Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Winslet and Oz exchanged a glance, and then Winslet turned her gaze back to Mom. “Yes. We decided if it’s a girl, we’re going to name her Ellender Marley Savelle and call her Lindy for short.”
Mom’s breath came in at a stutter, and then she let out a small sob.
Dad whispered something in her ear and then looked up at my brother and his wife and mouthed the words, Thank you.
Ellender was not only my mother’s name, but her grandmother’s too. Now her granddaughter would carry the name as well. And Marley was the woman who had taken Winslet in and raised her after her mother’s death. I didn’t know all the details, but that her mother had been abusive. Marley was the only thing resembling a real mom she’d had.
“Oh my goodness,” Mom finally said shakily. “I feel like it’s Christmas all over again.”
I didn’t. Christmas had been fucking hard this year. Seeing Mom so goddamn happy was a hell of a lot better than it had been.
If only the small voice in the back of my head, which I had been trying to shut out, wasn’t there, reminding me that Mom might never see her namesake. She might not get to hold her and rock her and sing her that song she always sang to us. If there was a god—and I wasn’t real sure there was—he’d not take my momma before she got to be a grandmother.
Ten
Elsie
After breakfast, I’d come back to my room to be alone. Today wasn’t a good day. I’d had nightmares again last night. The ones where I was there as my parents were killed and I couldn’t get to them. I screamed, and nothing came out. I tried to run, and I couldn’t move. Then I saw their faces, void of life, and woke up with a jolt.
A knock on my door snapped me out of my dark thoughts, and I stood up from the chair by the window. I’d sat there for a while, lost in my thoughts, horror, and nightmares. I glanced over at the clock by the bed to see it was eleven thirty.
When I reached the door, I took a deep breath and checked to make sure I hadn’t been crying. I was sure I had at one point, but the tears had been silent. My face was dry, so I took the handle and turned it.
Noa stood on the other side of the door. She was a gorgeous blonde, who I had been told was a best-selling romance author. We had only been around each other for the first time last night. I hadn’t expected her to be who was at my door.
“I need some help,” she said sheepishly. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
I shook my head. “No. What do you need?” Having a reason to distract myself was probably a good idea.
She smiled brightly. “Well, Winslet and Oz just announced at his parents’ house that they’re expecting. It’s a girl! Apparently, the only person that knew about it was Halo. She was the one who looked at the gender that the doctor had put in an envelope and prepared the gift that they gave to Ellender. Her opening it was their gender reveal. Anyway, Halo just called to tell me where the pink decorations are and that there are cookies she had made hidden in the pantry. I need to get it all up and ready before they return. Could you help me?”
A baby. Wow. That was nice. Their family needed something to lift their spirits. A baby would do just that. I wondered what Forge thought of it. His being an uncle.
“Of course,” I told her, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind me.
“Saylor called. She’s coming over to help too, but she’s stopping by to get pink balloons first. You’ve not met her yet, I don’t believe. She’s a bit of an over-the-top party planner, so when she gets here and starts barking orders, don’t take it personally. She means well. She will most likely show up with more than balloons.”
I simply nodded. I was good at following directions. I didn’t mind.
I listened as she rambled on, “Okay, um, so the decorations were hidden in Halo’s closet in her bedroom. She also said there was some stuck in Hawks’s closet as well. We need to go find all of them, then carry them to the great room, I guess. There’s probably something in there for the front door, and we can put balloons there too.”
When we got to the master bedroom, I hadn’t been prepared for the size of it. Most apartments weren’t this big. Then Halo’s walk-in closet had a sitting area in it and a flat screen. What the actual hell?
The stack of boxes that covered up a mirrored wall were impressive in number.