Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“Oh, I do hate that phrase. It sounds so crude when they put it like that,” Cornelia argues.
Edward ignores her and reads on. “‘The Cromwell Foundation—the charity organization overseen by her husband, Mr. Nicholas Hunt—is the symphony’s largest benefactor. Over the years, the foundation has contributed…’” He pauses and scrunches his nose. “This is getting boring.”
“Edward,” I chide. “Keep reading!”
His eyes alight on something lower down in the article. “Oh! Cory! Listen! They talk about us. ‘Their two sons, Edward (9) and Cory (7), are both participating musicians in the symphony and will take part in the concert series this summer.’”
“Mom! They mentioned us in the article!” Cory shouts, as if I’m not sitting across from him at the table, listening to Edward myself.
Cornelia covers her ears and throws him a reproachful glare. “Cory, shout like that again and I’ll have you removed from this table.”
His cheeks redden and he goes back to cutting into his pancakes. “Well, I think it’s pretty cool,” he murmurs under his breath.
“They didn’t include our picture or anything,” Edward argues, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “It’s not like we’ll be famous.”
“Fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Cornelia says with a haughty tip of her chin. “Better that you two continue to keep your noses to the grindstone. Study hard in school—that’s all that matters.”
Both boys know better than to argue with their great-grandmother, so they just nod along with her guidance.
Footsteps draw my attention to the door of the dining room just as Nicholas walks in with Louis in his arms. I smile at him as he comes around the table to drop a kiss to my hair before he hands the dog over to Cornelia, whose arms are outstretched. Then he starts to load his plate up with breakfast food at the buffet behind me.
“Is that the article?” Nicholas asks.
“It is.”
“They mention you in it, Dad,” Edward says.
“Why on earth would I be in there?”
“They discuss the Cromwell Foundation,” Cornelia replies, picking up the paper and handing it to him as he takes the seat beside her and across from me.
The boys fidget in their chairs, so much like their father even though they share no biological relation with him. Still, it’s been so interesting to see how much they take after him. I swear they absorb everything he does, copying his every move. They share his attitude and work ethic and, most importantly, his confident approach to life. They love to be out on the water with him. They’d much rather be sailing than sitting down for music lessons, but they humor me, especially Edward. He has such a good ear for it.
“Can I go now? I’m done eating,” Cory asks, already starting to push back from the table.
“So am I!” Edward hurries to add.
“Take your plates down to the kitchen first. Don’t leave them for Patricia,” Nicholas says, reaching over to ruffle Cory’s hair before the boy leaps out of his chair. “We’ll be heading out to the club as soon as I’m finished here,” Nicholas adds as they start to gather their breakfast dishes. “Don’t make me come hunt you both down.”
“Can I cast the main sail today?!” Cory asks excitedly.
“You got to do it last time!” Edward argues.
Cornelia levels them both with a glare that has them laughing and rushing to run out of the room as if they’re worried she’ll actually follow through on her threat to really reprimand them. She never has. She has too much of a soft spot for those two.
“Are you going sailing with us?” Nicholas asks me.
“I can’t. Tori’s coming over in a little bit so we can go over the plans for Mary Anne’s surprise party.”
“And what about this evening? Are you going to find time to pencil me in then?”
“I suppose.”
He’s teasing, so I tease him right back. He knows we have plans; it’s our tenth wedding anniversary today. Ten years since I walked out into Rosethorn’s rose garden and down the aisle toward a tuxedo-clad Nicholas, unable to catch my breath at the sight of him standing there with the ocean at his back. Ten years of ups and downs and fights we never saw coming, hardships we were forced to weather. The early years—when I was still at Juilliard and he was trying to maintain business as usual at the Innocence Group—put such a strain on our relationship. We’d go weeks at a time barely seeing each other, like two ships passing in the night. We adjusted. Fought. Relented. Compromised. He hired more staff and a partner. I eventually graduated. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade those years for the world. Strength grew out of that time, resilience in ourselves and our love. An unshakable bond.
These ten years have been filled with bouts of suffering and periods of joy. I’ll never forget the day we officially adopted Edward and the day we brought his brother Cory home as well, though Nicholas wasn’t on board for that initially. I think it’s natural for people to want biological children of their own, but I never saw it as an either-or scenario. I wanted to adopt and try to conceive naturally.