Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 82634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82634 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“Which one?” I ask her as she slips off her jacket, and she shakes her head.
“It’s not about me,” she says to me. “It’s about you. It’s about you wanting to come home to that house every single day. You have to think about raising Jaxon in that home.” This woman never ceases to amaze me; again, she worries about Jaxon and me, and not once did she insinuate she will spend time there. Not once did she say I love this or you should get it. She always waited for me to say something before telling me how she felt.
“I think I liked the third house,” I say. Her eyes light up, and I know that’s the right one. “I’m going to put an offer on it.”
“I think it’s perfect,” she says.
“Do you think you could help me make it a home?” I ask, and she comes to me now.
“I will help wherever you want my help,” she says.
“Do you think you’d like to leave some of your stuff there?” I ask, and she throws her head back and laughs.
“Okay,” she says, and then she steps back. “We have to talk.”
I look at her, and she stands there in front of me. “I just.” She starts to say. “I don’t know how comfortable I’m going to feel sleeping there with Jaxon.” I’m about to say something when she puts her hands up. “Hear me out. I’m good for having dinner and even you kissing me, but I don’t think what he needs now is to have me crashing your place when his life is in an uproar.”
“When are you going to put yourself first?” I can’t help but ask her. “During this whole time, not once did you look at me and say what about me.” I don’t let her say anything. “Never in this whole time did you put yourself first. In this whole thing, all you worried about was me and Jaxon or my mother or anyone else but yourself.”
She throws her hands up. “Well, that’s what you do when you love someone!” she yells.
“I’ve never had that,” I tell her. “Never in my whole life have I had someone who put me before them. Besides my parents.” I look down, my heart almost exploding. “Thank you.” I grab her hand and bring it to my chest. “For bringing me back to life.”
Chapter 36
Evelyn
“I can’t believe we are finally getting together,” Stephanie says when I sit down at the table. “It’s been too long.”
“It really has been,” I say. The waiter comes by to tell us the lunch specials. “Sorry it has to be lunch and not dinner. Things have been just a touch crazy.”
“You look different,” Stephanie says, looking at me, and my eyebrows shoot together. “You glow.”
“Um . . .” I put my hands to my cheeks. “Thanks, I guess.”
“So tell me, what is new with you?” she asks, picking up her glass of wine.
“I met someone,” I finally say, and she smiles. “I actually met him at the restaurant where you had your bachelorette party.” She doesn’t say anything. “His name is Manning.” I wait to see if it clicks, and I see that nothing lights up on her face. “He’s amazing,” I say, smiling. “So thoughtful and basically just the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”
“You love him.” She points at me, laughing. “That’s what is different about you. You have that love glow.”
“I must.” I laugh, grabbing my glass of water.
“So tell me everything,” she says, and I fill her in on everything that has been going on. “Hold on a second.” She puts up her hand. “Is this Manning Stevenson?” she asks, shocked. “The one who caught his wife fucking in a car?”
“He didn’t catch her, but yes,” I admit, “that would be him.”
“Holy shit.” She slaps the table. “It was a soap opera.”
“Oh, trust me, I know,” I say, and we change the subject to her wedding, which is taking place in a month. I hug her good-bye and then make my way back to Manning’s house.
“Are you ready?” I ask Jaxon right before we walk out of the house. He puts his hand in mine, and I smile. “Are you hungry?” Both of us are dressed in black jeans with our Dallas jerseys on.
“No,” he says as I walk over to Manning’s SUV that he left here for me.
I open the back door of the SUV, and I wait for him to get in and get buckled. After getting into the driver’s seat, I push the button for the garage door to open. I pull out and look up at Manning’s brand-new house. He did not mess around when he said that he liked this house. He made an offer on it the next day, and in fourteen days, he was in. It was a bit of a whirlwind, to be honest, but he was gone for most of it, and when he was here, he was busy with Jaxon. The three of us went furniture shopping, and in one day, he had all of his furniture picked out. Paying a rush fee, he made sure it was delivered when he got the keys to the house.