Total pages in book: 21
Estimated words: 19786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 99(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 19786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 99(@200wpm)___ 79(@250wpm)___ 66(@300wpm)
Even riding my snowmobile feels empty without her arms around me. It feels like it should be the new normal even though I've ridden this thing for hundreds of hours and only with her for a simple fifteen minutes.
I head down into Linesworth proper, the snow on the ground thick enough for me to use even in town. Despite her protests of me going way too fast? My destination is Eternal Shine, a local jewelry boutique.
I’m a bit timid inside. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a place like this. The closest thing I’ve ever worn to jewelry is my grandfather’s watch, and with smartphones existing, I only wear that to formal occasions.
The small mousey woman behind the counter smiles at me though. I’m the first wide-shouldered bearded guy to wander in here, after all. “May I help you sir?”
“What’s the biggest real diamond you have on hand? I want it now, I don't want to wait for it to come in for order.”
“Ah, that sort of urgency. I’ll be right back, sir.” She shifts her glasses and nods, before going back behind the store.
I tap the glass waiting, only to hear the entrance bell ring. I turn to face the sound of the noise. Rainier and Ansel, one of his friends.
“Hood Crumble, what on Earth are you doing in a place like this?”
Rainier is behind him, shaking his head, arms crossed. This was Ansel’s idea to come in and harass me, and Rainier couldn’t stop him.
“Maybe I’m looking for some bling, Ansel. Thinking of becoming one of those guys who wears twenty pounds of jewelry at all times, like Mister T does.”
Rainier shakes his head in disbelief. Ansel though? Nothing quiets him easily, he always has something to say. “Sorry, Hood, I just don’t think you can pull off the mohawk look.”
Ansel is your typical guy who lives in Linesworth. Broad shouldered, bearded, and hardened by the climate he grew up in. He’s got a bit of a nerdy side, I suppose. He’s a professional writer, but that didn’t stop him from getting a girl like Greta, who runs the Two Sisters bakery.
The mousey woman returns, opens a velvet box in front of me.
“That’s... that’s quite the diamond ring, Hood,” Rainier says in surprise. “Those things are usually for something else rather than Eighties celebrity cosplay, you know.”
“What do you think it’s for, Rainier?” I say with a smile, always happy to barb my brother.
“That’s something you give the woman you love when you want to make official.”
“Then maybe it’s for that, ya think?”
“Hood, I saw you this morning. You were looking miserable and lonely, and now you’re telling me all of a sudden you found a woman you want to marry?” He steps up and smells my breath. “Well you ain’t drunk off your ass, so I can rule that out at least.”
“Why are you so surprised if I say I met the love of my life, Rainier? You’re hardly one to talk.”
“I think it’s romantic,” Ansel chimes in. “He’s right too. We’re hardly ones to judge what love at first sight drives us to do, Rainier. I rushed to marry Greta, and you rushed to marry Sugar. Maybe Hood has gotten bit by the sudden love bug too?”
Rainier snorts a laugh. “Alright then. Who’s the lucky girl, brother?”
“Red Jones,” I say without hesitation. “And she’s my overwhelming obsession right now.”
“Red Jones?” Ansel cocks an eyebrow. “The only Jones I know that lives around here is... is she related to Lydia Jones?”
“Who’s Lydia Jones?” I reply.
“One of the great American authors of the twenty-first century. Literary fiction writer, and she’s always popping up in places like the New York Times. She’s filthy rich. Like, hundreds of millions, flirting with billions rich.”
“You suggesting my Red is related to this Lydia Jones?” I rub my chin. It would explain the mansion that she lives in. And Red did say she wanted to focus on her writing.
“Possibly.”
“Doesn’t seem important. I want Red, Ansel.”
He shrugs. “Might end up out of your league. Crumble Diary is lucrative and all, but not Lydia Jones literary empire lucrative.”
“If I love her and she loves me I don’t care if she comes from billions or if she lives in a cardboard box.”
Ansel lets out a laugh. “It should be that simple. But family never lets it stay that way, Hood. I wish you luck if you’re going after Lydia Jones’ heiress.”
I look at the ring. This is all so stupid. Even if her family objected, Red would still choose me, I told myself.
I told myself that, but the doubt is there. And I think I love her enough to not want to tear a girl from her family.
Love’s so complicated sometimes, even if falling in love is so fucking simple.
8
RED
Grandma coughs up a storm, and I give her some tissues. She sounds bad, but she’ll pull through. She’s a tough old woman, way more than most give her credit for.