Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Arriving at Wood Farm, he parked his bike, climbed off, and headed up the steps that clearly looked like they had been recently painted. Grant pressed the doorbell and waited.
Sean opened the door and he watched as the man went visibly pale.
“Hello, Sean.”
****
Aria wanted to go home. She had to leave. It had been a week. A very long week of trying to avoid Grant. She hated seeing him every single day, even when she tried to avoid it.
Tears filled her eyes as she held onto the pillow. She hated crying.
There was a knock at the door and she sniffled. “Come in.”
This wasn’t her room, nor was it her house. She didn’t feel comfortable taking someone else’s room. Maddie stepped through the door.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.” Aria smiled at the other woman and then wiped at her eyes. “I don’t suppose I can leave?”
“Not yet, I’m afraid.” Maddie sighed and moved toward the bed.
“How do you stand this?”
“It’s easier when you get to see the man you love every single day. I’ve been living in this clubhouse for a lot longer than a week.” She sighed.
“Aren’t you going crazy?”
“A little bit. I do get to go to the store, but I’ve got to have a couple of guys go with me. Bull’s very protective.”
Aria nodded. “I bet that’s nice.”
“Grant would do the same for you, you know,” Maddie said.
“He lied to me. He had sex with my sister,” Aria said. She sniffled. “It’s fine. And I saw … he was so mean. I know you said he was a bully to you, but I don’t think I … I didn’t think—”
Maddie took hold of her hands. “Don’t worry about it.”
“How can you not be upset?” Aria asked.
“Grant is a strange kind of guy. Trust me, I had all these assumptions about who he was as a person, and I was so wrong on all counts. Yes, he was a bully. He bullied me about my weight for the longest time. Even when I dated Bull, in the beginning. He and Bull got into a little fight about it. Then it was like he changed.” Maddie shrugged. “He went from being my worst enemy to one of my best friends.”
“So which one is real?” Aria asked.
“I guess both are real to a point,” Maddie said. “Does it really matter that he slept with your sister?”
The tears filled her eyes. “Isabella’s the pretty one. Everyone wants her.”
“That’s not true.”
“Isn’t it?” Aria asked. “Grant already had my sister. What if he’s comparing us?”
“Stop it,” Maddie said.
“My mom always said that I was never going to match up to my sister. That men would never want me, not after they had seen Isabella. I figured Grant was different.”
Maddie grabbed both of her hands. “I don’t like your mother. She sounds almost as bad as mine.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Aria said. She had heard that Maddie had lost her parents.
The other woman chuckled. “She wasn’t my real mother,” Maddie said, surprising Aria.
“What?”
“They adopted me from Beatrice and Carl.”
“The owners of the diner?”
Maddie nodded. “It’s not common enough knowledge but they’re my real parents. Times were tight and they didn’t want to give me up, but they couldn’t run a crumbling business and raise a baby. They didn’t want to leave town, and so they gave me to my mother. She was a horrible woman. She told me all the time how fat and ugly I was. She really messed with my head and I’m guessing your mom has messed with yours.” Maddie sighed. “Bull helped me to see reason. He got me to think about my own daughter. This was before Lindsey, and if I would say those horrible things to my daughter. If you looked at yourself and saw your daughter in the mirror, would you tell her the same things your mother told you?”
The tears fell down Arai’s cheeks. “No, hell, no.”
“Then you’ve got to stop believing them. You’re a beautiful woman, Aria, you’re sweet and kind, and I know for a fact that Grant loves you, so very much. He messed up. Guys are going to mess up. Bull did and still does, but I love him. I love him enough to stay at his clubhouse until he thinks it’s safe for me. I’d do anything for him.”
She loved Grant, so much. But it was hard. He had lied to her.
“He should have told me the truth,” Aria said.
“Yeah, he should have and he’s a dick because he didn’t. Believe me, Grant knows what he did wrong and I bet he even regrets it.”
Aria sighed.
“You’re telling me I need to forgive Grant?”
“No, I’m not telling you that. Yes, I’d like you to forgive him, but only when you’re ready to.” Maddie smiled. “I better head downstairs. I’m pretty sure Lindsey is already driving everyone crazy.”