Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
The moment Dixie had introduced himself, a feeling of utter peace had washed over me.
Like I’d known him in hundreds of other past lives, and we’d finally made our way back to each other.
The pure contentment that I felt being around him was enough to make me draw a full breath.
I hadn’t felt peace like what he gave me ever in my life.
“Blue or red, darlin’?” the man in front of me asked.
I looked at the helmets, then looked at him. “What do you suggest?”
He pointed at a helmet, then a pair of goggles. “This is what most of us wear. But you’re a tiny little thing, so I think you might be a little more comfortable in one of these kid ones.”
I smiled, then turned back to the helmets.
“Let’s try them on, shall we?” I asked as I reached for it.
When I looked at it, wondering how best to get it on, Dixie reached and took it out of my hands, placing it on my head for me.
I giggled when it slipped forward, covering my eyes.
“The goggles will help keep it in place, but not that much,” he mused as he took it off and tried the next one.
He did this for a solid ten minutes before we both found the perfect one.
When we paid for it, and we were once again at the bike, he pulled me to him and reached into the paper sack to pull the helmet out.
This time when the helmet slid into place, I couldn’t help the beaming smile that overtook my face.
He cupped the massive helmet once it was on my head, then leaned forward until his mouth was close to mine.
“Can I kiss you, Mary?” he asked.
I swallowed, butterflies overtaking my belly.
“I’d be mad at you if you didn’t,” I agreed.
He leaned down and kissed me, his breath mingling with mine.
It wasn’t any kiss I would’ve ever expected, though.
When his mouth slid against mine, I gasped. And he used that gasp to push his tongue into my mouth and ravage me.
When he pulled away, I was dazed and a little bit excited.
“What was that?” I breathed.
He winked. “That was the start of the rest of our lives.”
Again with the beaming smile.
“Look here, you two,” I heard one of the men with Dixie call out.
I looked over, the stupidly goofy smile on my face still there, and blinked when a flash momentarily blinded me.
I shook my head when he pulled the Polaroid picture out and handed it to me.
The image was snow white at first, but eventually, the photo developed.
“We need to put this on our first Christmas tree,” Dixie suggested. “What do you think?”
I looked up at him, my hopes and dreams in my eyes, and said, “I think that sounds like a life worth living.”
Chapter
Eleven
Santa is my homeboy.
—T-shirt
BAYOU
Present
“The kids in bed?” Phoebe asked a little later in the night.
I nodded, my head spinning.
I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, then shucked my clothes to crawl into the sheets next to my wife.
Sheets that she’d specifically picked out for me after I’d complained that the other ones were too scratchy, and I could feel my head pulse with each heartbeat.
Phoebe wrapped her arms around me, and I laid my head on her chest—one of my favorite places to be.
“You call into work?” she asked.
“Yeah, for the next week,” I confirmed.
I knew I’d need the time off. Better to go ahead and give them that information now, so we could prepare instead of me having to spring it on them.
“You think it’s gonna be soon,” she guessed.
I didn’t think.
I knew.
“We’ll be lucky if he makes it past Christmas,” I replied. “If he can tell all the kids and grandkids at once, he’ll be absolved. He can go any time after that.”
She sniffled, and I nuzzled my nose into her neck.
“I can’t believe he’s actually going to die.” She continued to sniffle. “I don’t know. He just seems larger than life. I just can’t believe it.”
“Hoax and me…” I cleared my throat. “I think we’re the only ones that really hang out with him as much as we do. Our family loves him, don’t get me wrong. They’re gonna miss the hell out of him when he’s gone, but they won’t miss him like we will. Like the Dixie Wardens will.”
She started to run her hands through my hair. “Do you think he told them yet?”
I thought about it for a long moment before saying, “I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should,” she suggested. “If you think he’s as bad off as he says…maybe he won’t have time to tell them. Give them a chance to come over tomorrow and say goodbye.”
I thought about it for a long moment before reaching for my phone.
I hit Silas’s number and pressed ‘call.’
Silas answered after two rings. Despite the late hour and the fact that it was now Christmas Eve, he didn’t sound like he’d been sleeping.