Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
I took the left turn at the roses and then the right, then the left, then walked to what looked to be a small pond with a duck house and a gate and took a right.
That was it now, wasn’t it? Left, right, left, right, left.
Like a military marching band.
Yes, I was sure. I just had to look for the gates near the goat barn now.
The path was a little uneven, and the flowerbeds slowly turned to banks of wildflowers that had bees and butterflies buzzing and fluttering around them. My lips curved up as a wild rabbit darted out a few feet in front of me and disappeared again into the overgrowth on the other side of the path.
Aw.
I did like rabbits.
From a distance.
One had bitten me when I was six and I’d never quite gotten over it.
I kept walking, but there was no sign of a cottage. In fact, the opposite was in front of me—it was woodland. I stopped on the edge of the trees just as a cloud passed over the sun, momentarily sending a chill through the air.
Huh.
Had I taken a wrong turn? I could swear I’d gone in the right direction.
I should have written it down. At least this was a long, relatively straight road, so I turned around and retraced my steps back to the spot I’d turned onto the path.
Or was this where I turned?
Wasn’t there a duck pond? There wasn’t a pond here.
Oh, no.
I was lost. I didn’t know where I was supposed to go. The last thing I needed was to end up in the middle of a random field without signal.
Oh! My phone.
I pulled it out and checked the signal. Zero bars. Naturally. The phone companies didn’t think anyone in rural areas needed a strong signal, evidently.
“Hm,” I mused out loud.
Now what did I do? Keep walking until I saw the duck pond? But what would I do if I’d already passed it? At what point did I decide that I’d gone too far? Not far enough?
“Oh no,” I murmured, spinning around in a circle.
My gaze fell upon a very tall, black-haired man with an amused curl to his lips.
Great.
Max.
“How long have you been standing there?”
He leant back against the face, his smirk never dropping. “Long enough.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did you follow me out here?”
“Nope. I came out here to feed the geese and saw you walking towards the woods. Which are perfectly safe, by the way, and you’re allowed in there.” He nodded towards them. “Judging by the fact you turned around, though, I’d say you’re lost.”
Great. Now I had to admit it to him.
“I’m trying to find your grandma’s cottage,” I admitted. “But I think I got my directions wrong.”
“You missed a left.”
“Oh, balls.” Right, left, right, left, left, right. Of course. “I knew I’d gone wrong somewhere.”
Max dipped his chin and chuckled. “Come on. I’ll walk you over there.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, walking over to where he was waiting.
“What are you going to see her for?” Max asked, opening the gate. “Shortcut,” he added.
“Oh, okay.” I stepped through as he held it for me. “Thank you. Her book club meeting is tomorrow. I’m supposed to be there.”
“Ahh.” He secured the gate behind us and fell into step beside me. “I see. Well, good luck with that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Have you met my grandmother’s friends? They’re… an eclectic bunch.”
“Actually, I have. They were having lunch at the same café I was the other day in the village.”
He grimaced. “Dawn and Susie are fine, but May is…”
“A bitch?” I offered.
He glanced at me, lips twitching. “I was trying not to use that word, but yes.”
“I figured. I get the impression she’s not a fan of my books.”
“You would be right,” he said slowly, putting his hands in pockets. “Don’t take it personally. She bitches about almost every romance novel they read.”
“It’s fine. You learn pretty quickly that not everyone is going to like your books. It’s just one of those things you deal with. It doesn’t bother me so much anymore.” I wrapped my arms around my waist, hugging myself. “Why does she stay a part of the book club if she doesn’t like romance?”
“They meet once a month and take it in turns to choose books, so they each get three picks a year.”
“Oh, that makes sense.”
“May’s problem is that Grandma and Dawn adore romance novels, and Susie is a mixed batch but usually picks them, too, so she’s often outnumbered.”
“You know an awful lot about the reading habits of old ladies.”
He laughed quietly. “They use the library in the house for their meetings. Grandma won’t let May in her cottage.”
I peered at him out of the corner of my eye. “You… have a library?”
“Two.” He nodded, looking at the ground. “One in the public area of the house and one private one. They’re comparable in size, but the private one is a little more modern with more personal touches. The old books are all in the public library for viewing purposes.”