Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
But she cried now. She cried because she’d finally opened herself up. Open to the possibilities she’d lost. Open to the idea that she didn’t have to go through this alone simply because she’d lost her parents. Open to the idea that this didn’t have to be her whole life. She could survive. She could find a way to have a life.
All the things she’d said to those patients were true. A womb didn’t make a woman. Children weren’t the ultimate essential to every happy ending. There were choices to be made and paths to be found when those choices were taken out of her hands. The world didn’t guarantee her anything—not even a chance sometimes. But she did have a choice in how she faced the bad things that happened.
She could face it with her friends. Her family, the ones she shared blood with, they were gone and they wouldn’t come back. There would be no more Thanksgivings where her mom made her special pie or Christmases where her father woke her with hot chocolate. Those days were gone and she realized she’d been mourning them, waiting for a time when she could recreate them.
She couldn’t. It wouldn’t ever be the same, but she could start anew. She could choose to find new traditions, a new way to celebrate a life that wasn’t even close to being over.
Lahki licked her face and Gideon came to help. Kori sank to her knees beside her and reached out.
“It’s going to be okay,” Kori whispered through her tears. “I won’t let you go through this alone. I love you.”
They stayed there for a moment, the scent of coffee wafting through the house, something normal to ground her. After a long while, she’d cried until her makeup ran and the dogs were calm again.
There was a knock on the door and Sarah started. “Is that Kai?”
Kori winced. “No. I think I know who it is and I hope you’ll forgive me.”
She got to her feet, feeling lighter than she had before, though she wasn’t free of her sorrow. There was still Jared to think about. “Who is it?”
Kori opened the door. “The sisterhood knows.”
Charlotte Taggart stood in the doorway, a covered casserole dish in her hand. “Dumbass. I’ve known for a while. You could have had this sweet, sweet pancake casserole days ago. Ladies, let’s get going. Brunch isn’t going to make itself.”
Grace Taggart followed her, a brilliant smile on her face. “Sean sent me with very specific instructions for this frittata.”
Erin was carrying a big box. “I don’t cook, but I can buy donuts. You’re hard core, Stevens. I respect that. You almost made it. You got soft and told the man. That was your mistake. You could have avoided all of this. Better luck next time.”
Erin was an odd one. “The next time I find out I’m probably going to get cancer?”
Erin nodded as though she totally understood.
“I don’t cook either,” Serena said, following Erin in. “But I do know the most important part of brunch. Mimosas. Now let’s get this party started and get down to business.”
“There’s business?” She held the door open as every sub at Sanctum seemed to be joining her this morning.
“Of course there is.” Charlotte started to turn her little kitchen into a brunch wonderland. “We’ve got to organize. You’re going to be in the hospital for a couple of days, and then you need to be off your feet for a while. You can’t expect us to ignore that. You’ll need meals and people to check in on you. Kori’s going to stay with you when she’s not working and when she is, we’ll take shifts for the first couple of weeks.”
Erin shook her head. “See, you could have avoided this. You could have spent the next couple of weeks in perfect silence.”
“And pain,” Grace said with a shake of her head. “She would have been alone and in pain.”
“Exactly how I like it,” Erin retorted. “Now all these bitches will be up in your business and they’ll bug you about taking your meds and doing the therapy things. I’m going to have this baby the way God intended—alone in my house, and no one will know she’s here until she’s two or three.”
“You need help,” Serena said with a shake of her head.
“She’s pathological,” Charlotte corrected. “There’s no helping her now, and Theo won’t let her give birth in solitude, so it’ll be okay. And we know she secretly loves the attention.”
Sarah stood and stared as her previously quiet apartment erupted in good natured arguments over whether or not Erin liked being fussed over.
“You can’t be mad at me for telling your family,” Kori said, stepping up to her side. “You might not think they are, but try explaining to the Taggart wives that they aren’t supposed to take care of you.”