Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
He wanted so badly to reach out and drag her into his arms.
But he was being patient. “Do you ever wonder which would be worse? Having parents who loved you and losing them or never having them at all? I do. I don’t think about my mom as much as I did in the beginning. It’s kind of like she died, too. I try to remember who she was before she met Ezekiel. I remember how she would drop me and my brother off at the school they had out at the resort. She teased me and Josh about how close we were. She was friendly with Abby. They sometimes took me and Josh and Olivia to the pool for lunch and we would have chicken nuggets and French fries. And then it was all gone.”
She was quiet for a moment. “I think those memories are sweet, and I wish I had some. That’s what your parents are giving me.” A tear slipped onto her cheek. “Abby lets me help her in the garden, and Sam taught me how to play pool. And Jack’s spent hours teaching me how to take care of the horses and how to ride. I’d never ridden before. I didn’t know how free I would feel.”
Grim couldn’t remember a time he didn’t ride. “I love being out alone in the early morning. I sometimes take a chore way out on the property just so I can ride. I know I could take one of the trucks or the ATVs, but I prefer to ride. I’m glad you’re enjoying the lessons. How is it going with Harlow? You seem to be getting along. Are you still worried she’s in love with Josh?”
She shook her head, a smile on her lips. “No. She totally sees him as a brother. I like her. She was nervous about me and I understand. She told me about how some of her friends have used her to try to get to Josh because of his money.” She got solemn again. “I worry he’ll wonder about that someday. I worry somewhere down the line he’ll figure out I don’t fit in.”
“He won’t because you do. Our family isn’t like the Holloways. Mom and Dad and Pops worked for everything they have. They knew how to raise their kids to work hard, too, to not take their upbringing for granted. Harlow’s been asking you questions. I have a few of my own. Would your husband have encouraged his father to split his inheritance in half to give it to some stray they took in?”
“Never.” She obviously didn’t need to think about it. “The whole family is craven about money. From what I was told money was the reason Ted killed his brother. I know you’re not the same. I know it in my soul. I’m just… I need to figure out if I can be enough for you. That’s about me, not you and Josh. It’s my insecurity. When it’s safe, Harlow wants me to come to Dallas and see this therapist friend of hers. He works with a group there, and he specializes in surviving domestic abuse.”
Harlow was doing a good job with her. “I think seeing a therapist would be great. You should know Josh thinks we should talk to someone, too.”
“About?” Nic seemed surprised.
“About how to support someone we care about who survived domestic abuse. We don’t always talk the same language. He wants to make sure he learns yours.”
Now the tears rolled from her eyes, and she didn’t try to stop them. “You already know it.”
“I do, but it’s not the same, baby. Even though we have some similarities, it’s still hard. I don’t want to talk about it. Not even Josh knows everything I went through, but I’ve started to wonder if it’s festering inside me,” Grim admitted. “I thought I could bury it and it would go away, but it doesn’t. It sits under the surface waiting. I realized until the moment Jack told me he’d changed his will I was waiting for him to realize I wasn’t his kid. Waiting for Abby to find a reason to turn me out. Waiting for Sam to see what he saw in me.”
“What who saw?” Nic asked.
This was an old ache. “My stepfather.”
Her gaze softened on him. “What did he see, Grim?”
He had to tell her the truth. “Evil.”
She sat there for a moment and then she moved, crawling across the floor to straddle him. She took his face in her hands, staring down at him. “There is no evil in you, Jared Burch. You are one of the best men I’ve ever met. I love you. I love you and Josh. Be patient with me. Please.”
His heart clenched but in the best of ways. “There is no amount of time you could take that I wouldn’t be waiting at the end of it.”