Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67000 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
The third reason we were headed here was because Ellodie was right.
I did ask her to marry me.
I did so on the day she was discharged.
It wasn’t romantic.
It wasn’t the stuff of dreams.
But it was us.
We did everything backwards, so why would we do this correctly?
On her finger was a rubber ring that expanded really well with the swelling in her hand.
The bruises on the side of her face were healing, but the rest of her still looked like she’d been chewed up and spit out.
The last hour of our drive I’d been given the silent treatment because I hadn’t let her walk through Buc-ee’s, and instead forced her to ride in her wheelchair to the handicap bathroom.
I’d even asked an employee to push her into the handicap stall since I knew the moment I left her, she’d try to walk.
Which led to now, pulling into her parents’ driveway, with her angry as fuck.
Harvey met us at the driveway and helped Ellodie into her wheelchair, luckily saving me from the fight.
And, before either of us could push her inside, Hall came around the corner and waved manically, a small shovel and a bushel of flowers in her hand.
“Mom,” Ellodie pleaded. “Please, take me to the garden. Give me something to do!”
“Tsk, tsk,” Hall teased. “Let’s go.”
And together, the two disappeared around the house.
“She’s by far the worst patient I’ve ever encountered in my life,” I said to the man at my side.
Harvey chuckled, slapping me on the back.
“Thank you for keeping her safe,” he held out his hand for me to shake.
I took it but was shaking my head as I did. “I didn’t keep her safe, though.”
He leveled me with a look, one that spoke volumes about what he thought of my assessment of the entire situation.
“Son,” he said quietly. “I know my girl is stubborn.”
I snorted.
That was an understatement.
Harvey grinned wide at me. “And I also know that she does what she wants, when she wants. So, the fact that you were able to find her after she did just that, knowing there was a serial killer gunning for her? That is what I need. What she deserves.”
I blew out a breath.
“Let’s go inside,” he said. “I have some ice-cold beers in the freezer, and they might explode if I leave them in there too much longer.”
We went inside, and he showed me around the old farmhouse.
I stopped a few times to take a look at the multiple photos that lined the wall, grinning like a fool when I got to one of Ellodie at prom.
“She looks thrilled,” I said to the man who’d stopped with me.
“That’s my Ellodie. She hates wearing a dress unless she’s trying to impress someone or she’d promised herself she’d wear it. She doesn’t break her promises.” He paused. “Not sure how you’re gonna get her into one for the wedding, though.”
I shrugged. “She can wear a suit for all I care. As long as she meets me at the end of the aisle.”
“Well, funny enough, I keep expecting a fight to end all fights,” he admitted as he walked into the kitchen and pulled the beers out of the freezer, handing me one.
“What do you mean?” I questioned as I took the beer and popped the top before taking a long pull.
My eyes went to the outside area where I could see Ellodie pulling leaves off of tall flowers and putting them into the basket in her lap.
“I keep expecting Ellodie to ask her mother if she can turn her wedding dress into a pantsuit.” He chuckled.
“Is it a family dress?” I asked.
“Yes. The wedding dress is special,” her father said as he heard the girls giggling outside. “Her mom wore it. Hall wore it. Now Ellodie.”
“What’s so special about it, other than the sentimental value that you’re alluding to?” I asked.
“Caught that, did you?” He turned his gaze to study the women outside. “The dress was made out of the parachute that saved Hall’s dad’s life during World War II.”
“Whoa,” I said. “That’s pretty damn cool.”
“I’ll bet she doesn’t change it, though. She’ll wear the dress. Even if it kills her,” Harvey said as he placed his beer onto the counter, then went outside.
He had his girl up and in the kitchen in the next second, placing her gently on a padded chair in the corner of the room.
She grumbled under her breath about being able to do it and glared at me.
I held up my hands. “I didn’t say anything. He did that all on his own.”
I would’ve let her climb the stairs. But only because it would give her the false sense that she’d done something besides being pushed around in the chair.
“Don’t whine, baby girl,” her mother said as she came in with the basket of flowers and walked to the sink with them. “You should just be happy that your man is taking care of you. Daddy would’ve thrown you out the window the first time you yelled at him that you could do it yourself.”