Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86158 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“I don’t need you to pay me back,” I replied.
“You can’t buy me a fridge!” She looked around. “And—and wood and—” She crouched down and looked at the roll of rubber flooring in the bed of the truck. “And flooring!”
“When someone does somethin’ nice for you, honey,” I replied, reaching out to touch her cheek. “Just say thank you.”
I walked away before she could argue with me about it.
“Hey, Bishop, can you give me a hand?” Cam asked as I got closer to the cart.
“This conversation isn’t over,” Charlie called from the back of the truck as I scooted under the cart again.
“Can’t hide from her down here,” Cam said jokingly. “But you’re welcome for savin’ ya.”
“You two are the worst,” Charlie snapped, looking down at us from the doorway of the cart. Her face was drawn with worry. “And also kind of awesome. Holy shit, my entire floor is gone.”
“That’s what happens when you have to replace the whole floor,” Casper told her, physically moving her out of the way.
“Where is all my stuff?” she asked slowly, looking at the empty walls and counters.
“Your sisters took it all to the club,” Casper replied distractedly. “It’s got the most storage space.” He looked around. “Thankfully these counters weren’t full cabinets or we woulda had to take them out, too.”
“Won’t take us long to finish,” I told Charlie, hating the stricken expression on her face. “And then you can load it back up.”
“The hits just keep on coming,” she said under her breath. “Thank God we decided to move it today and we didn’t wait until the weekend.”
“Why don’t you find somethin’ to do,” Casper said kindly. “Where’s your ma?”
“She stopped at Aunt Callie’s,” Charlie said with a sigh. “She found a bunch of ugly lawn ornaments on clearance and she was going to put them in the yard and see how long until Aunt Callie noticed them.”
Cam chuckled beside me.
“Go find Kara, then,” Casper said. “We’ll call ya when we’re finished.”
“Fuck that,” Charlie said stubbornly. She looked around and then bent down. When she stood back up, she was holding a wrench from my tool belt. “Put me to work.”
“What are you gonna do with that?” I asked, my mouth twitching as I tried to hold back a smile.
Charlie looked at the wrench. “Turn something,” she answered, glaring at me. “A screw or something.”
“I taught her how to change a tire,” Casper told me apologetically. “And I don’t even think she was payin’ attention then.”
“Fine,” Charlie said, tossing the wrench over her shoulder.
“Hey,” Casper barked, dodging out of the way.
“Tell me what to do,” Charlie ordered, looking at me.
“Fuck,” Cam said, letting the back of his head thump against the ground. “This is gonna take twice as long.”
“Shut it, Ca-moron,” Charlie shot back.
“Come here, honey,” I said, grinning. “You can hand me tools.”
“That sounds like a pity job,” Charlie said, disappearing out of the door. “But since I want to help, I’ll take it.”
I spent the rest of the night with Charlie shadowing my every move. It didn’t take long to rebuild the floor since we’d already had everything all pulled apart, and as I grabbed the rubber flooring out of the back of my truck, Farrah came tearing up the driveway.
“Jesus, Parnelli,” Casper called as she climbed out of her rig. “You think you could drive any faster?”
“I wasn’t driving that fast,” Farrah yelled back as she closed her door.
“You know, I got two of your kids out here, layin’ in the gravel,” he pointed out. “You’d think their mother would take a little more care.”
“They’re adults and they’re standing in the spotlights,” Farrah replied with a chuckle as she strode over to give Casper a kiss. “The only one who’s standing in the dark like a creeper is Bishop.”
“Just grabbin’ somethin’ from the truck,” I replied, even though she wasn’t talking to me.
“Have you spit on him yet?” Farrah asked Casper.
“Mom!” Charlie snapped, glancing at me.
“Nah,” Casper said, laughing under his breath. “I needed his help.”
“You’re both assholes,” Charlie said in exasperation.
“We’re just teasing him,” Farrah said with a grin. She looked at me. “We like Bishop.”
“Yeah, we all love him,” Cam said flatly. “Now, can we finish this shit? I’d like to have dinner at some point tonight.”
I carried the flooring into the cart and started the process of rolling it out while Charlie and her family bickered. It was kind of nice having their conversation as background noise. I’d never had a big family like that, one that was easy with each other. I’d lived in a few foster homes that had a bunch of kids, but it hadn’t ever felt like a family—more like a bunch of strangers sharing a house.
I’d gotten to the point where I was trimming down the edges of the rubber to fit the space when Charlie stepped in behind me.