Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
We go upstairs, each with an armful of red dresses for me to try on, and before getting to the master, Grace wanders in the other direction and looks into each room.
“What’s going on here?” she asks, poking her head into the last room at the end of the hall.
“Derek has slept in here the last two nights.”
The bed is unmade, there are now two bourbon bottles on the nightstand, one empty, one half-empty. And there’s laundry on the floor.
“But it’s a mess.”
I shrug.
“Derek never leaves a mess. He’s meticulous for a man. Meticulous in general.”
“So that wasn’t just an act for my benefit?”
“He’s a neat freak. When he was found with his kidnapper’s body, the guy was a hoarder. We all think that’s why Derek is so neat. The place was piled high with newspapers, books, all sorts of rubbish. This… this does look like some sort of spiral. How bad was your fight?”
“Bad,” I say.
She looks very concerned.
“The master is this way,” I gesture.
“Ow! My eyes!” she complains when she’s inside the master bathroom.
“When I fell in love with this house I knew I’d want to change the color this and the closet,” I say.
“It’s loud in here. It hurts my brain.”
I laugh. She sets the stack of red dresses in her arms down. I do the same.
“Most of these look kind of like prom dresses,” I say.
“Mom told Nicola the styles she wanted for you, Sabrina, and me. She sent a dress to Nay directly since Nay doesn’t generally do flashy and Mom does.” She shrugs. “Nay isn’t happy. She already texted me. These are all pretty, though. Nicola wouldn’t saddle us with hideous dresses.”
“What’s the story with Elijah and Sabrina?” I ask before I can stop myself. I quickly add, “And Naomi and Asher?”
She sighs, looking frustrated. “Eli and Sabrina? Those two have a rather combustible relationship. Really passionate. She thinks he stepped out and I asked but she won’t say why she thinks that. He swears he didn’t. She doesn’t believe him. You’ll like her. She’s great. I mean, she might not be all that great tomorrow if she’s been summoned against her wishes, so don’t hold it against her if she’s bitchy.”
“Seems like you haven’t held it against me, so…” I let that hang.
She smiles warmly.
“And Asher interfered in Naomi’s love life once. Pulled the brother card when one of his friends tried to date her. She wouldn’t forgive him for it.”
“That’s it?” I ask.
“It was a guy that meant a lot to her. And Ash did some very not-nice things to get the guy out of Nay’s life. That’s all I can reveal. Sisterly vault. You can trust me with the vault, too. Like I said to Sabrina, it applies to sisters by blood and by marriage to my blood.”
We decide together on an off-the-shoulder trumpet style lace applique dress that touches the floor. She tells me she hasn’t decided on her own dress yet but we’re the same dress size, so she figured she’d choose hers with me. I sit back as she tries all of them on and we both agree that she looks amazing in a tulle dress with a sweetheart neckline and a ruffled high-low hem.
“Your Mom’s not worried about other women showing her up with these princess dresses?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Nope. One of her best qualities is that she never feels threatened by other women. My mother is very comfortable with her own level of beauty.”
“She’s a beautiful woman,” I say. “She has every right to feel confident.”
“Dad always makes sure she feels beautiful. She might be a bit of a high maintenance diva, but she wants everyone else to feel beautiful at all times, too. Wanna go for lunch? I’m hungry.”
“I can make us some lunch,” I offer.
“If you’re not busy…”
“I was only planning to clean today.”
“Derek hasn’t hired a housekeeper for you yet? I’ll get on him for you.”
“No, don’t. I don’t mind cleaning. It’d be weird to have someone here when I’ve got nothing to do.”
“Are you going back to work? Or are you going to take some time off? You don’t strike me as a lady of leisure.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do. He bought the company I work for and says it’s mine now. It’ll be weird going back. I might find something else.”
She laughs. “He’s going out of his way to give you things that’ll make you happy. Tell me that’s not attractive. This house that he said you wanted. The company you worked for. Does he try to give you other things you want, too?”
I blow out a long breath. “Everything from my job, to clothes, to food I like, to books I like, to knowing what I like on my pizza because he stalked all my social media profiles. It’s extreme.”