Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Even the walk was lined with purple flowers, just like I’d wanted.
I got halfway there when I remembered about the Taco Bell in my front seat and had to go back for it.
When I turned around and headed back for the house, it was to find Felix standing in the door… and the man did not look good. In fact, if there was a picture beside ‘bad’ in the dictionary, his face would definitely fill the space.
He was wearing a black t-shirt, one I recognized as his comfort shirt that he wore when he needed to relax and unwind, a pair of black sweatpants that had just as many holes as the shirt—also a comfort thing—and nothing else.
It was cold as hell out here, and he was standing on his front porch in only those two things—I bet he didn’t even have any underwear on, because I knew that when he was wearing those two things, he usually didn’t wear any.
I tried not to allow my gaze to slide down the length of him, but who was I kidding? It was a losing battle.
The man drew my attention like no other, and before I knew it, my gaze taking in all the details of his body.
And yes, I had my suspicions about underwear confirmed. He was not wearing them.
I hurried up the walk, my face flushed and my body doing things that it probably shouldn’t.
“Felix,” I said as I got close. “I just had…”
He interrupted me by saying, “My grandfather just died.”
My heart sank.
I hadn’t wanted that worst-case scenario to come true, even though I was a logical person and knew it would.
“Oh, Lix,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
My resorting to nicknames at times of intense emotion made my heart hurt.
“I…” he hesitated, unsure what to say.
I pushed him into the house and closed the door.
The house smelled old.
I loved it.
The entryway was beautiful, and I would study it later in more detail.
But right now, it was all about Felix.
I wrapped him in a hug and squeezed him tight, unable to stop myself.
He caught me up almost desperately in his arms and squeezed me back, not letting go for so long that my breathing was slightly labored.
He released me, and I hated every freakin’ second of it.
I pulled back, but only far enough that I could look up into his eyes.
They were wet with unshed tears and my damn stupid heart started to pound all over again.
“Have the hospice people just left?” I asked.
He swallowed hard and shook his head. “I haven’t been able to call them.”
Oh.
Meaning, it’d just happened.
Or maybe, it’d happened a while ago and he still couldn’t work up the courage to call.
“Let me have your phone and I’ll do it,” I said.
I’d left mine in the car in my haste to get here, and I wouldn’t leave his side until the task was done.
He handed it over, and I automatically put in his passcode.
It opened with the knowledge that he still used my birth date as the code to get in.
I shoved down the feelings that were trying to rise to the surface and searched for his recent calls, finding the hospice number, and hit go.
They answered, and then promised to have someone out as soon as possible.
“What are the plans for the services?” I asked. “Did y’all discuss that?”
When we were dating, we’d always talked about direct cremation.
Not wanting to waste money on a funeral, we’d thought to make it easier on our loved ones and ourselves we would skip the funeral home process and ship our bodies straight from where we died to the crematorium.
I wasn’t sure if he’d had the same thoughts in mind still, or at all since it was his grandfather and not him.
“Direct,” he croaked. “He didn’t want anything exciting.”
I looked down at my hands.
“Do you want me to call anyone else?” I asked carefully.
Please don’t say your uncle. Please don’t say your uncle.
“Um, yeah.” He rubbed at his neck. “You can call Tammy and let her know. She’ll want to know. But you can tell her not to come over. I don’t think I want anyone here right now.”
I felt my stomach sink. “I’ll make those phone calls and go then.”
His head snapped up. “That’s not what I meant. Please stay.”
My insides felt like warm butter at his words.
“Oh.” I licked my lips nervously, then nodded. I’d stay as long as he wanted me to stay. “I’ll just call her then.”
And that was what I did.
Tammy answered in three rings.
“About time,” Tammy said as she answered. “I was about to look up your address and head over there despite you telling me you needed time to unwind.”
So Felix hadn’t told her where he lived, or what was going on with his grandfather.
Interesting.
What was more interesting was my reaction to the news.