Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81176 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “What you saw was Mandy kissing me. I don’t want this, Clare. I wanted to talk to you about Mandy–”
Clare’s phone rang and she quickly answered it. “Hello? Yes, this is Clare. I’m on my way.”
Turning on her heels, Clare quickly started toward the elevators.
“Was that the hospital?” I asked as she hit the down button.
“Yes, I have to call my brother.”
For once the fucking elevator appeared quickly. Clare stepped in and I put my hand up to keep the doors from shutting.
“Wes, please just let me go. I can’t deal with this right now. I have to get to the hospital. The only thing I care about is my parents. This whole fake dating bullshit is finally over, and now I can go back to my normal life. You got what you wanted…now leave me alone.”
“Is that what you want? Me to leave you alone?” I asked, sounding slightly panicked.
I watched as her chin wobbled and tears pooled in her eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “I want this to be over and I don’t want to see you for a while.”
My hand dropped, and I took a step back as the doors slowly closed. And in that moment, I realized what heartbreak really was, because my heart had never hurt so much.
Clare
Moving On
“Clare, sweetheart, you do not have to hover around us.”
I tucked the pillow behind my mother’s back and smiled. “With Tim gone, I’m all you’ve got.”
“We have each other,” Dad said from across the room.
Turning to face him, I put my hands on my hips. “And you’ve only been home from the hospital a week. I don’t have anything else to do or anywhere to be. I like taking care of you both.”
I picked up the tumbler from the coffee table and headed into the kitchen.
“Why does it feel like you’re hiding here?” my mother called out.
Ignoring the ache in my chest, I forced myself to laugh. “Hiding from what?”
“More like from who?” Mom added.
After filling up her water, I made my way back into the living room. “I’m not hiding from anything or anyone.”
Mom raised a brow as she asked, “Then why has this Wes called you more than a dozen times, and each time you send it to voicemail?”
“He’s no one, just a friend I was helping with something.”
“By the look on your face each time you see his name, I highly doubt he’s no one,” Dad said.
I felt the tears stinging the back of my eyes and I quickly turned away and picked up a pillow on the chair and fluffed it.
“Clare,” Mom asked as she reached for my hand, “do you want to talk about it?”
Shaking my head, I focused on the pattern of the chair. Small circles with a little feather design. The chair was an antique that had been my great grandmother’s. It looked old, but was the sturdiest piece of furniture in the whole house.
“Clare bear,” my father softly said as he came up and turned me around. The moment I looked up at him, I started to cry.
Dad drew me into his arms and held me so tenderly as I cried into his chest. The smell of his soap filled my senses, and it made me cry even harder.
“Sit down, come on. Talk to me and your mother.”
Dad gently pulled me from him and sat me down in the chair I had been staring at and joined my mother on the sofa.
I wiped at the tears and forced myself to smile. “It’s nothing. You two were in a serious car accident, and the last thing you need to worry about is my problems.”
“We want to hear about your problems,” Mom said. “We’re your parents, Clare.”
I sniffled and then ran my shirt sleeve under my nose. “Wes Ward, he’s Rory’s brother-in-law. The first time I saw him, something inside of me came to life. We bickered like cats and dogs from day one, and for the longest time I thought he didn’t like me.”
“But he does?”
I shrugged. “He’s in love with his ex-girlfriend, though, and asked me to pretend like I was dating him to make her jealous. I don’t know why I went along with it. She’s engaged.”
“Oh, Clare,” my mother said, a disappointed look on her face.
“I know it was wrong, but a part of me wanted to spend time with him. It’s so pathetic and sad. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen. I mean, I figured they’d end up back together and I’d feel like an idiot. It’s just…we shared these moments together, and I started to think that maybe he…”
I closed my eyes and focused on not crying like a fool.
“Moments?” Mom asked.
Focusing back on my parents, I replied, “Yes. We went to a cooking class that Mandy was going to be at, but the entire time Wes didn’t even bother looking over at her. We had so much fun, and then he got sick, and I took care of him. He kissed me at his parents’ wedding anniversary party the night of your accident. And when I finally left the hospital, he took me to his place, and we ate Italian and watched Hallmark movies. He told me he wanted to kiss me. Then he did the most amazing thing. He held me all night while I slept. He didn’t try anything or make a move; he just held me.”