Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 779(@200wpm)___ 623(@250wpm)___ 519(@300wpm)
However, she’d known that she wouldn’t be comfortable staying in the apartment on her own.
This was the lesser of two evils.
She’d tried to tell herself that this might be a fun trip. That she’d get to spend some time with her sisters. Back home, Dotty worked really long hours. And when Monroe wasn’t working, she was out with friends. While Addie hid in her room like a coward.
But that seemed preferable to sitting here, watching her sisters fight.
“Monroe!” Dotty said, throwing her hands up into the air. “Can you hear how crazy you sound? You got married to a man because he gave you some tips and he was fun.”
“He paid attention to me.” Monroe crossed her arms over her chest and glanced away from Dotty.
Addie let out a sound of distress and Dotty turned to look at her. Addie’s oldest sister sighed and dropped her head. Her shoulders were slumped as she sat on the armchair across from where Addie was sitting.
“I’m sorry,” Dotty whispered. Poor Dotty. She looked so tired. Her strawberry-blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and since she hadn’t bothered with makeup today, so Addie could see the bags under her eyes. The pallor of her skin.
Dotty needed a proper vacation.
Monroe stared down at Dotty in surprise. She glanced over at Addie, her face softening as she ran her gaze over her.
Addie knew she probably looked terrified. When didn’t she? She now had her legs up against her chest, her feet on the sofa and was rubbing Snaggles’ ear under her nose.
Her grandfather had given her Snaggles when she was seven. He was a saber-toothed tiger. Grandpa had found him in a museum shop. Dotty had gotten a woolly mammoth while Monroe had been given a ground sloth.
Which was kind of funny when sloths were known to be rather slow and Monroe was always on the move.
Snaggles was her best friend.
She’d only met her grandfather once but he’d seemed like a really nice man.
“I shouldn’t be yelling,” Dotty said. “I’m just worried. I don’t want anything to happen to the two of you and we left the worst bars until now.”
“You don’t need to protect us, Dotty. You guys don’t even need to come. I can go alone.” Monroe straightened her shoulders. “This is my mess and I need to fix it.”
Monroe was losing her mind. Did she really think they were just going to stay in this hotel while she went off to some bars in terrible areas alone?
“That’s not happening,” Dotty said firmly. “It’s all for one and one for all. You know that.”
“But I don’t want anything to happen to you guys,” Monroe said.
“And we don’t want anything to happen to you,” Dotty told her.
“I’m the person who married a stranger,” Monroe said morosely. “What was I thinking?”
Addie glanced over at Dotty, who sighed. “It doesn’t matter. It’s done now, we just have to find this guy so you can get an annulment.”
“What if I can’t find him, though? Such. An. Idiot.” Monroe smacked the palm of her hand against her forehead. “It’s just . . . he paid attention to me, you know? He listened to me.”
And that was Monroe’s Achilles’ heel. Having someone pay attention to her, be kind to her. She hadn’t gotten any attention growing up so now she tended to latch on to any attention she got.
They each had their issues from growing up, and coped in their own ways. Dotty buried herself in work. Monroe attached herself to the wrong people. And Addie?
Well, she was too scared to even live.
What an idiot.
Her own father didn’t even want her.
He probably figured out that she’s ugly and dumb.
The words hurt as much now as they had when she’d first heard them. They’d been like gunshots to her heart.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Taking a deep breath, Addie pushed those memories aside. Right now, there were more pressing things to worry about.
Like finding the guy that Monroe had married a few weeks ago. The same guy who had disappeared the next morning without a word. Just leaving the freaking marriage certificate on the bedside table.
Dotty had told her to just have it annulled on the basis that she was insane at the time.
Of course, Monroe had rejected that idea. Addie didn’t blame her. She wasn’t insane . . . just drunk and high on the guy’s attention.
So now Monroe was on the hunt for her missing ‘husband’ so he could sign the divorce papers she had in her handbag. Or so she said. Addie wasn’t entirely sure that Monroe wanted the divorce. She thought her sister might have some romantic notion about this guy. That he’d had a good reason for leaving and that when she found him, he’d explain everything and they’d go on to live this amazing life with two kids, a dog, and a crippling mortgage.