Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103356 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
It was only that he wanted an explanation.
“Sorry the date didn’t work out last night, Tanner,” Hannah said sweetly.
“Nothing for you to apologize for, darlin’,” he told her. “We just make better friends.”
“So, you going to tell me about the girl in the bar?” Hannah asked.
“I met her six months ago in Hopesville,” Tanner told her. “We spent some time together and then she just left without a word.”
“What? Not even a text?” Hannah asked, looking shocked.
“No, I was supposed to meet her that last night, but she never turned up. Never answered my calls or texts.”
“That’s so rude! And then she just turns up where you live? That’s a weird coincidence.” Hannah frowned.
“Or not a coincidence at all,” Raid said.
“You think she came back for you?” Hannah asked Tanner. “Maybe to apologize?”
“No.” He shook his head, thinking it over. “I don’t think that’s it. I told her about Haven, so I don’t see how it can be a coincidence that she’s here. And if she came to apologize, she’d have searched me out immediately, right? She has my number. Why not just text? Why get a job here?”
Hannah frowned. “That’s true. Do you know where she’s staying?”
“Linc’s guesthouse,” Raid said. “And she has a baby.”
“What?” Hannah gave Tanner a shocked look.
“Not mine,” he said quickly.
“Linc’s?” Raid guessed. “Since she’s staying with him?”
He frowned at that idea. But no . . . Linc wouldn’t have his baby in the guesthouse.
“No. I don’t think so. I don’t know how he fits into this.”
“But you’re going to find out,” Raid said.
“Yeah, but I don’t think she’ll be receptive to telling me,” Tanner said as he poured himself another coffee.
“Well, why not?” Hannah demanded. “She owes you.”
“Because she’s scared of me.”
“Why would she fear you?” Raid asked.
Because he’d been a bit of a dick. But he’d thought he was going to marry that girl . . . and then she’d left him.
“I don’t know . . . but perhaps I should give her some time to get settled.”
But what if she left again?
Fuck. He didn’t know what to do.
“I’m gonna head to the Ranch,” he said. “Thanks for the coffee and for letting me crash last night. I’ll see you later.”
He needed some time to think about this.
“You know, Tanner is a good man. And he doesn’t deserve you treating him this way.”
Lilac jolted, dropping the packet of cold medicine. She turned to look at the woman speaking to her. She looked familiar.
Then she realized she’d been with Tanner at Dirty Delights the other night. Not the woman he’d been with, the one sitting with Raid.
Just then, the other woman raised her hand and Lilac spotted a large rock on her ring finger.
Raid’s fiancée?
“I know he is,” she replied quietly, bending down to pick up the cold medicine.
Ryleigh wasn’t feeling well, which was worrying. Because when Ryleigh got ill, she usually got really ill.
At least they had a warm, dry place to stay thanks to Linc. He’d been working night shifts, so they hadn’t seen him much. Which Lilac was kind of relieved about. She didn’t need him asking too many questions.
She’d really thought that Tanner would turn up at Dirty Delights last night. When he didn’t appear, she’d had to battle with her disappointment and relief.
Maybe he really had thought of her as a brief fling. It was better that way, right?
It wasn’t like she’d come here for him . . . to rekindle things with him. All she was here to do was to find a safe place for her friends. For Kye.
Then she was going to take care of Stefan.
“Then why did you ghost him?” the woman asked.
Wow. Okay. This wasn’t what she’d expected. She pushed back a wave of fatigue. They’d sequestered Ryleigh in one bedroom, then Opal and Kye had the other bedroom while she was on the sofa. Opal looked after Kye while she was working, then when Lilac got home, she took over.
Which would generally be fine since Kye was a good sleeper. But these last few nights, he’d been really unsettled. It could be because he missed Ryleigh. Or just a stage. Or it could be that he was feeling under the weather too.
Please don’t let him get sick.
She didn’t know if there was anything you could do if a one-month-old baby got ill. She’d have to ask the pharmacist.
“Look, I get that you’re just trying to look out for Tanner, and I’m glad he’s got good friends and family. However, it’s none of your business,” she told her.
The other woman stared at her in shock as if she hadn’t expected Lilac to tell her to butt out.
God. She just wanted to sleep. But even if Kye was doing okay, sleep was hard for her to come by.
Maybe it would help if you ate something.
Shut up, brain.