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)
“Why did your parents buy you one?” I asked suspiciously.
“Because apparently mine’s not ‘good enough’ for a slob like me.” Silas chuckled. “Be right back.”
He was right back, actually.
And as I stared at the vacuum that looked like it was suspiciously newer looking that it should be for used, I didn’t say anything.
I had to clean this mess up before Mary got home and broke down.
She, like me, was feeling the strain of too many bills and not enough money.
If I wasn’t careful, she’d try to start working again, and we couldn’t have that.
It was my duty to make sure that she could live her life how she wanted to live it.
“I think it’s time for a second job,” I mused as I humbly used the ‘used’ vacuum that Silas gave me.
“What about picking up more hours at the shop?” Stetson asked. “I know that you only work there as a favor to us, but I don’t think we’re ever going to not need the help. We could make it a full-time thing. You can get benefits then.”
Something like hope surged inside my chest.
“Yeah?” I asked, hopefully not sounding as desperate as I felt.
“Sure.” Stetson shook his head. “I actually thought about asking you a lot. But you never wanted to go that dedicated before.”
He was right.
Before Mary, I was a free spirit.
I would help out where needed, but I never wanted to tie myself down anywhere permanently.
But again, that was before Mary.
Now, I wanted to tie myself down in any way possible just to make her life better.
“Then it’s settled,” he said as he slapped me on the back. White baby powder went flying. “We’ll get you on the schedule full time. I’ll get my ol’ lady to work on your paperwork. You start at eight in the morning Monday.”
I groaned.
That was one thing that I was going to struggle with.
Getting up to work by eight in the morning.
I was a late to rise, late to bed, kind of person.
Just the thought of being tied down that way…
“Dix?”
I looked up to find Mary in the doorway, looking at the vacuum.
The way her eyes lit up…
“You bought a vacuum?” she breathed.
I looked at Silas, ready to deny it, but he said, “He sure did. Said something about you killing your last one.”
Mary gasped and whacked him on the chest. “Hey!”
Silas backed away laughing, winking at me.
It was only as Mary looked in glee at the damn vacuum that I realized that my desperate attempt to stay ‘free’ was something I’d never have to worry about again.
Because seeing Mary’s smile? That was worth the world. I didn’t need freedom when I had her.
Chapter
Nine
Let’s get baked.
—T-shirt
PRU
“This one is my absolute favorite,” I whispered to Hoax.
Hoax looked over at me with a smile. “I think he purposefully hides that one in the back so he can keep it to himself.”
“I’ve made several loops around this tree, and I’ve seen it every year since I became your wife,” I told him. “And every year, I think about asking him, but I’m too scared to make him hurt.”
“You wouldn’t ever hurt me,” Grandpa said, startling the both of us. “Talking about my wife is the best feeling in the world. It makes me feel like she’s still here with me.”
He placed his hand over his chest, and I felt tears prickle my nose and eyes.
“Tell me about it,” I suggested.
He picked up the ornament.
“This was the moment we started our ornament tradition,” he said softly, his eyes downcast as he studied the photo.
It was a picture of Mary when she was young.
Very young.
She looked even younger than I was.
She was standing by a motorcycle, and my very young looking grandfather stood beside the two of them, a wide smile on his youthful face.
“I love this story,” Phoebe said as she joined us at the back of the tree. “It’s one of my favorites.”
“You know it?” I asked, slightly hurt that I’d never thought to ask about it before.
“Yeah,” she breathed. “I do.”
Chapter
Ten
I do it for the ho’s.
—Mary to Dixie
MARY
I was leaving my abusive father with a man I barely knew.
I felt somewhat crazy for making this rash decision.
Yet, in my soul, I knew it was the right one.
I knew the man standing in front of me would protect me forever.
I also knew that I loved him.
I knew that it was stupid.
I’d only known him for a few short hours, yet…it felt like I’d known him forever. We’d had an instant connection the moment our eyes locked across the bar top.
I wasn’t supposed to be there that day.
In fact, I knew if my father had caught me, he’d hurt me.
He hated having me in the bar.
He hated even more that my brother consistently ‘allowed’ me in there to cover for him.
He hated most of all when I had my own money to buy things, and didn’t need to rely on him to buy me things. That way he couldn’t force me to do his bidding.