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)
I turned the mixer off, then turned the skillet on before saying, “You do now.”
Chapter
Eleven
Never trust anyone that bites ice cream. They have Terminator teeth.
—Merriam’s secret thoughts
MERRIAM
My belly full of delicious pancakes, I was more than ready to fall asleep standing up.
Much to Jeremiah’s chagrin, I refused to let him cook without allowing me to clean, and by the time the front of my shirt was soaked with soap and water, I was ready to fall asleep standing up.
And that was exactly what I did while I watched them decorate his tree.
After some food, Anleigh had perked up enough to lift her head off of Jeremiah’s shoulder.
He hadn’t put her down since he’d taken her from me as soon as he’d seen my bruises my father had left on my throat.
And she’d loved it.
She pointed out the exact spot that every single ornament should go, and he’d humored her.
I eyed the bed, my gaze constantly being pulled in that direction, and wondered if it was as comfortable as it looked.
I’d always wondered what the insides of these apartments looked like.
Now I knew.
They were all open.
Every last bit of it was in one long room against the far wall except for the bathroom that was hidden from view, along with the laundry room and closet.
The main living space had a kitchen right when you walked in the door. To the right of the fancy kitchen was the living area and the windows that overlooked downtown. The real Christmas tree was directly in front of those windows, and to the right of the tree was the bed.
The bed looked like it was made of clouds.
“Crawl in,” came Jeremiah’s husky voice.
A delicious tingle tickled down my spine.
My eyes, that I hadn’t realized had fallen closed, peeled open.
I found him with a red ornament in one hand and my girl on his hip in the other.
“What?” I tried to blink and stay awake, but it was hard.
“Crawl in.” He gestured to the bed. “You know you want to.”
My cheeks pinked. “Actually, it looks like the best bed ever.”
“Jump in,” he urged. “Take a nap. I got her.”
I got her.
The only other person that had ever said that to me was Mrs. Rawls—Cinda.
His grandmother.
The person that’d raised him, apparently.
Cinda had talked so much about her grandchildren that I felt like I’d known them before I’d met them.
And Jeremiah Dixon was everything Cinda said he was.
Generous. Smart. Beautiful.
He was the whole package.
And he liked kids.
I wasn’t aware that there were men like that on the planet.
“I’m okay,” I lied.
The man turned to my daughter and said, “I think your mommy is lying.”
Anleigh offered him a timid smile and whispered, “Yeah.”
I grinned. “I’m not a liar, am I, Annie?”
“Yeah,” she whispered again.
I giggled.
“Take a nap, Merri. I’ll hold down the fort for a couple of hours.” He looked outside. “Besides, it’s not like I can go anywhere or do anything. I’m fairly sure that the roads are officially unpassable. I haven’t seen a car come by in over two hours.”
He was right.
In the time that I’d been there, I’d seen one vehicle come past, and that had been a massive tow truck likely going out to help someone that’d been crazy—like me—enough to venture out into the world.
The drive over had been harrowing.
I never wanted to drive in snow again.
“Okay,” I said as I stood up.
Now that I was full of pancakes and my adrenaline had calmed, I now realized I was feeling weak and slightly dizzy.
It was evident based on the way my body felt that I would be getting sick imminently.
Speaking of getting sick…
“She’ll need more Tylenol in about an hour and a half,” I said as I looked at the massive clock over the wall across from me. “And ibuprofen in three and a half. I’ll wait to go to bed until I can get her that next dose of Tylenol.”
He waved me off. “If you’ll leave it out where I can find it, I’ll give it to her. I have three nieces, one of which is this age. I can get her the meds.”
I smiled, though anxiety filled my belly.
I’d never had anyone offer to take care of Anleigh besides Cinda, and it was weird giving someone else my kid and saying, “here, take care of my heart for me while I take a nap.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded soberly. “I’ll take care of her, I promise.”
And his promise was enough to have my feet shuffling toward the bed.
I don’t know why I trusted this man with the most important part of my heart, but something inside of my soul told me to, and I tended to trust my gut. It’d saved me quite a few times over the years.
I crawled into the bed, heading right for the spot where I knew he slept, and collapsed into the pillows.