Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
When Dawn says goodbye to Kyla, who’s returning to Sydney to spend some time with a distant relative, the tears that streak her face seem woven with greater emotion. Kyla’s leaving Australia in seven days, and we’re all fearful that Dawn will return to the US with her.
So that she doesn’t return to her room to overthink, I ask Dawn to help me organize the meat in the refrigerator and write a list for the next order. It’s not exactly a cheerful or sexy job, but at least it gives me a chance to spend time with her. Between us, we find a conversation that brightens Dawn’s expression.
"Have you spoken to Chantelle since you got back?" I ask.
"Yeah," she says, wiping her wet hands on a cloth. "She read the article and gave me a brief synopsis of what it’s going to say. She’s happy that it doesn’t paint her in a negative light. And Crystal seems confident that it’s going to bring other women out of the woodwork. It will be published soon."
"It wouldn’t surprise me. That seems to be what happens. All it takes is just one person to be strong enough and other people find the confidence to back up their stories."
"The police have been good, too, apparently. Lachlan and Cooper have been supporting her, but she’s been okay. If anything, she’s felt a lot better since giving a statement. Before, she was bottling it up. Now, it’s in someone else’s hands."
"That’s good to hear. Bryce and I wanted to help, but Cooper thought it would be better to minimize the number of people she has to talk to about the situation, so as not to relive everything multiple times."
Dawn nods, grimacing at the thought. "That’s definitely a good thing. There’s nothing worse than having to regurgitate your pain and fear over and over. And has Barrow come to the bar again?"
"No. Not since the fire. He’s been working behind the scenes, though. He sent another ridiculous offer filled with veiled threats through the post. Fucking coward."
I shove a box of prime burgers back into the freezer.
Dawn makes an angry growling noise in her throat. "He’s going to get what’s coming to him. I can feel it in my bones."
I rest my hand on her shoulders, needing to feel her warmth and hoping to reassure her. "If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be feeling hopeful at all."
"Me? I didn’t do anything." She shrugs, dismissing her role in helping us. "This is all you guys and Chantelle."
"What?" I squeeze her shoulder, searching her face for insincerity and finding none. "If it wasn’t for you, Lachlan would probably have a permanently busted hand, and we’d all be floundering around trying to work out what to do. Your advice and contacts have helped so much. And your determination to fight. Never underestimate the contribution you’ve made here."
She blinks quickly a few times and I pull her against my chest, fearing she might doubt my words, or worse, she might cry.
"You guys don’t need me," she says softly. "You’re an amazing team. You’ve got this."
In the bar area, Cooper shouts something to Thomas, and a rumble of laughter spills into the surrounding air, like a cosmically timed confirmation of what she just said. We are a great team. We were before she arrived, and nothing has changed except we want her to be a part of our team and a part of our lives.
For the first time, I allow my mind to imagine Dawn leaving, and the emptiness she’ll leave behind feels hollow and dark. You could go back to the US with her. It’s a whisper of a thought that I wish I didn’t have because I miss home, but I love this place and my friends more. If it came down to a choice between our lives here and Dawn, there would be no right path to take.
It would be an impossible choice.
So, we have to find a way to make her stay.
One of my momma’s favorite sayings is ‘you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.’ And maybe that’s true in this case. If we make staying the sweetest option, maybe she’ll choose right.
"Tonight, after closing, we’re going to do something special," I say. She tips her face to mine, eyes searching back and forth.
"What?"
I press my finger to my lips and smile. "It’s a secret," I say. And even though I haven’t run the idea past anyone else, I begin to hatch a plan to show Dawn what life could be like if she decides to stay.
34
COOPER
Bradley’s idea is simple. We come up with ways of showing Dawn how beautiful life could be with us, and hope that she decides to stay. Our Cloud 9 WhatsApp group becomes a place to brainstorm, even though we’re all busy working and shouldn’t be using our phones. The criteria are basic. Anything we do has to feel like it’s a natural part of our lives because there’s no point in making grand gestures that can’t be sustained. There’s no point in setting ourselves up to fail.