Wildflower (Colors #4) Read Online Free

headed back to my grandmother’s house where my friends helped lay out a spread of food for all the people who wanted to spend a little more time reminiscing about Grammy. I spent hours giving fake smiles and handshakes to everyone who came up to me offering condolences. My cheeks felt bruised and I worried my hand was going to fall off, but the last townsperson had finally left just minutes before, and all I could think about was taking a nice long bath. I needed one like no body’s business after receiving a bone-crushing hug from Old Lady Wilson. I desperately needed to wash off the Bengay and chewing tobacco smell that had seeped into my hair and clothes.
    “ Ex- husband,” I responded, putting extra emphasis on the ex .
    “I can’t believe you were married.” Pepper stared at me with wide eyes. “That’s crazy. You’re only, what, twenty-three?”
    “Twenty-four,” I answered. “And I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”
    “I can see it,” Griffin chimed in, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on Grammy’s scarred wooden dining room table that we were all congregating round. “You’re hot. I’ve always wondered why the hell you were single. Figured you were just getting some action on the side and wasn’t one to talk about it.”
    “It should be illegal for you to talk. You shouldn’t be allowed to say words,” Pepper clipped, smacking him in the back of the head.
    Navie continued on like the two of them going at it didn’t faze her in the slightest. “How long have you been divorced?”
    I heaved out a heavy sigh and dropped my head into my hands, my elbows resting on the table. “Five years.”
    “Oh my God,” she gasped, no doubt doing the math in her head. “So you were only—”
    I interrupted. “Eighteen. I was eighteen when I got married and nineteen, already living in New York by the time it was finalized. And I’ll say again, I do not want to talk about this.” I turned my head and peeked through the doorway of the kitchen, looking to make sure Ethan wasn’t anywhere in hearing distance. Lowering my voice, I gave my attention back to my friends. “Look, Ethan doesn’t know the full extent of what happened between Noah and me, okay? And it’s not really a time in my life I’d like to think about. I’ll tell you the whole story, I promise, just… not today, all right? I can’t do it today.”
    “You’re right. I’m sorry,” Navie replied.
    “It’s okay. I’m just exhausted. It’s been a rough week.” I smiled weakly, knowing it didn’t come close to reaching my eyes. “All I want to do is relax in a nice, hot tub and soak the past seven days away, but I still need to clean up all this mess.” I looked around the kitchen, every available surface covered in casserole dishes filled with food, brought over by Grammy’s friends and neighbors. It was going to be impossible to eat all of that food, even with a growing teenage boy in the house.
    “Babe,” Pepper spoke up, pulling my attention away from the mess in the kitchen. “Go relax. We’ll take care of this. You don’t need to worry about anything else, okay?”
    “Hey!” Griffin shouted. “I didn’t agree to that shit!”
    “I swear to God, asshole, I’m going to punch you right in the nuts if you don’t stop talking,” Pepper warned.
    Not wanting Pepper to get in trouble for assaulting a police officer, I stood on a laugh. “Thanks, honey. I appreciate that.”
    She and Navie stood and got busy. “No problem, sweetie, we got this. When we’re done, we’ll head back to the hotel and give you and Ethan some quiet.”
    I walked around the kitchen giving out hugs and goodbyes with the promise of everyone meeting back there in the morning for breakfast before they had to head to the airport. The large, claw foot tub in my grandmother’s bathroom was calling my name.
    I had hoped for relaxation, a break from the outside world as I soaked in the warm, soothing water.