Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36646 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
A woman stepped out of the little house. Her sundress had roses crawling over it with green leaves and a white background. She smiled but had a concerned look on her face. “Job don’t mean anything by that. But that Danny Braxton’s a mean man. He hits on his wife all the time, and I’m pretty sure Gracie wasn’t spared. I’d take her in, but I ain’t got room for my eight other kids as it is. Gracie’s a good girl. Works hard and she loves my Alex.” The woman -- obviously Alex’s mother -- smiled sadly. “We’ll help where we can, but her situation could be trouble for my other kids.”
“I understand,” I said. “We’re headed to find Gracie now. If you see her, tell her Josephine Peyton and Michael Wilbanks are looking for her on behalf of Alex. We’re staying across town. I promised him we’d talk to her. We intend to do our best to see she’s taken care of.”
“Do you know when Alex will get to come home?” His mother looked hopeful but resigned.
“No, Mrs. Brown. I’m afraid it might not be for a while. I’ll do my best to keep you informed, but I want you to have this.” I handed her an envelope. It had Ian McGregor’s office phone number and address along with my full name. “This has his lawyer’s contact information. When you get in touch with him, you tell him Josephine Peyton is your friend. My name’s in there too. Don’t have a phone yet, but I’ll let you know when I do. Until then, you get in touch with Ian.” I pointed to the envelope I’d given her. “Do exactly what he says. Once he’s gotten better acquainted with the case, he’ll tell you what you can expect. He’s a good man. He’ll do right by your son, I promise.”
We said our goodbyes and left. Once we climbed back on Mike’s bike, he started it and took off but didn’t go far. He stopped at a little diner in the middle of town. We sat there for a long time, not saying anything. He was likely as deep in thought as I was.
The delicious smell coming from the diner finally got my attention. “I’m hungry.”
“Figured.” Mike turned to look at me over his shoulder. I gripped his arm as I climbed off, bracing myself so I didn’t fall. The man had some serious muscle going on. Made me wonder what he’d look like naked. Feel like, his skin pressed against mine. I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to go there.
How long had it been since I’d been seriously attracted to a man? In the past, any man I’d thought about getting with had ruined any attraction I had the first time he opened his big fucking mouth to tell me I was a woman and needed to know my place. Mike hadn’t done that. In fact, the man had followed me all on his own. Until we’d actually talked in the airport, I’d never seen the man before.
Shaking myself mentally to focus on the problem at hand, I approached the diner. Before I could open the door, Mike reached for the handle and pulled, stepping aside to let me enter. I swallowed as I looked up at him. At five feet ten inches tall, there weren’t many men I couldn’t look in the eyes without craning my neck. Mike was a good six-six, at least. He met my gaze with a steady one of his own. Yeah. I was in trouble.
I put my shoulders back and did my best to blank my expression. The smirk on Mike’s face told me I hadn’t done it fast enough. The bastard knew the effect he was having on me and was biding his time.
Once we were seated, I scanned the menu, ordering a burger, fries, and sweet tea before handing the menu back to the waitress. Mike ordered the same, never taking his eyes off me. I was sorely afraid the man saw more than I wanted him to. He certainly had my number so far.
“If we’re gonna go find that girl, we’re gonna need more than a bike.” He watched me carefully. “Unless you plan on leavin’ her here?”
“She ain’t got no future here,” I found myself saying softly. Shit. I’d let my hillbilly out again. I seemed to do that a lot around Mike. “Not if she wants to make a life for herself.”
“What do you want to do, Jo?”
“Don’t know. First, we find Gracie, then we’ll figure out what to do next.”
The waitress brought our drinks. Mike took a sip of his tea. “Good. If she’s willin’, you think we should take her back to Somerset with us? It’s in a better part of the state. Still ain’t great for a white girl raisin’ a black baby, but with us there to help…”