Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Standing, he held up his hands. “Mom, please.”
Mitchell shot me the finger when my parents weren’t looking, and I hid a smile behind my hands.
“Don’t ‘Mom, please’ me, young man. Practicing safe…festivities…is never anything to shy away from.”
My hands dropped to my lap as I stared at my mother.
“Festivities?” Mitchell and I said at once.
“Little ears around. Little ears,” Mom said with a wink and a smile. “Amelia, the same goes for you.”
A loud bang caused both my mother and me to let out a scream. Mitchell nearly jumped behind something to take cover.
My dad stood in the doorway, a large roasting pan at his feet with the contents of a roast and veggies scattered across the floor. His expression was horrified. “Amelia…what?”
Standing, I chuckled and said, “Well, I think this is the perfect time for me to go play with my niece. Later, y’all.”
I made my way into my old room, and I couldn’t help but smile when I found Chloe on the floor, playing with all of my old Breyer horses. As I slid to the ground, I spied my favorite one.
“Spirit,” I said with a huge smile on my face.
“You named them all?” she asked with a tilt of her head.
Turning the plastic horse in my hand, I nodded. “If you look on their bellies, you’ll see the name of that horse. Grammy couldn’t remember them all, so she had to write them down.”
Chloe giggled. “Is it okay that I’m playing with them, Aunt Meli?”
I reached for another horse. “Of course, Chloe. I got them down from my bedroom closet and gave them to your dad for you to play with.”
Her grin reached from ear to ear. “Thank you! I hope Santa brings me my very own horse for Christmas. Like Stanley is your very own horse.”
“Oh, he totally will!” It was out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
Chloe’s eyes lit up with hope and excitement, while I cringed secretly. Crap. I basically told her she was getting a horse for Christmas. Steed was going to kill me.
“Do you think Daddy and Mommy are having fun on their honeymoon?”
With a grin, I replied, “I bet they are. Your mommy has always wanted to go to Ireland.”
Chloe picked up a horse and stared at it.
“Why the sad face?” I brushed a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear.
“I wanted to go with them, but Daddy said I couldn’t.”
I let out a soft chuckle. “Oh, sweetie, I’m sure they are both missing you so much.”
“Then why didn’t they take me with them?”
Lord. How do I explain this?
“Well, when mommies and daddies get married, they always go on vacation by themselves. It’s a way to celebrate becoming one.”
“One?”
Those blue eyes were staring into mine. “It’s just a phrase.”
“Phrase?”
“A saying?”
“Huh?”
I rolled my eyes. “Never mind all of that. Okay, let’s try this. Some day when you get married, you’ll go on a honeymoon with your husband. All alone. It’s a tradition.”
She smiled. “I like traditions! Let’s make a tradition, Meli! Like playing with horses.”
Chloe grabbed another horse and fell right into a scene from one of her movies. Letting out a soft sigh, I mumbled, “I should have started with that first.”
“Are you sure you’ve got everything?” Mom asked.
I stared at my phone in shock. “The live feed is down!”
“Live feed?”
“It’s the damn giraffe, Mom. She is obsessed with it,” Trevor said as he took my suitcase from my hand.
My mother tsked, like only a mom could. “Goodness, Amelia. Do you not have anything else to do besides watch a pregnant giraffe all day?”
After I had hit refresh and April reappeared on the screen, I dropped my phone into my purse. “Yes, I’ve got a book due in three weeks. I need inspiration to get me writing.”
“And staring at a giraffe’s ass is doing it for you?” Trevor asked.
I hit him on the arm. “Shut up. You know how much I love the anticipation of her birth. When I found out about April, I fell in love. Now I need to see her through to the very end. Like when you’re reading a good series and you have to finish it so you make sure everyone gets their HEA!”
Both Mom and Trevor rolled their eyes.
With a slight chuckle, Trevor said, “Come on, let’s get you to the airport. By the way, I’m picking up Wade a few hours after you take off.”
Narrowing my brows, I asked, “Wade?”
Trevor shut the back door and faced me. “Yeah. I went to Texas A&M with him. He was a year ahead of me, has a degree in Agriculture.”
“Why’s he coming here?”
He smiled and winked. “I hired him for the ranch.”
I could see the happiness in my brother’s eyes. My father knew how much Trevor loved this ranch, not that my other brothers didn’t, but Trevor lived for it. His goal was to take over the ranch from our father and run the day-to-day business.