Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 20861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20861 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
"But you're showing me this now because..."
"Because now I'm sure," she answered simply. "It's not a coincidence that I have this on my card. It's not a coincidence that your first name is Jeremiah. And it's not a coincidence that all this time, you never felt that God cared for you." Her expression turned earnest. "But He does, Rule. And that's proof of it."
That...being the verse she had written on her card?
"I don't know any Bible verses."
"In case you haven't noticed, our shelves are packed with Bibles."
"Or you could just tell me what Jeremiah 29:11 is."
"I could," she agreed. "But don't you think it's going to be more meaningful if you were to look them up yourself?"
Rule didn't answer right away, and Vixen looked at him searchingly. "What is it?"
"I know this is going to make me sound like a jerk..."
Vixen's eyes widened.
"But I'm used to being the smartest person in the room wherever I go."
"Oh."
"And yet somehow, every time I'm with you, I end up feeling the opposite."
She looked at him helplessly. "I don't know what to say."
"A sign of human weakness, finally," he said mockingly.
"Oh, stop," Vixen protested with a laugh.
"It's reassuring to know you haven't everything figured out yet."
Vixen shook her head. "I have a lot of unanswered questions myself—-"
"Such as?"
"Why is it so hard for my mom to see what I see?"
Ah.
"Is it selfish that I want to have a cat when I already have Salt and Light?"
None of her questions was something he could have anticipated, and he should probably have expected that—-
"And is what we have between us worth pursuing?"
—-since Vixen had always been completely unpredictable....and terrifyingly good at catching him unaware, just like what she was doing now.
Mischief sparkled in her eyes, which he knew now to be a mesmerizing shade of green.
"Uh oh. Did I just take your breath away?"
"You know you did."
Her smile faded at the brooding tone of his words. "I was just teasing—-"
"There's something I've also wanted to tell you for sometime now," Rule said tautly. "And how you'll take it is likely the answer—-"
"Are you married?" Vixen blurted out.
"No."
Vixen was visibly relieved. "Then—-"
"But I do have a daughter." His jaw clenched at the way he saw Vixen pale, but he forced himself to continue, knowing that there was no going back after this. "She's just turned seventeen. Her mother and I tried to make it work for years, but we eventually separated. We were never married—-"
Rule's body turned rigid with tension when Vixen suddenly jerked.
Was this it then?
Was she going to tell him there was no way she would date a single dad—-
"Can I just ask..."
Ask what?
For him to leave and never to darken her doorstep again?
Because if she did, then she might as well tell him to lose all hope—-
"—-if your daughter's name happens to be Riley?"
Three
A NIGHT MARRED BY RESTLESSNESS and unanswered questions still wasn't enough to keep Rule in bed the next day.
Sticking to a routine had always been a source of comfort to Rule, and he was up at five like usual, his body clock mercilessly punctual to a fault. But as far as his ex was concerned, it was also this side of his that she found unbearably tedious, which she also cited as one of the reasons for their breakup.
Such thoughts had his mind attempting to replay the past, but Rule shut a mental door on this immediately.
The present was all that mattered now.
And even though his conversation with Vixen last night had ended on an awkward note...
Rule was surprised to find himself still full of hope.
And more unexpectedly, of peace.
Why that was, however...
He wasn't yet ready to face.
For now, he would simply focus on the things he did have the ability and courage to tackle, and to start with...
Rule knocked on his daughter's door. "You awake yet?"
He gave her a few moments to answer before knocking again. "Riley?"
Rule opened the door after his third round of knocking, and the first thing he saw was her empty bed.
Huh.
His daughter had never been an early riser, and Rule's puzzlement gradually turned to unease when he searched the rest of the house and still found no signs of Riley.
One of the reasons he had chosen to move to Lavender Cove was for its supposedly low crime rates. But such statistics were just that: statistics. There were always exceptions to the rule and margins for error. There was always the possibility of a nutjob suddenly having this whim to take the ferry and kill the first seventeen-year-old girl—-
"Morning, Dad!"
The sound came from the back porch, and Rule expelled his breath in relief when he saw his daughter waving at him from the steps. The wooden planks creaked under his footsteps as he joined her outside, and she smiled up at him as he folded his length next to hers.