Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 393(@200wpm)___ 314(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“Lead the way,” he says, stroking his gigantic hand over Ada’s back.
I nod and turn, walking toward the front door. The house is quiet, and that’s when I remember Grams telling me they were going to visit friends for dinner. Suddenly, my day, tagging along with Maverick and his family is even more of a blessing. We would have spent the day alone. Don’t get that twisted. I love quality time with my daughter, but I can also admit I’m lonely, and the adult interaction was nice.
“Back here,” I tell Maverick. I lead him to the small bedroom I’m sharing with my daughter. “I can put her down,” I tell him.
“Nah, we have a better chance of her not waking up if we don’t transfer her.”
I stand by and watch as he lowers her gently into her crib and brushes her hair back from her eyes before standing to his full height. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. Unlocking the screen, he hands it to me. “Put your number in,” he tells me. “I’ll make sure to get it to Declan. Do you need a ride to work or anything?”
“No. I’ve been looking for work, but nothing yet. I’m going to start at the store with Gramps tomorrow. I was hoping to avoid that.”
“Why?” he asks, keeping his voice low, careful not to wake Ada.
“I already feel as though I’m taking advantage of them. We’re living with them rent free. I don’t need them to pay me too.”
“That’s what family is for, Stella. Let them help. I know them pretty well, and I’m sure they’re happy to do it.”
“Yeah,” I reply. That’s exactly what they’ve been telling me since I got here, but I still feel guilty.
“Declan will be in touch.” His fingers fly across his screen, and I hear my phone. “I just texted you, so now you have my number. If you need me, you call me. You know, if you’re stranded or need to borrow my crazy family for an afternoon.”
“Not crazy.”
“We are, but I love them because of it.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
He nods and leads the way to the front door.
“Thank you again so much.”
He turns and lifts his hand to brush my hair out of my eyes, much like he did my daughter’s. “You’re welcome, Stella.” With that, he turns and walks away.
My heart pounds in my chest as I watch him leave. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that everyone he knows, their life is better because he’s in it.
CHAPTER
THREE
Maverick
The pounding of rain against the window wakes me up. Rolling over, I glance at the alarm clock. I don’t need to be up for work for another half hour. Chances are, we’re going to get rained out again. Reaching for my phone, I check, and sure enough, there’s a message from my foreman telling us to stay home today. I don’t mind it too much. I make prevailing wage, and my bills are low. It helps that I’m still living with Merrick, and our rent is cheap. I also save most of what I make. One day, I’m going to want a house of my own, and the idea of living paycheck to paycheck to get it is not appealing to me at all.
Who knows, I might even find myself a woman and settle down and raise a few kids. I mean, I know it will happen eventually. At least, I hope it will. It would suck to be the only one of my brothers who doesn’t find their wife. Merrick and I are the only two left standing. I’m not in a hurry to find her, but I do want to find her one day. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy flirting with the ladies, and loving on my nieces and nephews.
Turning off my alarm, I pull the covers up to ward off the chill of the air conditioning and try to fall back to sleep. After twenty minutes of tossing and turning, I know it’s not happening. My body is used to getting up early. I decide to go ahead and shower and make some breakfast. I’m certain that if I’m rained out, Merrick is too. He’s a heavy equipment operator, whereas I work on a road construction crew. Both, depending on what stage we are in for the job, are not possible when it’s raining as if you were pouring piss out of a boot.
I’m sliding my scrambled eggs onto a plate when Merrick walks into the kitchen. He’s in his underwear, and his hair is a mess. “Rained out?” he asks.
“Yeah. You too?”
“Yep.”
“Here.” I glide the plate of scrambled eggs toward him on the island. “Toast is in the toaster.” As if on command, the toast pops up.
“Thanks,” he mumbles, grabbing the toast before pulling the gallon of milk out of the fridge.