Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
It was worth it sits on my tongue, but instead, I wave her off. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I frightened you.”
“Here.” She gives me the paper that she had written on. “Write down your name and the best number to reach you at. I will give you a call as soon as they are ready.”
I bend over and begin to write down my information.
“Will you need them delivered?” she asks.
I put the pen down and push it back over to her. “Nope. I’ll pick them up.” Then I turn and walk out, but one of the vases she has sitting on the shelf catches my attention. “Are these for sale?” I ask, turning back to her and pointing at them.
“Yes.”
Walking over, I pick up a black vase that has a dark purple butterfly on it. The inner wings fade to a dark pink. It too reminds me of my mother. She loved butterflies. She had this picture that she kept in the family room of two butterflies sitting in a field. She loved it. My father had it boxed up and sold at an auction after she passed.
I place it on the counter. My eyes lift from the butterfly to hers, and I notice the purple color of the body matches her hair and lips perfectly. “I’ll take this one.” Before she can say anything else, I turn and get the hell out of the shop.
APRIL
I watch the man exit the front door and then I turn to the cooler door and barge in. “Just what do you think you were doing?” I bark at my little brother.
He stands behind the small table, trying to make an arrangement for the Blitz wedding this weekend. Stopping, he looks up at me and releases a sigh. His blue eyes are heavy, and he has bags under them. His band T-shirt and ripped jeans look like he picked them up off his bedroom floor this morning.
“What time did you get in last night?” I ask him. I went to bed at midnight, and he wasn’t home yet.
“Late.” Comes his clipped answer.
“Where were you?” I pry.
“At a party.”
He’s lying. “Ethan …” My younger brother is my responsibility. I have to protect him, but he fights me every step of the way. I’m only three years older than him. Since he still lives with me, he thinks he’s the man of the house and that he can do whatever he wants.
“Just stop, April. I don’t need you going all mom on me. It’s too early, and I’m too tired.”
I refrain from rolling my eyes at him. “I’m gonna cook spaghetti tonight. Your favorite.” I try changing the subject.
“I won’t be home until late.”
“Where are you going?” I ask through thin lips.
“Out,” he says.
“Ethan, you need to get some sleep.”
He just ignores me.
I run my hands over my jeans and close my eyes. “Are you in trouble?” I ask. It’s been my biggest fear for a while now. He didn’t always hang with the best crowd. Between getting thrown out of school on multiple occasions and his run-ins with the law, he’s already on a dangerous path. He snorts, and my eyes spring open.
“No.”
“I’m serious, Ethan. I’m worried about you. You’re never home. You’re sleeping at work …”
He slams down the glass vase onto the table. “You wanted to keep this fucking store!” he roars. “Not me!”
I swallow nervously. “It’s all we had left of Mom,” I whisper, and my chest tightens. How could he not want to keep a part of her? This was all she had to leave us. Every time I walk into Roses, I think of her. I see her. I smell her. In a way, she lives on as long as I’m here. This was her life. Her dream. I couldn’t sell it to someone else who would most likely close it and turn it into another coffee shop.
He places his hands on the table and bows his head. “I know.” He growls, pushing off the table. “You wanted this, April. I didn’t.” Then he shoves past me and out the cooler door.
I follow him back through the flower shop and into the office. “Where are you going?” I ask when he yanks his jacket off the back of the chair.
“Out.” Comes his clipped answer. “And don’t wait up for me tonight.”
It’s seven in the morning. “Ethan?” I call out as he makes his way to the front door.
He doesn’t respond or stop before he shoves the front door open and storms out. I walk back into the office and plop down into the chair. I rip both of my buns out and run my hands through the back of my hair to undo the braids, allowing my hair to fall over my shoulders and down my back. It was giving me a headache. Looking down at the floor, I see what looks like a key card to a hotel room of some sort. A black circle is in the middle with a gold K in the center. Then below that it says Kingdom Members Only.