Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“It’s like we beckoned her,” I say, gathering my willpower before I answer. “Hey, Mom.”
“You are never going to guess what happened to me today,” she says, her voice loud and full of emotion.
Here we go …
I pull the phone away from my ear and place her on speakerphone. “You’re right. I’ll never guess.”
Sutton takes a long swig of her wine.
“Eloise and I had dinner last weekend,” she says, talking a mile a minute. “And we were gossiping, as you do.”
Sutton makes a face, contesting that point.
“And I might’ve told her something that Barbara told me,” Mom says. “Barb didn’t say it in confidence, exactly. I’m sure she didn’t want the world to know she was sleeping with her son’s best friend. But I don’t see it as an awful thing, so I casually mentioned it to Eloise thinking she’d keep it between us.”
“Right.”
“And that bitch went behind my back and told Louisa and of course Louisa ran straight to Barbara and told her what she knew.” She pauses to take a breath. “Barbara knew I told because I was the only person she said anything to. Now I’m the bad guy.”
I sigh. “Well, Mom, you did betray her confidence.”
“I told a mutual friend. Eloise betrayed me, Georgia. Now, none of my friends will talk to me, and there’s an event next weekend and they’re freezing me out.” She starts to cry. “What am I going to do now?”
“Learn a lesson,” Sutton whispers. “That would be a good starting point.”
“Mom, calm down.”
“How? How can I calm down? I’ve lost everyone in my life besides you. That backstabbing Louisa has just stolen my entire social life. I can’t make new friends. I’m too old. Been there, done that and it sucked the first time around. I don’t want to make new friends—I like the ones I have. Had. Whatever.”
She breaks down into a fit of sobs. Her words are slurred, mixing with the tears, and I can’t make sense of anything she’s saying.
“Why don’t you take a bath and relax and give this some time to settle?” I suggest. “Everything looks better after a bath.”
“I’m beside myself. How could they do this to me?”
I wince. “Yeah, that’s rough.”
She sniffles. “Okay. I feel a bit better, I guess. I’m going to make some calls and see if I can salvage any of this.”
“Good luck.”
“I’ll keep you posted.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Love you, sweetheart. Bye.”
“Good—” Click! The line is dead. “Bye.”
Between the wine and my mother, my head feels like it’s spinning.
Sutton takes our glasses and the bottle back to the kitchen. “You’ve had enough. I’m going to put this away and then I need to get home to Jeremiah.”
“Okay.” I rest my head against the cushion and close my eyes, letting the warmth wash away my mom’s drama. I can’t deal with it right now, and I can’t let her ruin my day. “Love you, Sutton.”
“I love you, too.”
There’s a long pause that makes me open my eyes. She’s standing in the doorway with her keys on her finger.
“I say this with all due respect,” she says. “But Felicity Hayes lives for Felicity Hayes. You need to live for Georgia Hayes. Follow me?”
I nod. “I follow you.”
“Good. I’m going now. Call me if you need me.”
“Bye, friend.”
“Bye, friend.”
The door closes softly behind her.
I try to sit still and enjoy the question, but it doesn’t work. I try to sort through my hazy brain and figure out how to tell my mom that I just might be in love with Ripley Brewer. That doesn’t work, either. So I do the only other thing I can think of—the only one I really want to do.
I pick up my phone and find his name.
Me: Hey.
Ripley: Hey.
Me: I know we said we weren’t really telling anyone yet, but I told Sutton.
Ripley: What did you tell her, exactly?
Me:
Ripley: I told Tate and Gannon the same thing.
I laugh out loud as happiness floods me again.
Me: When do I get to meet Waffles?
Ripley: I wanted you here right now. You were the one saying we needed to take things slow.
Me: I changed my mind.
Ripley: I can be there in thirty minutes.
Me: I’ll be ready.
Is this the right decision? I don’t know. I hope so. Because it’s the only one that feels right.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Georgia
“You live here? Holy shit.” I climb out of the car, not waiting for a response, and look around. “I’m … speechless.”
Ripley leans against his car, smiling smugly.
His house, a place I’ve intentionally never visited, is absolutely breathtaking. It sits on top of a hill overlooking a never-ending valley. The deep gray exterior is brightened by tons of windows that probably offer an amazing view even from inside.
“So you like it?” he asks.
“What’s not to like?”
He chuckles. “We’re off to a good start then.”
The wine I consumed earlier has started to dissipate. Ripley getting stuck in traffic and taking over an hour to get to my house helped. I’m still warm and blissfully happy, but I don’t think that has anything to do with the wine.