Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
After the ceremony, we headed to a fancy restaurant down the beach to celebrate with Tim’s parents and siblings. We’d arrived in the Hamptons three days ago, and tomorrow afternoon the happy couple would be flying to Antigua to start their honeymoon. Mom and I would be staying a couple more days at Tim’s parents’ insistence to take advantage of the weekend weather.
It felt nice being away from the buzz of the city again, but this setting didn’t have quite the same impact as Wyoming. I supposed the sun setting over a mountain peak and the brilliance of glittering stars suited me better. Go figure.
Once dinner was finished, we headed back to the beach house, where there was music, a bonfire, and plenty of alcohol to go around. I downed a couple of shots with Tim’s brothers, then walked toward the ocean, dipping my toes in the surf and clicking through the photos I’d taken earlier of the ceremony. I chose the best ones of the bunch and sent them off to Sienna as promised.
Then I clicked the Do Not Disturb setting on my phone, determined to enjoy the rest of the evening with my sister and her new family.
By the end of the night, we’d enjoyed cake, more drinks, dancing around the fire, and I’d gotten properly drunk along with the rest of the group. When I stumbled off to bed well past midnight, I was glad that sleep came instantaneously.
The next morning I had a wicked hangover, and by the looks of it, so did everyone else. But nothing that a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and Bloody Marys wouldn’t cure. My stomach was happy for the extra toast I ate to soak up more of the alcohol.
The bride and groom looked blissfully happy, if a bit worse for wear.
After breakfast I walked along the ocean again to breathe sea-salt air into my lungs, and that did me a world of good as well. There was still a dull, steady ache not only in my head, but also in my chest, yet I was determined to suck it up and make some real plans for my life when I got back to Manhattan.
“You okay, honey?” Mom asked from behind me as she and Caitlin approached.
“Yeah, sure. A little hungover maybe.”
She smirked. “Aren’t we all?”
Mom linked arms with Caitlin and me like she used to do when we were kids and she didn’t want us to get lost at the amusement park or some other family trip we’d taken. My dad would tell her she was being paranoid, and fuck, suddenly I wanted him to be here with us so badly.
When I made eye contact with Caitlin, it seemed she had the same idea, the pain in her eyes palpable. “Think Daddy witnessed me getting married from somewhere out there?”
“Of course he did,” Mom said with a watery smile.
“He would’ve liked the location you chose,” I said. “Though he might’ve argued a little that it wasn’t Jones Beach.”
Mom and Caitlin both grinned, no doubt recalling how passionate he was about his childhood haunts. We’d been dragged there too many times to count, and those were some of the best memories I had—shaking the sand out of my shorts, peeling skin from too little sunscreen across my nose… And suddenly I wanted to tell Kerry all about it and ask if he’d ever been to the beach. Damn, why couldn’t I shake the guy?
We walked a little farther down the beach, then turned to head back toward the house while Caitlin and Mom chattered on about the ceremony and what they’d packed for their honeymoon. We could see Tim in the distance, heading toward us, and Caitlin waved and sighed, acting like the happy bride she was.
“You seem distant,” Mom said, nudging me, likely because I hadn’t added much to the conversation. “You sure nothing’s bothering you?”
“No, I’m just…”
“Mooning over a cowboy.” Caitlin clamped her hand over her mouth.
“What is this about?” Mom asked, whirling toward me.
“Shit.” I narrowed my eyes at Caitlin, who looked apologetic. Then she greeted her husband, and they went on to the house, leaving me with Mom’s question hanging between us.
“Who’s the mysterious cowboy?”
I winced. “He’s really not very mysterious.”
She stared at me a moment as something seemed to click in her brain. “Kerry?”
My heart pounded in my chest as I nodded. Goddamn it. What the hell would Mom think of me hooking up with Kerry? But it had been more than hooking up, hadn’t it?
You mean something to me too.
“Oh, honey.” She gripped my shoulders. “I wondered after the way you responded to his gift, but then I dismissed it because…seriously, Kerry?”
I bit my lip, feeling like a little kid again. “Well, you did say he needed someone in his corner.”
She swatted me playfully, then sobered when she saw the look on my face. Why was this so hard to talk to my mom about?