Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 215(@200wpm)___ 172(@250wpm)___ 143(@300wpm)
“Lucas!” she cried out, rushing to the other side of the bed. She leaned down and went to kiss me. Thank God my reflexes were good because I turned my head, and she got the side of my face, damn near my ear, instead of the full-on mouth kiss she had wanted.
“Wendy, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“Janet told me what happened! Greg said you’ve had a terrible day altogether.”
“What?” Hollie asked, concern in her voice. It was then Wendy looked at her, and by the expression on her face, she wasn’t pleased to see another woman standing in my hospital room, especially Hollie. I wasn’t sure what it was about Hollie that Wendy didn’t like, but she never made it a secret that she didn’t care for her.
“Hollie, what are you doing here? You hate Lucas.”
Hollie’s eyes went wide with shock. “I don’t hate him.”
“Really?” Wendy asked with a laugh. “You certainly don’t like him.”
“That is not true, Wendy,” Hollie said as she put her hands on her hips. “Why would you even say that?”
Wendy tilted her head and stared at Hollie. “Oh, I don’t know… All the times you’ve fought with him. Said mean things to him. I’m surprised it wasn’t you behind the wheel of that car!”
“Wendy!” I said in a stern voice that reminded me of my father, ignoring the shooting pain in my side.
“What did you say?” Hollie said in a voice so low and frightening, Wendy took a step away. I couldn’t blame her. I would have, too, if I had the ability to stand at that moment. Hollie looked ready to tear Wendy apart. “Did you really just accuse me of what I think you did?”
Wendy blinked a few times. “I… I… Well, I… I mean, you are…um…kind of mean and…”
Hollie and I both waited to see how Wendy was going to get herself out the word-vomit she had just made.
When Wendy’s cell phone rang, she let out a nervous laugh. “Saved by the phone. I’ve got to run to work. I’ll call you later, sweetie!”
Wendy answered her phone and rushed out the door. Hollie followed her with her eyes, and when the door shut, she whispered, “I hope you get a rash all over your body.”
I laughed. “Now, that was mean.”
Hollie whipped her head back around and looked at me. “Are you two dating again?”
“What? No. We’ve never really dated. We’ve just…”
Nice, Lucas. You almost just told the woman you’ve been pining over since you were in middle school that you had a fuck buddy.
“We’re just friends, that’s all.”
Hollie forced a tight smile. “What did she mean when she said you’ve had a bad day?”
I sighed and pushed my hand through my hair. I couldn’t help but notice how Hollie’s nose flared slightly, and her eyes seemed to turn darker as she watched my hand.
“It started off as a bad day. I stubbed my toe, spilled hot coffee on myself.” I held up my hand. The nurse had replaced the band-aid with a white bandage after she insisted I could have cut it on something rusty and old. “Cut my hand at the dig site.”
Her hand came back up to her mouth, and she looked panicked.
“I thought the day was getting better. We found what looks to be an old tavern site just down from the Parris home. I was on my way home to change so I could help at the site but swung by the office first to take care of some emails. I was walking in the parking lot when I got hit. Jerk was speeding.”
Hollie dropped her hand, then dropped into the seat that was next to the bed. All the color drained from her face as she stared at me.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked when she started to breathe harder.
“When did the bad luck start?”
I frowned. “The bad luck?”
Nodding, she motioned with her hands for me to hurry up. “Yes, Lucas. When did it start?”
“Today? I mean, yesterday, I twisted my ankle on a run, but that wasn’t anything. Oh, if you want to call this bad luck, my plumbing got backed up, and I had to call someone to fix it. I also burned my dinner last night, which is crazy because I’ve never done that in my entire life. Almost set the stove on fire.”
“Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.”
She kept chanting and rocking in the chair while she waved her hands like she was hot.
“Hollie, what’s wrong? Why are you even here? How did you know I was hurt? Greg? My mom?”
Her head snapped up, and our eyes met. “I felt it,” she whispered.
“You…felt it?” I asked in confusion. “How did you feel me getting hurt?”
With a confused expression, she slowly shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain, Lucas. I got a feeling something bad happened to you. I called your office to talk to you, and they said the ambulance had just taken you to the hospital, that there had been an accident.”