Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125866 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 629(@200wpm)___ 503(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
I could admit he wasn’t ugly. But he was… average. About what I would expect to see if I pictured an almost forty-year-old veterinarian.
“I take it that’s your darling ex-husband?” I asked, cocking a brow at Madelyn when I looked back at her.
The joke died a bit when I saw the worry in her eyes. She masked it, feigning indifference, but I could see it.
She was scared of him.
Fuck, if that didn’t piss me off more than anything in my entire life had.
“Hey,” I said, calling her attention. For a long second, her gaze was stuck on where he was charging toward us. I didn’t dare touch her with him watching our every move, but I called her name. “Mads.”
Her eyes snapped to mine.
Slowly, I took a deep breath, nodding my head toward her to do the same. “I’m right here,” I told her. “I’ve got you. Okay?”
Madelyn just swallowed.
“You are safe,” I said, softer this time. I covered just the edge of her hand on the blanket with my own, angling my body so the touch was hidden from Marshall’s view.
It was like touching an electric fence.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” I said.
Finally, she pulled a fresh breath through her nose, nodding, her eyes slipping to where my hand covered hers before she slowly found my gaze again.
And in that moment, in that particular light, she looked like that girl I fell in love with years ago — her brown eyes golden in the bit of sun sneaking through the trees, the freckles on her cheeks dark enough to draw a map between them.
I smiled.
She smiled.
Then, I climbed to my feet, cracking my neck before I turned to face Marshall. He was just a few yards away now.
His stride slowed a bit when he realized how tall I was, and that made my fake grin even easier to slap into place.
Alright, motherfucker.
Let’s play.
Madelyn
The muscles in Kyle’s back were as tight as a bow string, and I watched him subtly crack his neck like he was preparing for a fight.
I prayed it wouldn’t come to that, but with my ex, there was no telling.
I hoped Marshall would be smart enough not to start something in a public place. I hoped the fact that our son was here would stop him. But I couldn’t be sure.
He’d put his hands on me with Sebastian in the next room before.
“What the fuck is going on?” Marshall asked when he made it to our blanket. He was in his scrubs and white coat, which told me he was likely on break. His veterinary practice was relatively close, and it wasn’t unusual for him to take an hour to go home for lunch.
How this man could be trusted to help or save anything was beyond me.
But at least him being on break from work meant he wasn’t drunk. He always had an issue with his temper, but when he drank, that’s when it became dangerous.
He tried to storm past Kyle, but Kyle side-stepped and angled his body in-between us like a human barrier.
“Hey, man,” Kyle greeted, extending a hand for Marshall’s. “We were just having a picnic. Nice of you to join us. I’m Kyle.”
Marshall eyed his hand like it was poison before ignoring it completely, his narrowed eyes snapping to me. “Madelyn, who the fuck is this?”
“I’m Kyle,” Kyle repeated. “I just told you that. Is your hearing bad, or are you just stupid?”
My eyes shot open wide at the same time Marshall blinked up at Kyle with a scoff. “What did you just say to me?”
“Wow, your hearing really is shit, isn’t it?”
I tried to intervene, stepping around Kyle so Marshall could see me. “Kyle is an old friend of mine,” I explained. “He just moved to Seattle.”
“Old friend,” Marshall deadpanned, his eyes slicing to me and then to Kyle and back again. “I’m sure he’s a very good friend of yours.”
Before Kyle or I could react, Sebastian was running up to us. I schooled my features enough to pin both men with a warning glare to keep their shit together before I turned just in time to catch Sebastian as he barreled into me.
“I’m a plane!” he exclaimed as I scooped him up into my arms with a spin.
“Oof, when did this plane get so heavy?” I teased, pretending like it was difficult to hold him. It was getting harder, that was for sure, but he was still my little man.
Sebastian was breathing heavy from playing, the new bag of rocks Kyle had given him safely secured in his little fist. When he saw Marshall, his face went absolutely blank. He didn’t light up with excitement at the presence of his father, nor did he cower or show any negative emotion.
I didn’t know whether the lack of emotion should have made me happy or absolutely devastated.