Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34025 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 113(@300wpm)
“You are a twin; oh, how fun.”
“Yeah.” My heart feels a little hollow talking about her right now.
“Well, I know I can’t replace them, but since you are marrying my brother, we are also going to be sisters.” Huh. Wow. I never thought about it like that.
“You are right.” her stomach begins to growl, and I hide my laugh. “I am so sorry. You must be hungry. Come. I had lunch delivered.”
“Sorry. The baby is hungry all the time.” We take a few minutes to load our plates with food and sit at the table stuffing our faces. “So, Lily, how did you meet my brother?” Conspicuously enough, Julio left the room the minute we started eating, but I can’t help feeling like he needed a minute after we scared the hell out of him.
“Well, I was staying at the main house with his boss and wife and their little one, and well, our paths crossed all the time.” I don’t know how much she already knows, so it is safest to say as little as possible.
“Fate,” she says, echoing what I have always felt in my heart about us.
“Exactly. Fate. So what about you and your husband? How did you two meet?” Her cheeks immediately turn pink. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me..”
“No. No, it is fine. It’s just…whenever I think of it, I get a little…embarrassed. I was supposed to be in California at school but decided to come to Florida on spring break. I got caught up in a situation I had no clue about and found myself arrested and in court so fast my head could spin. I didn’t want to call my brother because I was scared of disappointing him. Well, long story short, my husband was the prosecutor and demanded they give me house arrest in his house.” She blinks her eyes and does a little dance. We both begin to laugh, and it feels good.
The rest of the time flies by. We talk about everything, including her pregnancy which she is over the moon about. Every so often, I envision myself pregnant, and it makes me a little wistful. We also talked about the wedding, colors, places, and venues…Geesh, this girl has more energy than a small child. Her hand touches mine, and I realize I must have zoned out. “I am sorry. I was listening, I swear. I am just a little tired. It has been an exciting and mentally busy few days.” I try to explain without giving away the fact that her brother has barely let me out of the bed.
“I get it. Trust me. I am going to go, but I wanted to say thank you for loving my brother. I used to worry about him being alone in this life with nothing else to live for. I can see now I was worried for nothing. I have never seen him look so happy and carefree before. Thank you for loving everything about him.” She pulls me into her arms and hugs me. This time, I don’t bother holding back the tears.
“I am so happy to have met you, Daffodil. I hope we can get together often. Actually, Jewel and I were going to lounge by the pool tomorrow and then go dress shopping in the afternoon. Would you like to join us tomorrow? Come over, bring a swimsuit and spend the day?”
“Oh my gosh. I have to ask Cillian, that’s my husband, but as long as he is alright with it, I am game. Hugs.” She pulls me in for one more hug, and then she is out the door. Once her car pulls off, I look around the house and don’t see Julio anywhere. I could go over to the main house and look for him, but I wasn’t lying when I said I was exhausted. I want to lay down but spending time with Daf made me miss my sister even more. I am going to talk to her and then nap. Picking up my phone, I call her, hoping she answers.
“Hello.” I almost hang up, convinced I have the wrong number. She doesn't sound like herself.
“Hi, Sissy,” I call her the name we call each other when we are excited about something.
“Lily, hi. How are you?” Her voice sounds happy, but I can hear the force behind it, and I am now more worried, but I know Chiara, if she doesn’t want to talk about it, she won’t.
“I am great.” I am trying to hold in my excitement. I feel bad being so happy when she obviously isn’t. I wish she would tell me.
“Lily, what’s going on?” She knows me too well.
“OMG. I am so happy you asked. I am about to burst. I have a secret. I am not supposed to say anything right now, but I can’t keep anything from you for too long. I am in love.” I basically boil over like an oil spill, but I still hold back and don’t say I am engaged. I haven’t told Giulia yet, and Julio asked me to wait until he has had a chance to speak to her first.