Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
I sat there, knowing I should respond—or at least that she was waiting for me to. She had a reason for why she had left me. Somehow, that helped. A weight eased inside me that I hadn’t realized was there.
“Grams was great. Really. Dad didn’t make life easy for her, but she handled him just fine until she couldn’t anymore. By then, I was old enough to step in and take over.”
The server appeared at our table, and I turned to look at Sebastian.
“What can I get y’all to drink?” she asked as she barely glanced at Jill and me. Her main focus was Sebastian. It was something I had gotten used to with him.
He looked down at me. The concern in his eyes, the understanding, made me want to curl up against him and let him handle all my problems. I wouldn’t ever do that, but it was so tempting.
“Lemonade?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Yes, please.”
He motioned for Jill to order. The server asked him if she could get anything else for him, and he asked for bread to be brought to the table as he looked at me. When she walked off, I wanted to grin because she was clearly not happy that she hadn’t held his attention.
“Can I ask how you two met?”
I turned my gaze back to Jill. There was a soft smile on her face as she watched us.
“I witnessed her hustle two men at a game of pool one night while having a drink. Couldn’t take my eyes off her. Then, she made me work for it. Took me stalking her to get her to agree to a date,” Sebastian replied with a smirk on his gorgeous face.
Jill’s eyebrows shot up, and I wanted to laugh at his summary of how we had begun.
“That’s not exactly how it happened,” I told her, biting back a laugh.
He slid his hand over my back and leaned closer to me. “Yes, it is. I’m not embarrassed by my instant obsession.”
Jill chuckled. “Well, I can understand why he did it. I’m sure you’ve had boys falling at your feet since puberty. Now, tell me about this hustling men at pool thing.”
I shrugged. “My best friend, Anya’s, soon-to-be brother-in-law owns a pool hall. He used to let me go there, and I’d make some money.”
“Hustling men at pool, you mean,” she urged.
I nodded. “Yep.”
“She’s quite the entrepreneur,” Sebastian told her. “I’ve convinced her to come work on my family’s ranch with me though. I don’t much care for other men flirting with her.”
The server returned with our drinks and a basket of bread. Sebastian told her to give us a few more minutes to decide on food and sent her on her way.
Jill picked up her water and took a sip. Other than telling me about the postpartum depression, she hadn’t mentioned her son. My half brother. I was curious. I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet him yet, but I found I’d like to know about the only sibling I had.
“I’ll admit,” Jill informed him, “after we spoke on the phone, I googled you. I wanted to know who this man was, calling me about my daughter. It was impressive. The Shephard Ranch, that is. You’ve won a lot of horse races.”
Sebastian took a drink before responding, “Yes. We’ve been in the business for decades.”
She turned her gaze back to me. “And you’re not in college.”
I wanted to laugh—and not the amused kind either. “No. I’m not. With Grams’s dementia and Dad drinking away all our money, it wasn’t something that worked for me. Even with the scholarships I received, I couldn’t move off and leave Grams.”
She winced. If that made her wince, she had no idea about the other ugly truths in my life.
“You had scholarships?” she asked.
“Several. She’s fucking brilliant.”
I glanced up at Sebastian. The pride in his eyes made my heart flutter. I wasn’t brilliant, but the fact that he thought so made me happy.
“I hate that you weren’t able to take one of those. That’s unfair to you. I’d hoped that Vinson would change with fatherhood. It seems that’s not the case.”
“He’s in prison for drug trafficking,” I informed her.
She paled slightly, and I could see she hadn’t known that either. I guessed, when she had been googling, she hadn’t googled him.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “Where is Maude?”
“She’s in a luxury facility that caters to those with dementia and Alzheimer’s. The best doctors and nurses on hand daily. Activities to help with her memory or at least make the last years of her life easier. She’s only fifteen minutes from where we live, and I see her every day.”
Jill’s gaze shifted to Sebastian. “And you are the one paying for that?” she asked.
“My family owns the building it is in. I was able to get her in there at an affordable price.”