Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
She loved me.
Hmph.
What an odd way she had of showcasing that love.
I chopped another piece of wood. Tossed the pieces to the side and grabbed another. Before I could chop it, Grandma grabbed my arm. “Theo, didn’t you hear the letter?”
“Yup.”
“Well…what are you waiting for? She loves you!”
“Don’t care.”
Grandma looked perplexed by my response. “What do you mean you don’t care? You have to care.”
“Why? Why in the world would I have to care?” I asked as I placed the axe down. “Why would it be any of my business who Willow loves? Even if it’s me?”
“Because you love her, too.”
The look of heartbreak in my grandmother’s eyes when she said those words was almost enough to make me feel guilty. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t the one who walked away after all; Willow chose to leave. She could’ve stayed and let me love her forever. Because that was exactly what I was prepared to do. I would’ve loved that woman for-fucking-ever.
“None of that matters,” I told her. I turned to walk inside, and she followed me.
“Theodore Langford, you cannot honestly be ready to throw away what you and Willow had, can you?”
“It’s already in the trash.”
Grandma huffed and puffed, shaking her head in shock. “No. This isn’t how it was supposed to go,” she said, following me into the house. I went straight to the kitchen sink and began washing my hands.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She’s your person.”
“I thought that, too, but it turned out we were both wrong.”
“But you looked at her the way he looked at me,” she said, her voice cracking into a piercingly sad note. “I noticed it right away when you two were together over the past few months. You looked at her like she was…everything.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “And she left me like I was nothing.”
“She has her reasons. I’m sure if you read her letter—”
“I don’t want to read it.” I was growing irritated that Grandma kept pushing the issue. “Let’s make peace with the fact that it didn’t work out for Willow and me. We aren’t you and PaPa. We don’t get the lifelong love story. We got a chapter, and that’s good enough for me.”
Grandma fiddled with her wedding ring, shaking her head back and forth. “Willow has been through a lot of hardships, Theo.”
“Yes,” I agreed, “she has.”
“And life isn’t easy. It’s complicated and hard and messy. Love is the same—complicated and hard and messy. But it’s also worth it. I know you’re moving through this as if it’s just another letdown. As if Willow is just like your mother and Thalia, but she’s not.”
“No, you’re right. She’s not like them.” She was more, which made it that much harder when she walked away. “But still, she left, and I have to respect that decision.”
“Do you, though? Do you respect it?”
No.
Not at all.
Not even a little.
“Do you want to go grab dinner?” I asked, changing the subject.
Grandma sighed and shook her head. “I’m getting a meal with a few ladies tonight.”
I walked over to her and kissed her forehead. “Then I’m going to shower and call it a night.”
She placed her hands against my cheeks and sighed. “I just want you to be happy, Theo.”
“I am happy,” I lied.
“You’re not,” she replied before she patted my cheek and said she loved me. As she turned to walk away, she paused in the kitchen archway. She didn’t turn back to me but said, “You know what’s wild? If PaPa and I gave up on each other early on whenever there was a trigger one of us experienced, we would’ve never made it to sixty years.” She turned to face me. “Is it possible that Willow just decided to end things and walk away? Sure. But is it more likely that she got scared of losing you based on all her past experiences? Is it more possible she retreated in a moment of fear? Is it more likely that she just…panicked? Love doesn’t mean sticking around just when things are easy, Theodore. Love means going through the storms and helping the one who’s drowning find their way back to the shore.”
She left without another word. Not that any more were needed after that.
A few days later, Jensen showed up with an envelope in his hands. He came straight through the front door, hopping up and down. “It’s here, Theo! It’s here!” he exclaimed as he approached me, and I sat on the couch.
“What’s here?”
“The DNA results.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I thought those were supposed to come to my house?”
“They did. I’ve been checking your mail for the past few weeks to see when they arrived.”
“Do you know that it’s a federal crime to go through a person’s mail?”
He waved me off. “Yada, yada, yada. Let’s open them!”
I chuckled and stood from the couch. I took the package from his hands and walked toward the back of the house. Jensen followed me like a puppy dog searching for a treat. We each took a seat in the rocking chairs, and I held the envelope tightly in my grip.