Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67675 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Suddenly, I saw his jaw tighten and he took a step forward, so intent on getting to her that he didn’t seem to notice the boy he walked right in front of, the one who bounced off his leg, scrambled up, and kept going. I stood up and started for her, too. I didn’t know what Landon had planned, but I didn’t like the look on his face. The stricken wonder that had almost made him endearing was gone, replaced by the look of ruthless determination he wore when he was working.
Emma scrambled up a ladder to the next level of the structure, nearly losing a shoe. I stopped to watch her get it back on. When I looked back at Landon, I saw he was standing a few feet down the play structure, face to face with one of the older kids. A boy, maybe eight, who initially had a smug, defiant look on his face that quickly melted into surprise and then trepidation.
Exasperated, I hurried over, looking around for any angry parents who might be on their way to defend their child. I got there just in time to hear Landon say in a dangerously pleasant voice, “I hope you remember our little talk, Junior.”
Released, Junior scrambled off, shooting a nervous look back over his shoulder.
“What was that?” I demanded when I reached Landon’s side.
“That kid pushed in front of her when she was waiting in line for the slide,” Landon explained. His eyes had found Emma in the upper level of the play structure, and he didn’t bother to look down at me.
I waited for the rest of the story. Then, in disbelief, I realized that there was no more. “He’s a kid, Landon,” I said, exasperated. “If it’s serious enough, you talk to his parents, and they talk to him about playground etiquette.”
Landon snorted. “If they want to talk to him themselves, they’d better beat me to him.” He took his eyes off Emma long enough to look around. “Besides, how the hell am I even supposed to know who they are?”
It was funny. Landon could spot a potential threat from a mile away. If you put two pictures in front of him and asked him to spot ten differences, he would glance down for a second, pick up a pen, and circle all of them. But he didn’t have parent-vision. Not yet. I knew immediately that this kid’s mom was probably in that knot of women sitting around the picnic tables, not bothering to keep a watchful eye on their offspring because their kids weren’t toddlers who were likely to wander off. And since this kid had pitch black hair and there were only two brunettes in the mix of snow-white blondes, I figured I had a 50-50 shot of picking the right woman on my first try.
I didn’t bother breaking this down for Landon, though. I had a feeling he’d figure it out how to do it himself soon enough, and then no one at those picnic tables would be able to relax so long as their kids were coming within an inch of Emma. Instead, I tried to persuade him to come back to the bench with me.
“You can’t hover like this,” I said. “You look scary.”
Landon’s face darkened with annoyance. “I’m not hovering. That woman is climbing the fucking ladder with her kid. Tell her not to hover.”
“That woman is with a two-year-old, and she doesn’t look like the secret service.”
With undisguised irritation, Landon followed me back to the bench. As we sat, he drummed his fingers on his knees and fought the urge to circle the playground like a shark, intercepting every potential negative actor. Though I was nervous that if a kid knocked into Emma, he’d enact a citizen’s arrest, my heart still swelled as I watched him.
Ever since he spotted her, his face had changed. That calm-to-the-point-of-bored expression was gone. A hard, protective light shone in his eyes, but his mouth was softer somehow. More mobile. When Emma’s laughter rang out across the playground, reaching his ears, his mouth curved in an answering smile. When a little girl refused to let Emma see her doll, his lips pursed, displeased.
“I’ll call her over,” I said, glancing down at my phone to see we only had an hour before we had to leave. I wasn’t sure how much time Landon wanted.
“No, don’t,” he said absently. “I like watching her play.”
Secure in the knowledge that Landon was keeping a watchful eye on Emma, I settled back on the bench to check my messages. I had one from Robert saying that he would be meeting us at the playground in an hour instead of my mother. I wasn’t annoyed, but I wasn’t surprised. Elyna was furious that I’d told Landon about Emma. Though she’d been wailing dramatically that it was gone, it was all gone only days before, now she insisted that everything would be fine. Yes, the house in Hawaii was gone, but we still had resources and options and friends, had I really thought we’d be destitute?