I'm impatiently waiting on the call for Clay to pick up because I need to scream my frustrations to someone, and she is the best recipient at the moment. I wouldn’t be in this situation if she had told me Abel was the friend she had referred me to. But she is just not picking up. She is probably bus
“Who are you then?” the little guy asks and I swear I don’t have the answer to that question. I could say I am his friend, but that will be a lie. I met the guy twice in my life and never saw him again in four years, until today. Referring to myself as his friend will just come off as weird.“He nev
“Finn, do you have anything to say for yourself?”“He started it.”“You beat up a kid and that’s all you’re going to say?” Abel asks and at this point, I want to tell him to calm down because the kids look scared for real.“He said I didn’t have a mother, that she was dead,” Finn says and a sudden s
"Did you know about this?”I ask Ellis who is busy cutting the vegetables and she turns to look at me before she smirks. Of course, she knew.“We kind of thought you would figure it out.” She says and I shake my head in disbelief. “How was I supposed to figure that out when it has been four years?”
“I hope it’s not a state of emergency.” She says and I crease my brows in confusion before laughing out loud when I finally get what she means. “Well, not anymore.” “Oh, I see, too bad, because I am at your door.” I crease my brows again. What the hell is she talking about? “What?” “I am outsid
“Okay, thank you so much for flying here to see me, but my ankle is better now.” “Are you dismissing me, when I just brought you guys wine? And Mami’s milkshakes.” She says pulling out a bottle of wine and three jars of milkshakes from the grocery bag, and my heart jumps in excitement. This is goi
"Okay, so let me get this clear, he got mad because you said his kids were beautiful and adorable?” Ellis asks and I shrug.“Not exactly, but he said something along the lines of them being spoilt because people call them adorable,” I tell her, and I can see how she looks confused by that.“Okay, th
“Where is she now?” They keep talking about her in the past tense.“Dead or something,” Ellis says and Clay gives her a warning look.“We have no idea; Abel doesn’t talk much about her.”“Oh, okay.” That is an interesting life story that I didn’t know I needed to hear. Abel must have had one crazy e
“Abel, you are proposing…” The words tumble out of my mouth in disbelief, more of a statement than a question. He nods, and then, to my utter shock, he gets down on one knee. I feel the world around us blur and slow down, my pulse pounding in my ears.“Mildred Turina, will you marry me?” His voice w
She scoffs playfully, giving me that familiar look that says she’s still got it all under control. “I know how to take care of children, honey. We will be fine. You two go have fun.”Relief washes over me. Even though we’re leaving them in the best possible hands, the part of me that has grown attac
We’re heading to Abel’s lake house for a weekend getaway—just the two of us. He said he got the place a few years ago but rarely gets to use it. He has only taken the twins there a few times because the only time he gets enough time to spend with them without many distractions from work is during th
Epilogue"Come here,” I call her over, and she reluctantly pulls her fingers off her brother’s chubby cheeks, then walks back to where I am. I crouch down to be at her level, trying to mask the amusement I feel at her little pout.“If you keep harassing your brother, I will have him stay with me at
“Did I?”“You bitch!” I burst out laughing. He has definitely been holding that back.“I was busy dealing with a concussion to see anything, oh, and my mom has way more money than you, you know, and her money combined with the money my dad left me, which I just found out was a lot by the way, then A
“Mom, I…”“I should have taken you with me when he died, but I thought you were already a grown woman and you wouldn’t need me anymore, and I will never forgive myself for that because if I did, then you wouldn’t have ended up with an abusive man. I could have protected you from repeating the cycle.
"Abel, he is good for you," she repeats, this time more firmly. There’s a strange sadness in her eyes, as if she’s remembering all the times she wished someone had said those words to her. I nod, acknowledging her observation, but I don’t want to delve into a discussion about Abel with her. "I feel
"Are you ready to go home?" Abel asks, and I nod eagerly. The sterile scent of antiseptic clings to the air, making me desperate to leave this hospital room and everything it represents. My heart pounds with a need to escape—to feel the cool air outside, untainted by the trauma that haunts these wal
“Oh…”“I love you, and I would want you in my life and the twins too, but you need to accept that fact about me. I don’t even know if I can be a mother to your children or a stepmother. I just don’t know if I have it in me, even though I love them, and I love you,” I say, and I’m nervously waiting f