Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 20854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Thanks to our size difference, it’s easy to maneuver her slight form while taking the keys out of my pocket, letting her into my compound. I hesitate for a moment before opening the gate, not sure what she’ll think of my roommates. But I shouldn’t have been worried. Not with Fawn. Of course when she sees the ducks waddling toward us, she gasps in delight.
“What a lovely welcoming committee,” she laughs, climbing down out of my arms. Feeling a surge of protectiveness, I turn and lock the gate quickly to keep out intruders who might hurt Fawn or try to steal her from me. When I turn back around, she is crouched down and gently tickling the underside of my mallard’s beak. “Does he have a name?”
I’m ridiculously pleased that she knows the difference between the male and female ducks. “That’s Chester.” I mutter the second part. “Quackington.”
Her surprised laughter makes me smile. And it gives her pause.
She stares up at me from below. “You should smile more.”
“I can’t remember the last time I did,” I respond honestly, my pulse knocking around in my veins. How is this girl in my home? How can she stand to look at me? I don’t want to question these things. Just want to enjoy the moment. But it’s damn hard when we are the epitome of beauty and the beast. “I should tell you…” I’m already in love with you. “There are a lot more animals here. In fact, I’m surprised Dave hasn’t joined us yet—” I’m cut off abruptly when my howler monkey jumps down from the tree overhead and lands on my shoulder. “Speak of the devil.”
Dave climbs up on top of my head, gesturing and squawking at Fawn, as if asking for an introduction. Before I can make one, she comes forward with a smile. “Hello Dave.” Briefly, her attention drops to the bandage on his leg. “Is he healing from something?”
“Croc almost got him.” The memory of Dave scrambling to get free of the predator pops into my mind and I swallow the lump in my throat. “Got there just in time.”
“You saved him.” Fawn glides forward, kissing me in the center of my chest where my heart rages out of control. “You saved me, too. That’s how I know you’re a good man.”
As much as I want to let her believe that about me, I shake my head in denial. “Doing a few good things doesn’t erase all the bad I’ve done, Fawn. All the bad I do.”
“No. Leave it in the past tense.”
A grumble builds in my chest. I want to do anything she asks of me. I want to lay the world down at her feet, but I don’t know how. “I’m only good at one thing, Fawn. The course of my life was set when I was born this big, looking like I do. My own mother…” I say haltingly. “She knew. My boss knew, hiring me on the spot, like it was a given for me to hurt people.”
Fawn looks around. At the fish in the pond—I brought them here when their home was drying up. Her gaze dances over the limping Irish setter I found on the side of the road. Thankfully he’s gained some weight back since then. Her eyes find me once again. “For every person you’ve hurt, I bet you’ve saved an animal. Now all we have to do is shift the balance. More good than bad.” She lets out another one of those sweet giggles as Dave climbs from my shoulder to hers, his tiny fingers combing through her hair. A moment later, Fawn sobers, looking at me meaningfully. “Our souls are joining into one,” she whispers. “Aren’t they?”
“Yes,” I respond without hesitation, shaken to the core by the way she reaches inside of me and rearranges everything. My intentions, my organs, maybe even my belief in myself.
“Don’t you want yours to be clean before it joins with mine?”
“Yes,” I say again, more raggedly than before. I’m ready to drop down on my knees in front of her. Ready to kill myself giving this angel whatever she asks me for. What a privilege that she’s chosen me to see to her needs. Food, shelter, pleasure. I’ll spend every waking moment of my life making sure she has those necessities.
“Then tell me you’re going to stop working for this bad man. Frank.” Her bottom lip trembles, causing me to make a hoarse sound. “Promise me.”
There’s only one choice. She’s right. I can’t bring my blackened soul anywhere near her pure one. The only way to salvation—also known as Fawn’s happiness—is to be a better man. The kind of man who is worthy of a gift like her. “I promise, angel. I’m done.”
Her smile is like the sun coming out from behind a storm cloud. It’s a miracle.