Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
* * *
Mike glanced around the dimly lit bar, wondering if he’d recognize his old man on sight. His mother hadn’t kept photographs around, and though Mike could have looked through old yearbooks at the high school or googled, something always held him back. Maybe on some level, he’d always known this day of reckoning would come, that he’d have to face his father, and he’d wanted to do it on his terms.
He took in the smoky bar, the class of people here, and his stomach churned. He was about to push his way through the crush and buy a drink when a loud, masculine burst of laughter caught his attention and somehow he knew.
“What’s wrong?” Cara asked.
“What makes you think anything’s wrong?”
“You’re squeezing my hand so tight I think you broke something.” She pulled her hand from his and shook it out.
He frowned. “Over there.” He tipped his head toward the back corner from where he’d heard the sound.
Cara sucked in a sharp breath. “He looks just like you,” she said in awe.
Mike nodded, sensing he’d been given a glimpse into what he might look like in twenty or so years, but from the other man’s obvious outgoing personality, that was where the similarities ended. Rex sat in the corner, holding court. There was no other word to describe how people around him gravitated to the booming laughter and deep voice. He was telling a story, and the people surrounding him seemed to hang on his every word. And by his side was a woman who couldn’t be more than twenty-two if she was that, wearing a tube top with no support for her ample breasts, makeup that had been caked on, and bleached-blond hair teased high, obviously trying to look older than her very young age.
Mike moved on autopilot. Retaking Cara’s hand because he wasn’t willing to leave her here to be picked up by some douchebag, he moved forward and pushed through the throng of people.
With each step, Rex Bransom’s voice grew louder. “And then I told her, sit back and watch a pro because Rex here’s gonna buy you anything your heart desires. Isn’t that right, baby girl?”
Nausea swept through Mike. “Is that before you knock her up and leave her high and dry for the next twenty-nine years?” He, who never spoke without deliberation, spewed his deepest thoughts.
Rex paused midgulp and choked on his beer. Dark eyes rose to meet Mike’s, then opened wide in recognition. “Everybody scram.” He waved his hand, and his crowd grumbled but dispersed. All except the woman wrapped around him like a snake.
“You too, baby girl.”
“But Rexie,” she complained, rubbing up against him in an attempt to get him to change his mind and let her stay.
Mike held the other man’s gaze, hoping the hatred he felt was evident because he sure as hell wasn’t holding back.
“Go.” Rex unhooked her arms from around his neck and stood.
With a whine, the woman headed for the bar. “I’ll be waiting right here,” she called back over her shoulder.
Rex didn’t tear his eyes from Mike’s. “Son.”
Mike glanced over his shoulder before looking back at Rex. “You can’t possibly mean me because the only man with the right to call me that is Simon Marsden.”
Only the slight tic in one eye betrayed any feeling. “So that’s the way of things.”
“What other way would there be?”
Rex nodded and appeared to eye Mike with newfound respect. “Sit.” He pointed at the chair one of his minions had vacated.
Mike folded his arms across his chest and remained standing.
“Who’s the pretty lady?” Rex’s gaze landed on Cara and stayed too long for Mike’s liking.
“Cara Hartley,” she said, stepping forward.
“She’s not your concern,” Mike said, holding out his arm so she wouldn’t step forward for a handshake or any other contact.
“So you’re not here to make nice, and you’re not here to introduce me to your woman. Why don’t you tell me what’s brought you to my neck of the woods?”
It was time to dive into the reason he’d come, to find out what the hell Rex Bransom had been up to in Serendipity. “Now I think I will sit.” Mike pulled out a chair for Cara before easing himself into a seat beside her.
Rex did the same, settling back into his chair.
“Why the hell are you bothering Ella?” Mike hadn’t planned on saying that either.
Rex blinked, appearing stunned and even a little hurt. “Is that what she said? I’m bothering her?”
A steady throb began in Mike’s left temple. “That’s my interpretation.”
Rex leaned forward.
Mike angled back.
“Did it ever occur to you that I might want to know how my family’s doing?” Rex asked.
Damned if he didn’t sound sincere, and more than anything, that made Mike sick to his stomach.
Beside him, Cara let out a small sound of disbelief. Mike ground his back teeth together, as surprised as she was.