Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
He was silent before grunting. “Kind of pisses me off imagining you feeling small and bad.”
I reached over and squeezed his forearm.
His mouth did that twisty thing as he let go of the steering wheel with his free hand and covered mine. His palm was warm. “We’re here,” he claimed.
I held my breath as he pulled into a very full driveway. I’d kept a vague eye on the neighborhood when he’d turned in, and it seemed to be spaced out with at least five-acre lots for each home.
“I’m glad you’re good here,” Rhodes said quietly right after he’d parked.
My cheekbones started to tingle.
He undid his seat belt and angled his body to look at me from across the dark cab. He dropped his hands into his lap and leveled me with a stare that nearly took my breath away. “If it matters any, you make Am and me both happy. And you help Clara out a lot.” His throat bobbed. “We’re all grateful you’re in our lives.”
My heart squished, and my voice definitely came out funny. “Thanks, Rhodes. I’m grateful for you all too.”
Then he threw a verbal grenade. “You deserve to be happy.”
All I could do was smile at him.
I swear his expression went tender before he blew out a breath. “All right, let’s get in there before—there he is.” He gestured through the windshield.
Standing in the doorway of the adobe-style home was Amos, waving big, in a button-down shirt that surprised me more than anything. I waved back, and he started gesturing for us to come in. Beside me, Rhodes chuckled lightly.
We got out, smiling at each other one last time before he met me on my side, taking my elbow while his other hand held the multiple bottles of wine he’d picked up at some point yesterday.
“About time!” Am called out from where he’d kept on standing at the doorway, waiting. “Uncle Johnny is on his way too.”
“Hey, Am,” I greeted him as we went up the stairs. “Happy Thanksgiving.”
“Happy Thanksgiving. Hi, Dad,” he said. “Come on, Ora, I want you to meet my mom and dad.” He paused and eyeballed me for a second. “You look . . .” He trailed off and shook his head.
“I look what?” I asked as I wiped my feet on the mat and then the rug before going inside the house. Rhodes had let go of my arm, but the second he was in, his hand landed at the small of my back.
“Nothing, come on, come on,” he said, but I didn’t miss the way his cheeks went red.
The house was huge, I could tell as we went through the foyer.
“I didn’t know they were coming, but Mom called when their flight landed, so I couldn’t tell you I was going to go with them, but—Mom!” he yelled suddenly as the foyer opened into a kitchen on the left-hand side. I could hear voices, but I only spotted three women in the kitchen. One, who was stirring something and oblivious to us, had hair so white it was nearly blue, another was an older woman who might be in her fifties, and the last was a woman who appeared to be a few years younger. She was the one who looked up at the “Mom.”
She smiled.
“Dad Rhodes is here, and this is Ora,” Am said, looking at me and patting my shoulder once.
It was basically a hug coming from him, and I would’ve cried if Amos’s mom hadn’t circled around the island and come straight toward us. She ignored Rhodes as she passed by him, and the second she was close enough, she thrust her hand out toward me.
But her eyes glittered.
I took out my own hand and grabbed hers.
Her smile was tight but genuine. And I knew I didn’t imagine the tears in her voice when she said, “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Ora. I’ve heard everything about you.”
I know I heard tears in my voice when I replied, “I hope it was only the good stuff.”
“All good stuff,” she assured me before appearing to fight back a smile. “I even heard about the bat and the eagle.”
I couldn’t stop the snicker or the glance toward the sheepish-looking teenager still beside me. “Of course you did.”
A grin took over the woman’s face at the same time I laughed. She shook her head. “When he wants to, he has a big mouth like his dad.”
I must have made some kind of face at the idea of Rhodes having a big mouth because she smiled even wider.
“Billy. Most of the time though, he takes after Rhodes with his one-word answers,” Amos’s mom explained. “When they’re not in the mood, getting them to talk is like . . .”
“Getting wisdom teeth removed wide-awake?”
Rhodes grunted from where he was standing, and we both turned to look at him. Then Amos’s mom’s gaze and mine met again. Yeah, we both knew that was exactly it. She grinned at me, and I grinned right back.