Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“What about lately?”
“I’m good. Really good.”
“Amazing what true love will do to the wounded heart, how much strength can be gained from a genuine bond between two people. Do you really feel that bond with Leo?”
I darted a glance around, as if he was lurking nearby. “I do, but he doesn’t know.”
Judith adjusted her sapphire ring before shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure he does. I knew the second I saw you together. It shone from you like golden light, beamed from your smile, and the way you looked at Leo set even my old and jaded heart beating faster. If he’s blind to that, he’s a fool, and my son is no fool.”
“Do you, you know, do you think he feels the same for me?”
“Well, he’s never brought a woman to meet us, and according to gossip, any woman that he doesn’t consider a close friend or family has to call him Mr. Brass, I should think so. There’s also the fact that he had you calling him Leo from the get-go which shows me how absolutely sure Leo was that you were the one, the woman that was meant to be his.”
“Really?” I tried to keep my cool, but it was hard. “Wait, that’s crazy. Rational adult minds don’t work like that; love at first sight is a myth.”
“Or is it something so many people covet that when they don’t get it, they try to make the gift a curse, or pretend it isn’t real at all? I don’t know what you believe in, but I know in the time Leo has met you, he’s become a changed man, for the better. You give him the only thing he’s ever wanted, the love and devotion of a good woman.”
A little flutter of butterflies went through my belly and I really hoped she was right. He never failed to tell me how much he cared about me, how special I was to him, but he hadn’t used the “L” word yet and I didn’t want to be the first one to say it. All too often I’d told a guy I loved him, sure he was the one, only to get the dreaded “thank you” in return. If Leo responded with “thank you” instead of “I love you”, I might just slip into a depression so deep I’d never escape.
So instead, I was desperately in love with a man who I was too afraid to tell.
How pathetic.
“Hannah,” Leo said from behind me.
When I turned around, the smile on my lips faded at the sight of a bruise rising along his jaw. “Leo? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Look, I need to spend a little more time with Fernando. Are you okay having dinner alone with Judith or should I have Mark take you home? I don’t think I’ll be much longer, I just want to make sure Fernando is…settled before I leave.”
The thought of poor Fernando, trapped in his grief, made my heart hurt with empathy for the man and his terrible loss. “No, no, you’re fine. I can do whatever is easiest.”
“Are you sure?” He glanced over at Judith, who appeared to be busy on her phone. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want.”
“Really, Leo, it’s fine. Judith is lovely and I’m starving, so if you don’t mind, I’ll stay here and have dinner with her.”
Some of the shadows melted from his eyes as he scanned my face. “Thank you. I’ll make it up to you.”
“Nothing to make up. Now go, hang out with Fernando and I’ll just have to suffer through some no doubt delicious meal without you.”
My little bit of teasing worked and the gentle kiss he gave me had a reverent feel to it. “Thank you.”
He said something in Spanish to Judith that I didn’t understand, then gave me another kiss before leaving.
As soon as he was out of sight, the phone began to ring in my purse, an emergency beep alerting me that whoever was calling had something important to tell me.
After muttering an “excuse me” to Judith, I dug the phone out, hoping that it wasn’t Kayla calling with some bullshit emergency instead of a true problem. This past month had been trying with her because I’d finally found a backbone—and she didn’t like it. I’d never realized how much Kayla treated me like her maid until I stopped cleaning up after her, or an errand girl after I stopped running around and doing all her shit. I wasn’t home enough to really be bothered by her inability to pick up after herself, but Joy was just about ready to slit her throat.
I walked a few paces away to stand by the dark window before answering it. “Hello?”
“Hannah, you need to come home,” Joy said in a tense voice.
“What’s going on? Are you all right?”