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)
I shook my head. “Whatever’s easiest.”
She walked over to the sink and set the cutting board across it, running cold water.
“I see you remembered my mother’s trick for the tears and onions,” I said, as I started to mix the dough.
“We shall see if it really works,” Lilibeth said, winking at me…and causing a strange sensation to hit me square in the chest.
She moved on to the bell peppers with nary a tear, then began cutting the pepperoni.
“So…bacon?” I asked, as I rolled out the dough and shaped it for our pizzas.
“It’s the strangest thing. I love bacon. I could eat bacon on pretty much everything. But this morning my parents had it, and the smell made me feel sick. Then Mrs. Harper had bacon grease in a frying pan, and the moment I smelled it, I was running to the bathroom.” Then she turned to look at me. “Do you want to know something crazy?”
“Tell me,” I replied.
Bending down, Lilibeth picked up Misty and snuggled her for a few moments before setting her back down. “Like I said earlier, Mrs. Harper knew I was pregnant. I mean, me rushing off to throw up was probably a huge giveaway, but when I walked out of the bathroom, she handed me peppermint water and said it was the only thing that helped with her morning sickness.”
I tossed the crust into the air. “Throwing up might’ve been a sign, but sometimes I swear that woman has this sixth sense or something. She knows things.”
Lilibeth pointed to me. “Yes! Thank you! I thought I was alone in thinking that. I bet she was an amazing teacher.”
“She was.”
We worked side by side for a few minutes in silence.
“Lilibeth, will it be difficult for you to live here? I keep thinking back to our conversation on Christmas, and I don’t want to make things hard on you. If you’d really prefer, I can talk to Gatlin about you moving into Emeline’s cabin. He was going to move into it in the spring, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
She’d been spreading pizza sauce onto her crust when she stopped, paused a moment, then looked at me. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I waited for her to reply.
“The one thing I’ve valued more than anything in this…friendship…we’ve started is that we’ve been honest and upfront from the beginning. Yes, I was worried I’d fall in love with you if we kept sleeping together.” Placing a hand on her stomach, she smiled. “That was before the baby. I won’t lie and say I didn’t want to climb you like a tree yesterday, when you showed up in that damn baseball hat, though. But…I can control my feelings and put the baby first.
“If we want to do this co-parenting thing the right way, then we stay friends. I can respect that you’re not looking for anything serious, and I don’t want you to think that just because we’re having a baby, I think you’re going to fall in love with me. I know that’s not ever going to happen.”
I suddenly had the urge to pull Lilibeth into my arms and kiss her. She was unlike any woman I’d ever met before.
Feeling utterly confused by my feelings, I decided to try for a bit of humor. I winked and said, “Maybe we shouldn’t say it’s never going to happen.”
Softly smiling, she said, “Is that so?”
I glanced down at my pizza. I wasn’t sure what to say, so something told me not to say anything at all.
We placed all the toppings onto our pizzas, and when I went to put them into the oven, I paused to stare at Lilibeth’s. “You made a smiley face?”
Looking from me to her pizza and back, she replied. “Yeah. That way, I know which one is mine. I also put some extra mushrooms on it.”
My gaze took her in fully for a moment. Her hair was braided and hung over her shoulder, and she wore the lightest bit of makeup…if she had any makeup on at all. Her lips and cheeks looked pink, but I wasn’t sure if it was natural or not. Her eyes sparkled in the lights from above the island.
Her smile slowly faded when she noticed me staring. I pulled my gaze away and went about putting the pizzas into the oven.
When I turned back around, Lilibeth was wiping down the island. “Will you want two pizzas, or should we put all of this away?”
Before I could answer, Gatlin and Ensley walked into the kitchen.
“Lilibeth!” Ensley said, rushing over and giving her a hug. “I saw your car when we pulled up, and I was like, what is she doing here?”
Gatlin raised his brows, as if silently asking me the same question.
“We made some pizzas. I’ve got extra dough if you both want to make one.”