Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60905 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“Wait, I am?” Cole asked, looking puzzled.
“Probably,” I said, giving him a quick smile.
“It doesn’t matter, though—”Brady began.
“Of course it does,” Gideon said sharply.
Brady rolled his eyes. “As I was saying, it doesn’t matter because we already thought of that and came up with a solution.”
“You did?” Surprise filled my voice.
“If you two hadn’t been off sulking, you might have noticed that we’ve been working day and night on the cottage out back,” Cole said.
“I noticed,” I said. “I put the pictures you sent of your progress up on your website, after all.”
“Well, you can take them back down again,” Brady said. “The cottage is no longer going to be rented out.”
It took a minute for his meaning to sink in. “You mean… it’s for us?”
“Yep,” Cole said, his smile smug.
“But people will still see us going in and out of there,” Gideon said, but he sounded thoughtful.
Cole grinned. “Remember where we parked behind the barn? We built a back entrance to the cottage. We should have no trouble slipping in and out.”
“Really?” Excitement bubbled inside me as the cousins nodded, but then I looked up at Gideon to see what he thought.
He stared at his old friends for a long time. Then he actually smiled. “Sounds like you’ve thought this through.”
“Yep, we did,” Brady said.
But Gideon was still looking at Cole. “You won’t get the income from renting the cottage out.”
Cole shrugged. “I know. But we’ve got more reservations than ever before, and depending on the time of year, we can rent out the tent. Plus… well… I’ve got an old friend who can help out in a pinch.” He looked Gideon in the eye.
“Yes, you do.”
Happiness bubbled up inside me. “Can we go see the smokehouse—I mean the cottage now? Or can we go upstairs so I can get some water?” When no one made a move, I grew exasperated. “We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us… can we at least get out of this damn basement?”
Brady grinned and seemed to snap out of it. “Sounds like a reasonable plan to me.” He got up and held a hand out to me. “And as for what happens next, we’ll figure it out as we go along.”
That worked for me. I took his hand and got to my feet. As long as these men would be by my side, my future looked pretty damn bright.