Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
“You having it together can get really trying,” I groused and heard her soft laugh.
“He’s a flawed man, but we all have flaws, including me,” she declared. “One of them, falling in love with a man who was not right for me. It brought me into your life, so I don’t regret what I did, because it earned me you.”
“You need to stop being awesome so I can see while I make tacos for a woman with a target on her back and a biker. No one wants tears in their tacos. I suspect, not even bikers.”
I heard the humor in her tone when she replied, “Okay, I’ll let you go. Larry sends his love.”
Nicole met Larry about a year after Dad divorced her. They got married two years later. I was a junior bridesmaid.
He was good-looking, worshiped the ground Nicole walked on, and had two kids from a previous marriage. He didn’t want more. Nicole didn’t want any of her own, but she was all in to spread her awe-inspiring stepmom goodness around, so she did that with Larry’s kids, just like she did with me. They adored her. Larry (and the kids) adored me. I adored all of them.
It was a win-win-win-win.
So…again, Nicole was the only steady I had in my life.
And it meant everything to me.
I sent my love back, disconnected and headed out of my room to the closed door to Suzette’s.
I knocked. “Suze? It’s me.”
“Yeah?” she called.
I opened the door to see her curled up on her bed with her (actually my) iPad.
She was a pretty little thing, but so tiny.
Damn.
Lots of blonde hair, big blue eyes, and what had once been perfect peaches and cream skin.
I couldn’t imagine anyone laying a finger on her in anger, doing so to harm her in any way.
Just standing there in the door to her room, I wanted to gather her in my arms and will all her hurts away.
I couldn’t do that.
So I did the only thing I could do.
“I’m making beer-battered cod tacos with slaw. Wanna help?” I asked.
“Are they gone?”
I shook my head. “No. Muzzle is still here. But he’s leaving when Hugger comes back.”
“I think maybe I’ll stay in here. I’m not real hungry,” she replied.
Truth told, she didn’t eat much, which was beginning to get concerning. She was a wee thing. She needed to eat.
She’d also endured a massive trauma, was descending deeper by the day into a depression that was likely affecting her appetite, so she needed to be sure to eat even when she wasn’t hungry. She could tackle the depression later, but not if she starved to death.
I took a second, then entered the room, which used to be a workshop from which my boss let me do some projects at home, minor ones, but it was a nice option to have.
With the help of Nicole, Larry, Gram and some friends, we stored my stuff and got her a queen-size bed, nice bedclothes, nightstands, lamps, a dresser, and a TV.
It was all secondhand, but it looked good.
Girlie, welcoming, like she mattered.
The blinds were drawn, the curtains pulled over them, the lamps were on, and it being September, thus still light outside, but it was dark as a cave in there (outside the lamps).
“I’m not going to be pushy,” I assured. She stiffened because she knew I was winding up to be kind of pushy. “But I am going to encourage you to let the sun in and maybe get out of this room more often.”
“I don’t understand why all of a sudden four huge guys show up and wanna help me out,” she remarked.
I didn’t totally understand it either.
“Like I said, they have some history with…you know.”
I didn’t want to say his name. She winced when it was said, so I tried to avoid it.
“So they’re using me to get at him?” she asked.
“No. They’re genuinely, and I’d say extremely, from what I could read, pissed about what he did to you.”
There it was.
The wince.
Crap.
“And that’s why they want to help you out,” I finished.
“But they get something out of it.”
I pulled my shoulders forward in a shrug. “I don’t know, honey. They don’t even know why, um…he-who-will-not-be-named turned his attention to them. They’re trying to figure that out too, like I explained when we talked about this earlier.”
“This seems wonky to me.”
I smiled at her, came farther in and sat down on her bed. “I agree. But in case you didn’t notice this, I’m not Jason Statham.”
Her lips tipped up.
“We’re safe here, I truly believe that,” I told her. “But I cannot deny we’re a lot safer with those guys hanging around.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly.
“So, you gonna come out and help me with tacos?”
She bit the side of her lip while her right shoulder inched up before she let both go and requested, “Can I try tomorrow night?”