining room and find a seat! Ensley, Gatlin, Caden—kitchen!” Mom shouted.
“Why is she only calling us and not Emeline?” I griped.
“Because she just got engaged. Let her enjoy being a full-fledged grownup for one day.”
Before I could respond, our mother looked at us and pointed to the kitchen.
Ensley bumped my arm. “Come on. The sooner we haul the food into the dining room, the sooner we can eat.”
“Thank God. I’m starving.”
The creak of the back door opening caused me to glance up to see who was coming out. Everyone was in the house playing stupid games that I wasn’t the least bit interested in. I stood to the far-right side of the porch, in the shadows where the light didn’t reach, so whoever it was, they wouldn’t see me unless they came this way.
But the glow did a great job of revealing the person who was interrupting my peace.
Lilibeth.
I internally groaned. Every time I saw the damn woman, she stirred up two very different emotions in me—anger and desire.
She tightened her coat around herself and brought her hands up to her mouth to blow on them. A light snow had begun to fall, and she reached a hand out and let some flakes fall on her palm. When she smiled, a strange tightness started in my chest.
Her smile slowly faded…and I watched as she reached up and wiped away a single tear.
Oh, just fucking great. If she started crying, I’d be forced to ask her what was wrong.
The back door opened again, and this time, my sister Ensley walked out.
“I see you had the same idea.”
Lilibeth quickly wiped away another tear, but not before my sister saw it. She closed the distance between them and put an arm around her. Lilibeth rested her head on Ensley’s shoulder.
“I know. I feel the same way. Happy but sad.”
Leaning forward slightly, I strained to hear what my sister was saying. Why was she sad?
“I feel so guilty for feeling this way,” Lilibeth stated. “I’m so happy for Emeline. I genuinely am. It just makes me realize how far I am from the things I’d always dreamed of.”
Ensley pulled a hat on, and they both sat down on the top step.
“I have everything I want except love. And I don’t think it’s ever going to happen, Ensley.”
My sister pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “I don’t think I’ll ever find it, either.”
I closed my eyes. I hated that my sister felt that way.
“At least you’ve had sex. I’m going to die alone and a virgin.”
Popping my eyes back open, I bit back a gasp, shocked.
Lilibeth is a virgin? Holy shit!
Ensley laughed. “I won’t let that happen. You should just tell Gatlin you need to pop your cherry. He’d totally be down for it.”
They both laughed…and I realized I was balling my fist. The idea of Gatlin with Lilibeth doing anything together didn’t sit right with me at all. I flexed my hand, telling myself to stop being stupid.
“Maybe I should just have a one-night stand. The last thing I want is to turn thirty and still be a virgin.” She sighed. “I can’t regret not giving myself to the few guys I’ve dated. They were all jerks. But at this point, I just feel like I must have a sign on my forehead that says, ‘Go ahead and cheat on me, I don’t care.’”
“Did they all cheat?”
Lilibeth rested her chin on her knee. “All but one. Do you know they all blamed me for not sleeping with them as the reason why they cheated? They have needs, don’t you know.”
Ensley grunted. “Fucking men. Like their hand doesn’t work just fine. They should have valued the fact that you were saving yourself.”
Lilibeth let out a long exhale. “When I was little, I used to dream about marrying a cowboy.”
Ensley chuckled.
“We’d live on a ranch and have two kids and two dogs. One little girl and one little boy, who’d follow their daddy all over the place, trying to be just like him. I even used to have this dumb dream where my cowboy would make love to me on his tractor.”
They both laughed, and when Ensley caught her breath, she asked, “A tractor?”
“I blame that song. She thinks my tractor’s sexy, or something like that.”
I was starting to feel guilty for eavesdropping on their very private conversation. I glanced around to see if I could possibly slip away and walk around to the front of the house.
“Now I’m trying to picture that, Lilibeth.”
They both chuckled again, before Lilibeth dropped her head back. “It’s just a silly dream. Unless my mystery cowboy lives in River Falls, I think I’m just going to end up with the two dogs. Maybe I’ll add in a cat…”
Ensley laced her arm with Lilibeth’s. “It’s not silly. We have to both believe we’ll find the one someday.”