Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
He smiled at Nadia.
“Hello, Mrs. Karlsson. I’m Grayson Caballero. I’m here to escort Miss Lynnea Karlsson to the dance this evening.”
Nadia beamed, and more giggles erupted from behind the door. “I do believe she’s expecting you. Won’t you come in.”
None of this was rehearsed, which pleased Grayson. He was happy Nadia was playing along. He stepped in, held the corsage box in front of him, and waited for Nadia to close the door. Lynnea stepped out from behind her mother in a navy blue dress, with sparkles and layers of tulle. Thanks to Reid, he knew what it was. Her blonde hair had been curled and pinned to the top of her head, with ringlets framing her face. From the pictures he’d seen of Rafe, Lynnea was his twin.
“Lynnea, you look beautiful,” he told her as he dropped down to one knee and opened the box, which contained two white roses wrapped in navy ribbon. “This is for you,” he said as he slipped it onto her wrist. “Reid picked it out for you.”
“She did?” Lynnea looked at her flowers and then held her arm up for her mom to inspect. “Look, Mommy. Weid did this.”
“They’re so pretty. Just like you.”
“Reuben got one for Gemma, right?” Grayson asked as he stood. Nadia nodded. He stepped forward and gave her a one-armed hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too. Thank you for doing this.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he told her. “I want to do this.” He left out the part where he needed to do this to make his heart feel whole.
Reuben came up from the basement and greeted Grayson. He was dressed in a gray suit with a gray tie. Grayson was about to ask where Gemma was when she started down the stairs dressed in a pale-pink dress with her auburn hair loosely braided. She looked identical to Nadia, and for a moment all Grayson could do was stare and remember the girl he’d dated in high school.
“Hi, Grayson,” Gemma said, pulling him from his thoughts.
“Hi, Gemma. You look very pretty tonight.”
“Grayson called me ‘beautiful,’” Lynnea said as she stuck her tongue out at her sister. Nadia’s eyes widened.
She grabbed Lynnea’s shoulder and turned her toward her. “Stop that, or you’re not going,” she told her. “You promised to be good, and this isn’t how a young lady is supposed to act. Apologize to your sister.”
“Sorry, Gemma.”
Nadia shook her head. “Sorry about that,” she said to Grayson and Reuben. “She’s . . .” Nadia inhaled. “As Rafe would say, ‘possessed by a demon.’”
“I am,” Lynnea said, nodding enthusiastically at Grayson.
“It’s because she watches stupid movies,” Gemma said as she rolled her eyes.
“Okay, well, how about we keep the demons locked up for the night so we can enjoy ourselves,” Reuben said. He picked up the box on the side table, opened it, and took the corsage out. Gemma held her arm out as if she’d done this a million times. Grayson noted that next year, he’d make sure the corsages matched. He saw Nadia turn Lynnea away before she could say something about how hers had two flowers and Gemma’s only had one. Parenting was hard, and he didn’t envy Nadia one bit for having to do it alone. For his part, he’d try to ease the burden as much as he could or was allowed.
Grayson insisted that Nadia take pictures of them, as well as of her and the girls. She refused at first, saying she wasn’t dressed for photos, but Grayson and Reuben wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“I think you should print one or two of these,” Reuben told his sister. “Frame them and give one to Mom and Dad. They’d like it.”
Nadia looked at her phone. “I think I’ll print one now and take it over to Rafe’s niche. I’d like him to have it, to show him we’re doing okay.”
Reuben kissed his sister on the cheek and told the girls to give their mom a hug, and then he and Grayson ushered the girls outside to the car, grabbing their booster seats from the porch.
After Grayson had put Lynnea’s booster seat in, he held his hand out for her to grip while she got into the back seat. He helped her fix her dress before she sat down and then reached over to make sure she was buckled in before he shut her door. Reuben did the same for Gemma.
Grayson drove them to McDonald’s. Not ideal for him, but he wanted to make sure the girls had the night they wanted. He ordered a salad. It wasn’t as tasty as it would’ve been from a different place, but he smiled, laughed, and ate every bite. Thankful no one questioned his odd order. All Reuben said was “I’m not a fan of this stuff either.”