Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100750 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Will they want to hear it?
He could do that for them. The pamphlet was at home, describing the heartbeat teddy bears that stored twenty to thirty seconds’ worth of sound. They were meant to help families of those who had lost loved ones and had made the ultimate sacrifice by donating their organs.
Gemma set a cup and saucer down in front of Grayson. “Do you like cream in your tea?”
“I—I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never had tea or been to a tea party.”
Lynnea stood, ran to a box, and then returned with a hat and feather boa, which she draped dramatically around his shoulders. The hat didn’t fit, so she set it on top of his hair.
“You have a big head,” she said as she giggled. “Big brains.” She shook her head while laughing until she rolled over.
“My dad calls her a hurricane,” Gemma told him while she continued to prepare their imaginary tea. “I’ll put cream in your tea. That’s how my grandma likes it.”
“Grandma Lorraine?”
Gemma looked at him sharply. “How do you know her name?”
“Like your mom said, we went to high school together. I know your grandparents and your aunt Sienna as well.”
“Do you know my cousins?”
Grayson shook his head slightly. “No, I don’t think so. What are their names?”
In a shocking move, Lynnea sat on his lap. He acted as coolly as possible. “Lincoln and Jaxon. They live in Arlington.”
“So does my mom,” Grayson told Gemma. “Maybe when you come visit your grandparents next time, we’ll go to the zoo. We can visit the elephants.”
“I like the pandas,” Gemma said.
“They’re funny,” Lynnea told him. “We watch them on the video when it snows. He’s always rolling in the snow. He’s going to be a snowman.”
Grayson couldn’t agree more and didn’t want to tell them the pandas were no longer at the zoo.
Gemma held up her teacup and stared at him, as if she expected him to do the same. He reached for Lynnea’s and handed it to her before picking his up. They clanked their plastic cups together and then sipped. Grayson was out of his element, but he figured he’d watched enough television during his recovery that he could easily play along.
He hissed and fanned his mouth. “Oh, that’s hot, but delicious. You must tell me the flavor so I can make it at home.”
Gemma and Lynnea roared with laughter. “Our daddy used to do the same thing,” Gemma said. “You acted just like him.”
“Did I now?”
Tears welled in the back of his eyes. He pinched the outside of his leg to ward them off. He refused to cry in front of them, Nadia, or anyone for that matter.
“Do you have kids?” Lynnea asked.
“Not yet,” he told her. “Someday, I hope.”
“Do you have a wife?” Gemma asked.
“Almost. We are getting married next year. Do you want to see a picture of her?”
The girls nodded, and he fished his phone out of his pocket and brought his photos up.
“She’s pretty,” Gemma said.
While Lynnea pointed out the obvious: “She has Mommy’s hair.”
“What’s her name?” Gemma asked.
“Reid.”
“That’s a nice name,” Gemma said.
Nadia called for them. She stood on the deck and waited. Grayson helped the girls clean up and didn’t bother to remove his feathered boa. He thought if he did, he might insult Lynnea. Inside, they washed up, and Grayson helped the girls set the table outside. It was a nice night, and as the sun set, strings of white lights came to life overhead.
Grayson wanted this. He wanted the suburban lifestyle. The house with the picket fence, inviting backyard, and friendly neighbors: everything Reid had talked about before she’d given him the chance he begged for. Where they lived now, they said hi to the people they ran into, but they had no idea who they were or what kind of lives they lived. He hadn’t cared until now. Learning about Rafe and the man he was made Grayson want to be a better person.
When he sat down, he chose to sit between the girls. He felt at home there, nestled in their warmth and embrace. He didn’t care that they picked food off his plate. He accepted the hot dog Lynnea didn’t want when she pretended it was an airplane headed toward his mouth. When Pearce brought up his boa, instead of being embarrassed, he asked his friend if he was jealous that he didn’t have one. Gemma fixed that for him. After a quick run to her bedroom, she draped a purple one around his shoulders and placed a very elegant tiara on top of his head.
Grayson’s eyebrow popped as he waited for Pearce to say something. He didn’t. He bowed his head and continued eating.
It had taken less than an hour, and the girls had Grayson wrapped around their fingers. They owned his heart. The ache was gone, filled now with the love and laughter of two little girls who had lost their father way too soon.