Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Gina and I sat in the living room, catching up. “What do you think of the lumberyard?” she asked, neatly skirting the entire issue of war.
“It’s fine,” I said. “The first day was hard. I wasn’t used to that much walking. Now I’m good.”
“Porter used to hang out there as a kid,” Gina said, glancing over at her lover.
“Yeah.” I tried to remember Porter from high school and failed.
“His friend’s parents owned the place until they sold it to Dad.”
“Dad seems to be happy,” I said.
“How are things between you?” Gina asked.
I ran a palm across my head awkwardly. “My landlady told him where I was and he stopped by my first day in town. I haven’t seen him too much at work. It’s been ok I guess.”
“Why did you come back?” Gina asked.
I shrugged. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
“But you’re enjoying your stay?” she asked hopefully.
“Yeah,” I confirmed. “It’s a good job, good people.”
Gina ran her hands down her legs, stopping at her knees. Suddenly our little reunion didn’t seem to be going so well. I considered the implicit message in our conversation, that I hadn’t chosen to return and that I didn’t want to reconnect. It was true that Singer’s Ridge had been my fallback and not my destination of choice. And it was true that I had put off seeing Gina again out of cowardice. But I really did like my job and all the people I worked with. And I was growing fond of Aly in a way that made me consider staying.
Just as I was about to explain all of that, the doorbell rang. Gina opened it and leaned out onto the stoop to hug Aly. I heard feminine voices and my outlook brightened. Aly and I had already ironed out all our lingering conflicts. There wasn’t anything except the promise of passion between us.
I stood up to join the girls in the entranceway, eager to escape the mistakes I had made. Aly had changed from her work clothes into more casual jeans and a T-shirt. The only thing that gave me pause was the lack of fabric spared for the shirt, how it hugged her chest and cut off just below her navel. If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn she had picked the sexiest T-shirt in her closet.
Or maybe she looked sexy no matter what she wore.
She caught my eye and smiled, reaching around Gina to press her hand into mine. I gave it a squeeze. I didn’t think it would be appropriate to hug her or kiss her, even though I longed to taste those lips again. Now wasn’t the time, in front of my sister and my boss, but I swore that our time would come. Someday soon, I was going to hold Aly in my arms and take my time undressing her.
Gina’s eagle eye settled on our conjoined hands. “I see you guys know each other.”
I reluctantly let Aly’s hand drop.
“We’ve had that conversation,” Porter said from the kitchen.
“Where’s Seth?” Aly moved past us, setting her purse down on the couch.
“He’s asleep,” Gina said.
“Should we be quiet?” Aly whispered.
Porter shook his head.
“If he wakes up, he wakes up,” Gina explained. “Can I get you a soda?”
“Just water,” Aly replied.
We settled down to have dinner. Gina gave us all empty plates, and Porter dumped the sautéed veggies and chicken into a communal dish. We passed it around, each filling our plate with as much or as little as we wanted. With the chips and dip, we had a feast. It was actually pretty good and, from what I had witnessed, fairly easy.
“I’ve been eating nothing but sandwiches and boiled eggs,” I said.
Porter laughed. “When I got home from rehab, the only things I ate were fruit and nuts.”
“Nuts are good,” I agreed.
“It’s not like we’re making four-course dinners,” Gina said.
“It’s good,” I told her. “Protein and fiber and easy to cook.”
“That’s the goal.” She skewered a crown of broccoli.
Before I knew it, I had signed up for a mini cooking lesson, for which I was going to have to return to Gina’s house. It was okay. I was eager to do anything that might relieve the feeling of betrayal I was sure I had created by avoiding her. I hopped up to do the dishes, ignoring Gina’s protests.
“You’ve got the baby to worry about,” I said, hunting out the soap.
She smiled and relaxed back into her chair. It felt like the walls were coming down, as if we could be a family again. I looked over at Aly to find her watching me. Instead of getting lost in my head, I winked at her, making her blush and turn away. Yeah, I was definitely going to get her alone again, and when I did, all bets were off.