Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113812 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“And made you break your promise.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“We were stupid kids. Twelve years was a good run, but I never should have made you agree to it. It was about then. I never thought about the future. But I have had a lot of thoughts about that lately. My best friend marrying my sister might not be the worst-case scenario. I mean, we’re already like brothers.” He stands up and holds out his hand. I stand while shaking it. Bringing me in for a shoulder bump, he says, “Promise me you’ll never hurt her.”
I chuckle, feeling we’ve come full circle. “I promise. I love her so much that it hurts to be apart.”
I’m given another eye roll. “Fine, we’re friends again even if you did take a cheap shot and punch me in the face.”
“Sorry about that, but it was either you or me and—”
“I’m in a different headspace now, but I do owe you one.”
He’s not going to do it, but I can go with the flow on this one. “Sure, if it will make you feel better.”
“Not sure if it will, but we’ll find out.” Backing up, he laughs. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stares ahead, seemingly caught in his thoughts. But then he says, “Be truthful. If you had to choose . . .”
“I choose her. Every time.”
“You’re such an asshole.” Grabbing me into a headlock, he scrapes his knuckles over my head. That’s my asshole best friend. It’s good to have him back. “Come on. Let’s go play some basketball.”
The rest of the week has flown by with all the things I need to put in place. By Sunday evening, I sit with Beckett, eating ice cream at a shop around the corner from my building. Anna and I sat down with him when I came to pick him up. We discussed the plan we’ve put in place, then asked for his input.
It will be hard not seeing his mom every other week, but we showed him how they’ll video call and talked about visiting. He’s a resilient kid. He’ll go through some adjusting, but he’s happy to be going to Texas. Not so happy about leaving his friends at school.
That’s when I promised him his own horse . . . Promises just fly off my tongue, but these I’ll keep.
“I told Seraphina I was going to marry her, but she has to like horses.”
Chuckling, I say, “Wise words, kid.”
“But now I’m moving.”
I lick my ice cream and think about Pris. “If it’s meant to be, it will be.”
“Like you and Miss Christine?” Bending his head to the side, he’s quick to lick a spot on the cone before it drips.
“Yes. What do you think about me marrying her?”
He’s determined to retrieve a gumball from the ice cream with his tongue, so he’s momentarily distracted. But then he says, “I thought you were. I thought when you found the secret ingredient, that meant you were together forever.”
Grinning like a fool, he’s teaching me as much as I am him. “Yeah, that’s how it works. I’m just going to make it official when we go back.”
He lowers his cone and tilts his head. “By giving her a house?”
I tap his nose and rub his head. “That’s not a bad idea, kid.”
CHAPTER 38
Christine
“I miss you.” Wedging the phone between my shoulder and ear, I lean against Skyward’s stall, where I just added fresh bedding to the ground. “When will I see you again?”
The positivity I’ve held on to for the past three weeks is waning. I need a hit of Tagger in my life again. Just a little one will keep me going long enough until he can visit at the end of July.
If I close my eyes, the sound of his breath travels the distance like he’s here by my side again. The way it would breeze against the back of my neck when he cuddled around me in sleep. If I let myself go further, I remember how the tips of his fingers pushed into my hips as he took me and the slightest of smile he wore right after while he slept.
“I miss you more than those gorgeous Texas sunsets.”
“That’s saying something because the sky is on fire this evening, and it’s just getting started. I wish you were here to see it.”
“Soon, my love.” His voice is low and comforting like his arms when wrapped around me. “Are you taking care of yourself?” He asks me this often because I once mentioned that no one does and I’m just expected to always be strong.
When he’s here, he makes sure I’m taken care of. When he’s not, it makes me feel loved in his absence. I smile to myself, kicking up a little hay that had fallen when I carried it in earlier. “I’m getting by. How about you? How’s the little guy?”