Total pages in book: 150
Estimated words: 151430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 151430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 757(@200wpm)___ 606(@250wpm)___ 505(@300wpm)
“That makes two of us. Now we’re ahead of schedule.” Ward grins.
No sooner do we turn and step away politely than there’s another tall figure waiting. The silver tiara perched on her head catches the light and flings it back so it’s almost blinding.
“There you are! You’re a hard lady to catch.” Beatrice walks up and hugs me. “Welcome to the family. You’re the daughter I always wanted.”
Mom appears behind her. “Careful, she’s my daughter.”
“She’s a Brandt now,” Beatrice says intently.
“Maybe so, but I brought her into this world to join your lovely family.”
“Ladies, there’s plenty of me to go around! I love you, Mom,” I say. “And I love you too, Beatrice.”
“Take a page from Ward and call me Grandma. You’re family now.” Beatrice stares at Mom. “Surely, I’m allowed to call her family, right?”
Mom smiles.
“I suppose. It’s just...it’s hard losing my baby.”
Ward’s arm around me drops. He steps forward and hugs my mother.
“You’re not losing a daughter. You’re basically a Brandt now too, and I’m grateful for making my family bigger and better,” he says, his words so heavy in my ears.
After everything they’ve been through, I’m glad too. There’s something special about becoming the thread that joins Ward, Beatrice, and Nick more tightly.
Mom laughs. “Hopefully, you’ll stay out of trouble?”
“I think I have to. Your daughter gets mean when she’s mad,” he says with a wink.
Brina comes up and hugs me. “Congratulations! For the hundredth time.”
Ward extends his hand to her.
She shakes it warily.
“We’re hitched. Are we cool now?” he asks.
She cocks her head. “I’m convinced you plan to stick around, so sure, for now. But try something stupid and I’ll come at you with a fork, dude.”
Mag comes up behind her, chuckles, and slips an arm around her waist. He looks at Ward. “I’d apologize, but I think I’m doing you a favor with a glimpse of your future.”
Ward gives a shrug that says a screaming meteor impact couldn’t ruin this night.
“No problem. At least she didn’t pie me.”
One Week Later
Somewhere in Fiji, we stop to rest on a soaring cliff overlooking a mess of fairy-tale rocks surrounded by translucent waters.
It’s almost sunset, and the way the orange light stabs into the sea turns it into a perfect match for my husband’s ever electric—yes, I got it right this time—greenish-blue eyes.
Which I’m a little lost in as Ward pulls me close, slinging my legs over his lap, gingerly rubbing my foot with one hand.
“Seriously. If you don’t stop, I don’t think I’ll be able to bring myself to call you a Wardhole again,” I tell him, running my hands across his face.
“Damn, what then? For your information, I never stopped being your Warden.” He grabs my hand, brings it to his lips, and lights me on fire the second they meet my skin.
“You know this is forever, right?” I say with a sugary smile. “You’re going to get the worst of me, Ward. My venting, my bad hair days, my less than perfect skin after I eat my weight in cheese...you’re going to get my freakouts when our kids scrape their knees, and my questions about Nick’s sanity every time he does something majorly dumb.”
“Majorly dumb is what Nick does, so I’m with you,” he throws back with a laugh. “I’m surprised you think it matters.”
“...it doesn’t?” I ask, my brows pulling together.
I hear the happy sigh breezing out of him as he takes my face in his hands and delivers a kiss that stops my heart.
“I’m ready for the worst, woman. Lay it the fuck on me. Because I’ve had you at your best, and I’ve already seen good reason why I shouldn’t bat an eye.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Ever since we got back together—for real—you’ve given me a sweetness I never knew I needed,” he says.
Is that a challenge? I bite back a smile and gaze into his eyes that seem like they were pulled straight from the Pacific foaming below us.
“But all my whining about how bad my feet hurt on the way up here—”
“Gave us this beautiful sunset and a chance to feast on my gorgeous bride,” he finishes, digging his fingers into my heel. “Besides, I’ll have you back to feeling like you’re walking on air, won’t I?”
My smile deepens.
“When I dragged myself home and collapsed after my last class before we left for this trip, I promised to make you dinner and I was out like a kitten.”
“Beauty sleep, Snow White. You napped with your head in my lap like a feline, all right, and then I woke you up with a damn good tikka masala.”
“I mean...I’ll give you that. But, Ward, I’ve gotta say, forever is a long freaking time...” I pause, fully aware I’m making his life difficult right now with these silly questions. “Do you really think we can keep this up without going back to hating each other?”