Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87260 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“You would have done the dog park without me.”
I shrugged. “Well, I don’t ever want to find out.”
“My biggest regret is the time we lost out on because of me.”
Placing my hand on his face, I drew in a slow, deep breath and exhaled. There were so many things I wanted to say to him, but I wasn’t sure where to even start. I’d loved this man for so long, and a part of me had given up ever being with him. Now he stood before me, baring his heart and soul, and the only thing I wanted to do was tell him I felt the same exact way.
Placing my hands on his chest, I stared at one of the buttons on his shirt. “I read a quote a few years back from Zora Neale Hurston. ‘Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.’ I never really knew what that quote meant. To me, if you loved someone, you screamed it from the top of your lungs. But, that’s not how love works, and the push and pull of us over the years left me even more confused.”
He went to say something, and I pressed my finger to his lips. “I love you, Nate Shaw. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, and I only want to focus on our future. You and me and where this takes us. Because I honestly cannot imagine ever returning to a life without you in it.”
Before I could say anything else, Nate lifted me into his arms and took me straight to his bed, leaving everything a mess in the kitchen.
Chapter Fourteen
NATHAN
“Nate, stop pacing in my kitchen. You’re making me nervous.”
I stopped and looked at my grandmother. “Is there anything you need me to do?”
She paused from mashing the potatoes and stared at me. “Like I would give you a job to do. Your hands are shaking like a leaf on a windy fall day.”
Holding up my hands, I quickly balled them into fists. They were shaking.
“Nate, why are you so nervous?” Aunt Lincoln asked from across the kitchen, where she was stirring something on the stove.
“Well, let’s see. I’m dating a woman for the first time. Not just any woman, but someone I can’t stop thinking about whenever she isn’t with me. I’ve invited her and her mother to my family’s Thanksgiving, which the entire family will be in attendance. Uncle Brock and Ty are arguing about one of the games for a special holiday edition game night, which I might add no one informed me we had a game night tonight.”
“It didn’t scare Sophia away, and from what I know of Haven, she doesn’t seem to spook very easily,” Aunt Lincoln stated.
“She doesn’t, and I don’t think she will be fazed by it, but her mother will be.”
Grams turned off the mixer, put the lid on the potatoes, and put them in the oven warmer. She wiped her hands on her apron and tilted her head as she regarded me. “Are you embarrassed by your family, Nate?”
I was pretty sure there was a look of horror on my face. “Of course not, Grams. It’s just…you know how things get on game night.”
She nodded. “I do. But game night is a part of this family, and we don’t get to have it nearly enough anymore.”
I could see the sadness in my grandmother’s eyes, and I wanted to walk over and hug her. It had only been a few months since my grandfather had passed away, and I knew this wasn’t easy for her. My problems seemed pretty damn stupid compared to my grandmother going on with her life without Granddad here by her side.
“You’re right. I don’t know why I’m so worried.”
“It’s because you care for Haven. That’s why you’re worried,” Grams said softly. “Don’t be worried, Nate. I’ve met Grace, and she is a wonderful person. Nothing we do here will make her grab her daughter and run for the mountains.”
Right at that moment, Rhett and Ryder, my cousin Blayze’s six-year-old twins, came running through the kitchen. Rhett held a baseball bat, while Ryder held a cell phone and yelled, “I’m live! I’m live and have witnesses!”
The three of us watched them run back out of the room.
“That’s something you don’t see or hear every day,” Grams said.
“What did he mean, he was live? I don’t think he is even allowed to have a phone yet,” Aunt Lincoln said, making her way out of the kitchen to track down her two grandsons.
When I looked at Grams, she was fighting to keep back a smile. “What was that about them not running for the mountains?”
“I don’t suppose we can lock those two up in a bedroom, right?”
I laughed. “I don’t think Blayze and Georgiana would like that much.”