Our Options Have Changed: On Hold Series Book #1 by Julia Kent & Elisa Reed

Author:Julia Kent & Elisa Reed
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prosaic Press

* * *

Nick is seated on my sofa, reading on his iPad. I’m looking up at him from an odd angle. Why?

He notices me. “Hey,” he says softly.

“Hey,” I answer, sitting up stiffly. “Oh no—I fell asleep? I am so sorry!”

“Nothing to be sorry about. You’re exhausted. Come up here.” He touches the sofa next to him, shifting to wrap his arms around me as I sit. He rests his chin on top of my head.

“Soon she’ll sleep through the night. And then she’ll be a teenager, and she’ll sleep till one in the afternoon, and you’ll be trying to wake her up all the time. Every stage has its challenges. As soon as you figure one stage out, they pass through it, and you have to figure out the next one.”

“And you did it alone too. With three of them.”

“Yes, and only two hands.” He chuckles.

“What was the hardest part?”

“Oh, without a doubt, the times when there was supposed to be a mother on the scene. You know, school events, proms, awards. Milestone things. My parents would come sometimes, but it wasn’t the same.”

“Your parents?” I realize I don’t know much about Nick, but I did date his brother.

“My dad died a few years ago,” he explains.

“Oh!” A memory of Charlie’s parents flickers through me. Norm was a tall, lean guy with big hands who spent a lot of time doing woodwork in their garage. Their mother, Celia, was a tough-as-nails kindergarten teacher. “I’m so sorry. What about your mom?”

“Retired. Lives in Florida now.”

“Sounds like they really helped you when the kids were little.”

He shrugs.

I turn and look at him, heartbreak on my face.

“Will it be like that for Holly? Will she miss having a dad terribly?”

The contemplative way that he takes his time before answering is endearing, and it makes me listen carefully. “To be honest, I think it was a lot harder on me than on the kids. For them, it was kind of normal. But as a parent, you just can’t stand for anyone to hurt your child. And I had a lot of anger towards Simone that I had to keep hidden.”

A quiet moment passes, as I think about what he’s told me. This exceptional man.

“I think it’s going to be a little easier for you and Holly. I think there’s more of an understanding now that families look different in many ways, but it’s only the love that matters.”

He picks something up from the floor beside him.

“You started to open this earlier, but you didn’t finish. It’s for Holly.”

He looks so excited, like it’s a gift for him. I separate the tissue paper in the bag and find a flat gift. I pull off the wrapping paper and see that it’s a children’s book with a bright cover featuring an illustration of a little girl and a big dog. The little girl is holding her nose.

“Walter, the Farting Dog,” I read aloud.

I look at Nick.

I am speechless.

“I know I said ‘no princesses,’” I begin, “but.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.