Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 85342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 427(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“All good things come from me.” He walks over to me and puts his hands on my arms, and I can already feel the tears coming to me. “We are going to get through this,” he assures me softly, his eyes as warm as they were the last time he saw me. There is no judgment nor is there disappointment there. He bends to kiss my cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
I want to say he doesn’t have to, but instead my mouth deceives me. “Okay,” I say softly and he kisses my cheek and walks toward the playroom, yelling for the kids.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Jillian says. “The last time we left him alone with the girls, he told them to kick anyone in the balls who got next to them.” She looks over at Max, who tries not to laugh. “Poor Maddox”—she shakes her head—“they both got him.”
“At the same time,” Michael states, getting up to follow Jillian from the room, leaving me alone with Max.
I look down and know if I don’t say anything, it’ll eat at me. “Max.” I say his name a little higher pitched than I wanted to. I clear my throat and then look up at him. “I don’t expect anyone to help me out of this mess.” I try to get the words out before the lump in my throat stops anything from happening. “I just want you to know that I’m really good at my job.” My hands start to shake but I hold them together to stop them. “I know it’s hard to think otherwise, especially with me being sued but—” I swallow.
“Julia.” He gets up and comes over to me, putting his arms around my shoulders. “You don’t need to tell me how good you are at your job,” he assures me. The one lone tear that I blinked away from its last-minute escape he wipes away. “Because I see how good you are. We are very proud of everything you do and everyone you try to help.” He rubs down my arms and pulls me closer to him and kisses me on the head. “And we are going to help fight this because that is what family does. And you’re family.” I look up at him and I can’t help but smile because all I see in his eyes is the warmth he always has. It’s the same look in his eyes as when he found out that he was my favorite and I asked him for a hug. Okay, maybe he looked a little shocked but still the warmth came after.
“I left for two seconds and you made her cry?” Matthew says, coming into the room.
“It’s good tears,” I say, defending Max who stands now.
“Did you corrupt my grandkids?” he asks him and Matthew just smirks.
“It’s called educating,” Matthew informs him. “Now I need a meal.”
They walk out of the room and the phone buzzes in my pocket. I grab it and see it’s Chase.
Chase: Checking in to see if you are okay.
Me: As okay as I can be. Tomorrow is another day.
I press send and Bianca runs into the room and asks me to give her a bath. “There is nothing more I want than to give you a bath,” I say, picking her up, and for the next two hours I get lost in just being an aunt.
I don’t even check my phone before I collapse in the bed, and when I turn over on my back, the sun is trying to get into the room. It’s the first day I don’t wake up to an alarm blaring and I wonder if his alarm went off today. I blink away the sleep as I try to listen to the noise downstairs, but it’s eerily quiet. Tossing the covers off me, I get up and go to the bathroom, grabbing my phone and seeing it’s almost nine. I slip on my robe and slide the phone in the pocket before making my way down the spiral staircase. I hear the sound of the television coming from the family room. I walk in and see Jillian is in the kitchen cleaning up. “Good morning,” I grumble and look around. “Where are my kids?”
“Your kids”—Jillian snickers—“have all gone to school. Michael had practice, so he took them in.”
“But,” I say, walking over to the coffee machine, “I didn’t even hear them.” I shake my head.
“You must have been out of it,” Jillian says as she sits on a stool at the island. “How are you feeling?”
I turn with the cup of coffee in my hand and lean against the counter. “Like I’ve been hit with a semitruck and he brought along a couple of friends and they all ran over me.” I take a sip of the coffee. “Front and back.” She laughs and she’s about to say something when the phone rings in my pocket. I pull it out and see it’s Rosalind calling. “It’s my boss,” I say softly, my chest now feeling as if someone is sitting on it. “Hello,” I answer it.