Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“Nope, not tonight. You mind if I spend some time with you while you’re here?” It took my dumb ass too long to tell my boss to take his shot at partnership and shove it up his ass. It took me until today for that to happen. I have a pile of money in the bank even while paying child support for Von, and that’s why starting next week, I’ll be opening up my own law firm. A few of the other lawyers caught wind of what I was doing and walked out right along with me.
“The whole night?” Von asks with apprehension in his tone.
“Yep, I’ll even be here when you wake up. What are your thoughts on French toast, bacon, and eggs?” The way to my boy’s heart is definitely through his stomach.
“Awesome. Pizza and ice cream tonight, though, right?” He and my parents have a Friday night ritual, where they make homemade pizza followed by all the dessert Von can get his hands on, usually in the form of a banana split or hot fudge sundaes.
“You got it.” Von hugs me, Bear between the two of us. His scent of baby lotion that Tyra has him rub all over after a bath mixed with the sweet perfume that’s all her and what her now house smells like washes over me, solidifying that for the first time in years, I’ve done the right thing.
“Alright, I’m going to go hang with Grammy.” He kicks his feet, letting me know he’s ready to be let down. My mom is standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a soft smile on her lips, one I don’t deserve. It was her who told me more often than not I was making a mistake. She’s not wrong. Now I’m going to do whatever I can to right that wrong.
“You know, your mother set Tyra up on a blind date tonight. If you play your cards right, I might tell you where she’s at. You know, after Von is down for the night.” My body locks up tight. A year we’ve been divorced. I’ve never once strayed, not during this entire time. No other woman ever held my attention as much as my wife did. Even tired, falling on my face from exhaustion, Tyra was the last thing on my mind, and she’s still the first person on my mind when I wake up in an empty home, the home we bought together.
“Fuck.” Maybe I’m too damn late after all. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea if Tyra decided to go, not that I have a right to blame her for moving on.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. From what Von says, Ty wasn’t too excited about her dinner with friends, was fidgeting the whole way over, and was reluctant to get him out of the car. So, I’m not sure sucking up to your mother is the right way to go. And don’t shoot the messenger or your mother; she was trying to put her family back together, and that means all three of you.” My dad squeezes my shoulder before letting go, walking away to leave me with my thoughts. I feel like someone has rocked me to my core, a sucker punch straight to the stomach. A punch in the jaw, making the thing between my ears feel like it’s a damn jumbled mess again. I sit down, knowing I’m going to have to do some begging to not one woman but two. Operation Get my Woman and Family Back is about to commence, and I’m not going to stop until Tyra and Von are back under my roof, all of us together.
THREE
Tyra
This is beyond awkward. I sat at the bar in the restaurant because I got here early like the overachiever I’ve become. Okay, maybe that’s not the correct term; it was more or less because I drove like a bat out of hell to get here, or I was going to take my phone out and cancel like I’ve been thinking about doing all freaking evening. I’m nursing the same drink I first ordered when I slid onto the barstool, feeling out of place even though surely, I’m not the only thirty-two-year-old woman here. The only difference I can think of is that the other women in this quiet atmosphere that is only making my nerves that much worse aren’t in love with their ex-husband, aren’t sitting with nerves crawling up from the bottoms of their toes to the tips of their ears while re-thinking this for the second hour straight today. Even worse was, the second I agreed to this date, I wanted to tell Leah that I was joking when I said yes. In fact, that’s what I should have done. She wouldn’t have been upset or made things weird. The one thing I’ve learned throughout these crazy years, especially this year, is that family comes in all shapes and sizes. Love doesn’t have strings or conditions; it’s given freely. As much as I’m pissed at Mace for ripping my world apart, the love I’ve always felt for him still remains much the same as it has for seven years now.