Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“Oscar worthy.” He laughed.
“So, should we tell your mom I’m some damsel in distress with a lot of money, hiring you to look after me?”
He shook his head. “Actually, I don’t think we should say you’re a client at all. It’s best if we just pretend we’re dating. I don’t want to bring the job home at a time like this. Even saying you’re a client is a little too close to the situation, if you know what I mean. It’s better to keep everyone in the dark, since knowing anything at all can potentially put people in danger.”
“You have a point there. The less people who know anything, the better.” I nodded. “Okay, so we pretend to be a couple again… That’s old hat for us at this point.”
“My mother might interrogate you a little. She’s not used to me bringing anyone home. I’ve always kept my personal life pretty private, with the exception of one girlfriend. We should probably just say we met on a dating app and that it’s fairly new, but you wanted to come to support me.”
“Okay…” I nodded. “It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. I’ll be honest about what I do for a living, so no need to pull stuff out of my ass about some pretend career. I’ll just be Juliette. We shouldn’t have to fake too much, aside from the actual nature of our relationship.”
I’d been curious about Wes’s family but never thought I’d have the opportunity to see where he came from. He’d given me bits and pieces of his past, like the tragedy of losing his brother. I knew his dad was MIA and had been abusive to his mother. But it would be interesting to see firsthand what she was like.
“Anything I need to know about your mom or anything else?” I asked.
“Not really. She lives in a modest house, the same one I grew up in. I don’t come from money or anything.”
I drew in my brows. “Why do you feel the need to clarify that?”
“Just making sure you know what to expect.”
“I’d give every red cent my father ever made for a modest house with a normal mom and no crazy-ass father who ruined my life.”
“I get it.” He offered a sympathetic smile.
After a few minutes, he started bouncing his legs again.
“Are you still anxious that we won’t get there in time?”
“Yeah. It’s pretty much all I can think about.”
“Have faith, Wes. It’ll work out. Every second that passes, we’re one step closer to being with your grandma.” I held out my hand, and he took it.
The feel of his fingers intertwining with mine sent a burst of awareness through me. He squeezed my hand. Touching him felt so natural now. After about a minute, I reluctantly let go. Though I’d felt like I needed that contact, too. Why am I so damn anxious to meet Wes’s mother if our relationship is a sham?
It still felt meaningful somehow. Wes meant a lot to me, even if I couldn’t express to him how much.
***
After we landed in Newark, we picked up our rental car and headed to the Jersey Shore as fast as we could. The drive to the shore from the city was about an hour. Thankfully, we didn’t run into too much traffic.
I’d never been down to the Jersey Shore, which was pretty crazy considering I’d grown up in nearby New York and had been to Jersey many times. When I was younger, we’d always gone out to Montauk or East Hampton during the summers. Like many, I supposed, my ideas about the Jersey Shore came from that old MTV show I used to watch when I was a preteen.
It was around seven thirty PM when we finally got to Wes’s grandmother’s house.
The moment the hospice nurse let us in, Wes raced to his grandmother’s room where a hospital bed had been set up. Religious statues surrounded it, and some rosary beads lay on the table next to her.
“Hi, Grandma.” He ran to her and broke into tears as he laid his head on the edge of her bed.
The relief I knew he felt in that moment was tangible.
We made it.
She reached her hand out and placed it on his head.
And he wasn’t the only one relieved. I finally felt my pulse calm a bit. I’d assured him that everything would turn out okay, but the truth was, there were no guarantees. It was only by the grace of God that my promise to him had come true, and I couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like if she had died before we got here.
His grandma could barely open her eyes, but at one point, she did. “Wes,” she whispered.
“I came all the way from Italy when I found out you weren’t doing well,” he told her. “I love you so much. And I’m not going anywhere.”