Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Part of that was me, I knew. I probably looked different, too, walking around with a permanent smile on my face. But I thought Kara’s changes came more from being unburdened by all the shit she’d been carrying alone. Now that we knew, she simply didn’t have to hide anymore.
“Hey,” my mom said, stopping us almost the moment we’d climbed off my bike.
Yeah, that was new, too. It felt damn good to be on the back of a bike again.
“Ma,” I said, leaning forward to kiss her cheek as Kara’s hand slid into mine.
“Jesus,” my mom said, looking between us, “this is harder than I thought.”
I just looked at her.
“I’m sorry, Kara,” she said with a grimace.
“That’s okay,” Kara replied quickly. She’d been on me for weeks to make up with my mom, but I hadn’t. I still couldn’t believe she’d treated Kara like shit and I wasn’t about to forgive.
“No,” my mom said, shaking her head. “No, I fucked up bad.”
She glanced at me and then back at Kara.
“I was a fucking mess when Draco was put away. I’m not trying to excuse it. You were a kid and I fucking crushed you and that’s on me. Totally on me. I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. So sorry.” She crossed her arms. “I never blamed you for what happened and I shouldn’t have said that shit to you. I couldn’t be mad at Draco for being such a fucking idiot because I was so goddamn worried about him all the time, and I guess I had to blame someone.”
“You’re forgiven,” Kara said, elbowing me in the side when I didn’t speak.
“We’re good,” I told my mom. I wasn’t ready to forgive her yet, but we were closer to it now that she’d owned up and apologized.
“Good,” she said with a small smile, letting out a loud breath.
Kara giggled.
“I’ll find you guys later,” my mom said, smiling at me and then at Kara. “I need to help your grandmothers get the food out.”
She walked away and Kara grinned up at me.
“We’re not goin’ over to dinner or any of that shit yet,” I told her as I led her toward the crowd of people gathered around the picnic tables in the forecourt.
“She apologized,” Kara scolded. “I forgave Curt when he apologized.”
“You ignored his ass for a week while he followed you like a fucking puppy, groveling,” I reminded her.
“I still forgave him,” she said, elbowing me again as we reached the table where Curtis, Charlie, Rebel and Charlie’s sister Cecilia sat.
“Hey, you have a good time in California?” I asked.
“Yeah, I love it down there,” Cecilia said. “It was a nice visit, even though I couldn’t wait to get home. Olive’s allergies were so bad we had to wait until the smoke cleared—literally.”
“Good thing your house didn’t burn down,” Charlie quipped easily. “It was a close thing.”
“I’m aware,” Cecilia said dryly. “Should I have stayed and fought the fire singlehandedly so Mom and Dad didn’t lose their house?”
Charlie snorted. “I was there.”
Kara laughed. “We didn’t do shit and you know it,” she told Charlie, pointing at her. Charlie swatted her hand down. “All we did was piss off the guys and grab your great Gram’s quilts.”
“I saved the quilts,” Charlie told her sister importantly.
“I saved my kids,” Cecilia replied.
“Fine,” Charlie sighed, flopping her body onto the table, her arms outstretched. “You win.”
“I’m gonna get a beer,” I leaned down and told Kara quietly. “You want anything?”
“Water would be good,” she replied. “Thanks, baby.”
“Thanks, baby,” Rebel copied with a little giggle, her eyes on us.
“That’s enough out of you,” I told her, giving her ponytail a little tug as I walked past her.
“How’s Wes doing, Reb?” Kara asked as she sat down at the table.
I didn’t hear Reb’s answer, but I guessed it was something along the lines of how great Wes was. Honestly, I couldn’t really blame her. I actually really liked the guy. He was exactly as she’d described him to us. Jeans and a button down, red hair, and the guy smiled all the fucking time. Like he was just happy to be there, hanging with us. He had Down Syndrome like Reb, so he knew what she went through on a daily basis. It also didn’t hurt that he worshiped the ground she walked on. Even Curtis had given his blessing. It was impossible not to.
I looked around as I walked toward the coolers lined up against the building but I couldn’t see any of the guys I’d hoped to corral while we were at the clubhouse. Grabbing a beer and a water, I paused by the building, looking through the crowd again. Not a single Aces officer was outside.
“Draco,” my great gramps called from the doorway, “your pop needs you and Curtis inside, boyo.”