Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
In order to be happy, you have to make hard decisions and overcome the obstacles in your way. Sometimes that means letting go of toxic people you once loved—at least for a while. I loved my brother, and I always would. But I’d made my choice. I’d chosen Presley. And while I hoped Tanner and I could reclaim our relationship, we weren’t anywhere near that point.
A month had passed since everything went down, and he still wasn’t speaking to me. That was okay, though, because he had returned to speaking terms with Presley—for Alex’s sake. That was more important than making amends with me. Still, I had faith that someday we would figure out a way to act like brothers again.
After coming home from Dad’s jersey ceremony, Tanner had moved in with our mother, and apparently he’d just found an apartment outside Beaufort, close to the college where he coached. During my last trip home, I’d stayed with Presley until Tanner and Mom returned from Denver, refusing to let her face him alone. As expected, he’d come straight to The Palm to confront us. Thank God Alex was still at his friend’s house at the time, because there was a lot of screaming, cursing—and crying on Presley’s part.
I knew she blamed herself for ruining my relationship with Tanner. I hated that she felt that way. Because in my mind, I’d chosen all of this and took full responsibility for my part in it. And more than that, Tanner’s choices had started all of us down this path, and there was nothing Presley or I could have done to change that.
Thankfully, Tanner and I never got to the point where we threw punches. But Fern watched the entire thing unfold like a goddamn episode of Days of our Lives. She was only missing the popcorn. It sucked. Despite his actions in Denver, it pained me to see Tanner hurt. But the truth remained that he didn’t love Presley the way I do.
More than anything, I think he was upset because he looked at this situation as another win for me and yet another loss for him. I guess that might have been the case, but my relationship with Presley had nothing to do with him, and it certainly wasn’t a game or a competition. We loved each other and deserved to be able to freely express that. If my brother hadn’t messed around when he was supposedly trying to win her back, maybe I couldn’t have gone through with following my heart. But his indiscretion was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He’d shown me he was only going to end up hurting her again if she ever let him back into her life. And that had been a long shot anyway because she loved me.
She’d made that clear, and who was I to prevent her from being with the man she loved? I was damn lucky to say that man was me. There was a big price to pay in order to be with the woman I loved, but it was worth it.
The biggest obstacle, however, had yet to be tackled. That would change shortly after I landed, because today was the day Presley and I had chosen to tell Alex about us. Even Tanner had agreed that we needed to wait for the right time, and he’d also agreed to let Presley and me handle that conversation.
Tanner had told Presley he wanted nothing to do with breaking the news that would “mess his son up.” But despite my brother’s attitude about it, there was no choice but to be upfront with Alex now. It was a miracle he hadn’t figured anything out yet.
When I walked in the door of the inn, the smell of fried chicken greeted me, and I found Presley in the kitchen. She wiped her hands on a towel and rushed to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I planted the longest kiss on her lips and took in a deep whiff of her scent. The combination of aromas in this place was essentially the smell of home. The Palm Inn was home. This woman was my home and always would be, even if I only got to be here a fraction of the year. We’d just have to make the most of every minute together.
“How was your flight?” she asked.
“Went by in a flash with all the thoughts racing in my head. I kept rehearsing what I’m gonna say to him.”
She sighed. “I think we just have to wing this. No way I stand a chance of memorizing anything right now.”
“You’re probably right. Think there’s a book on the Internet about this we could read with him?” I winked.
The sound of footsteps approaching pulled us back from each other fast.
Alex came running into the kitchen. “Uncle Levi!”