Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
There was an interesting-looking documentary on the First World War, a subject I enjoyed reading about, but it was three hours long. I’d save that for one of those rainy days when I was off, the ranch work was done, and Kristen would be stuck on campus. Another documentary series, this one on how various everyday items were made, was available, and I casually flipped through the episodes until I found one that was about swords and was forty-six minutes long.
As it began playing, I fiddled around the room, picking up after a couple of days of letting things go to entropy and eyeballing the clothes and the clock. When the show was nearing its end, I slipped on the socks and got myself a last glass of something to drink before I got any of the other clothes on me.
Once dressed, I waited until the show ended, shut the TV off, and went to stand by the door, looking out of the window off to the side.
Finally, Kristen’s car pulled up, and I opened the door to step out, keys in one hand, wallet and phone in opposite pockets. She smiled as she saw me, and I felt my heart thump in my chest again. Something about that smile could make any day better.
“Hey, you,” I said as she shut her car door and made her way toward me. Her arms were open for a hug, and I looked at her with one eyebrow cocked. “Are you sure you don’t mind screwing up your makeup?”
“Come here,” she said, pulling me in for a deep kiss. When we parted, she smiled. “Smear-free,” she said. “Lasts for days if I don’t wash it off.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, lucky you.”
“Let’s go,” she said. “We’re going to be late.”
“No, we won’t,” I laughed. “Graham will be late. Graham is always late. It’s his calling card.”
“Well, then as long as we beat him there, we’re good,” she said, walking to my passenger door. I opened it, and she leaned in for a kiss. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I said, relishing in being able to say that now. It felt good to have that connection, to have that expression between us.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and revved the engine before pulling out and heading over to the bed and breakfast.
As we drove, I asked her about her day, and she chatted for a while about one of her classes and how she’d had to record everything twice. Apparently, the school provided a fancy camera to shoot everything in rather than just taking cell video because of how they wanted to present it on their website, but it required having a kid from the AV department there to set it up, and he had forgotten to take the cap off before the class began.
“So, you taught the whole class again?” I asked.
“Well, I dismissed the students first,” she laughed. “It was an empty room aside from the AV guy, who stayed just so I had someone to focus attention on. He felt so bad about leaving the cap on.”
“I bet,” I said. “At least it meant you got through the class with no dumb questions.”
“I like dumb questions,” she said. “It shows the person is really trying hard to figure it out. Besides, I used to get dumb questions from the cutest boy…”
“He asked some really dumb questions, I bet.” I grinned.
“Sometimes,” she said, stroking the side of my neck with her finger. “But he was really bright and very sexy. I decided to let it slide.”
I laughed as we turned into the driveway of the bed and breakfast, only the second car there other than Ryan and Allison’s. When we got to the door, I could hear voices inside and was shocked when the door opened, and I saw who it was.
“Graham?” I asked. “You got here early?”
Graham’s eyes slid over to Mallory, who was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a coffee.
“Sort of,” Mallory said. “We actually stayed here last night.”
“Ahh,” I said, “that makes sense.”
“Ryan and Allison had the place open, and we thought the kids could do a sleepover thing with us next door, so…” he trailed off.
“I get it,” I said.
“Plus, he couldn’t be late if he was already here,” Mallory said, grinning.
“Very true,” I said.
Behind me, the sound of a car coming into the driveway had me turning around, and I saw Mark and Carmela coming in behind us. I smiled and waved at my sister, who waved back, and we all stayed where we were in the doorway of the house until they joined us. I gave my sister a huge hug and then she turned to Kristen to give her one too.
“So good to see you guys,” Carmela said. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with work and Cassie lately I haven’t been by for the horses.”