Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 383(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
She grunts a little laugh and shakes her head. “You had me fooled. Both of you. I thought I felt the chemistry between you. I thought I heard it.” She rolls her eyes at herself. “I thought I saw something in the way you looked at her and the way she looked at you.” She nods toward the scattered letters. “When I read these letters, I could hear Serena’s voice. And I could imagine it was the two of you falling in love. The kind that takes you by surprise. Something undeniable. Do you know what I mean?”
I take a minute.
Mom laughs again before I can answer her. “Of course you don’t. But I wish you did, Henry. I wish you could experience that indescribable feeling of love. That connection that just … happens when you least expect it.”
Okay, Dad … I hear you.
I stand, slowly gathering the letters and photos.
When I set them on the counter and grab my jacket, Mom gives me a narrow-eyed gaze. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see if there are grandkids in your future.”
It takes her a few seconds. Then she gets teary-eyed and presses her hand to her chest. “It was real,” she whispers.
I pull on a beanie and grab the pile of letters and photos. Then I wink at her. “Frighteningly real.”
On my way to the Afina house, I wonder how this works. I’d seen my dad do it on countless occasions.
Groveling.
What are the chances I nail it the first time?
I knock several times on the wreath-less door. Then it hits me.
It’s not just Christmas. It’s the anniversary of her husband’s death. What am I thinking?
I turn to head back to the van. Then I turn and take several steps back toward the house. And again, I retreat toward the van. “Fuck!” I kick a pile of snow and nearly fall on my ass. In the process of keeping my balance, the letters and photos scatter all over the ground. “You’re an idiot, Henry,” I scold myself, dropping to my hands and knees to pick everything up. “Two weeks,” I continue talking to myself. “You fell in love in two fucking weeks? How ridiculous. It’s not love. It’s just that your dick was caught off guard.” I continue to gather the letters and photos, just … mumbling away at myself. “But your dick isn’t in your chest, and that’s where you feel her. What’s that supposed to mean? Have you thought about that?” My third-person conversation reaches an all-time low.
“It means you love me, Henry Bechtel.”
I freeze, glancing up at the porch while easing my butt onto my heels.
Serena smiles. The snow-melting kind of smile.
“I shouldn’t be here.” I shake my head. “I’m an asshole. What I said … it was terrible. And your husband died—”
“On Christmas.” She walks down the porch steps in her fluffy boots, leggings, and red sweater. “I had to let him go on Christmas.” Her hand reaches toward me. “Take it.”
I stare at her hand, then I take it, lumbering to my feet with most of the photos and letters clutched in my other hand.
Serena’s dark hair falls behind her shoulders when she gazes up at me.
“What now?” I say.
She lifts onto her toes until her lips are a breath away from mine. “Now … don’t let go.” Her lips bend into a grin as they touch mine.
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Standalone Novels
Idle Bloom
Undeniably You
Naked Love
Only Trick
Perfectly Adequate
Look The Part
When Life Happened
A Place Without You
Jersey Six
Scarlet Stone
Not What I Expected
For Lucy
What Lovers Do
The Fisherman Series
The Naked Fisherman
The Lost Fisherman
Jack & Jill Series
End of Day
Middle of Knight
Dawn of Forever
One (standalone)
Out of Love (standalone)
Holding You Series
Holding You
Releasing Me
Transcend Series
Transcend
Epoch
Fortuity (standalone)
The Life Series
The Life That Mattered
The Life You Stole
Pieces of a Life
Memories of a Life
Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor.
With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.
After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.
When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.
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