Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91925 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“She’s not your past. You guys have a strong foundation.”
“I know that,” he says and frowns. “I’m still thinking about it.”
“If you need to talk or anything else, I’m here for you. I may have some time on my hands. I can look after your family while you’re gone.”
He squints at me, the wheels turning. “You have no idea how much that would ease my mind. As crazy as the road gets, I’ll be more worried about them here without me.”
“Nothing to worry about. I’ve got your back. Or Dwayne might want to sit this one out and I’ll come on the road with you.”
“Bullshit and you know it. You’ve looked down on that offer for years.”
“Things change.”
He studies me. “Whatever happened must have been bad. You’re not going back, are you?”
“Hey, you,” Saga sings as she enters the kitchen with Rem following behind her.
“What’s up?” I say not taking my eyes off Reminisce.
She won’t look at me. I have so much I want to say to her, but I can’t say any of it because I shouldn’t have heard their conversation.
“You guys are both staying for dinner, right?”
“I should probably go,” Rem says.
“You have to stay,” Bishop replies. “We haven’t looked at those contracts yet.”
She starts to chew on her lip. I saunter around the counter and lean into her ear. The way she sways toward me brings a smile to my face.
“We can be in the same room. We were friends before anything else.”
With that, I head to the living room to watch TV with my brother. It might be time to switch things up. Out of sight, out of mind. I need my girl to remember me.
CHAPTER 20
Motherly Advice
Knight
“Hey, Mom,” I say as I walk into the study were she’s peering over some documents.
I wonder what charity she’s working on now. No one can deny she has a knack for raising money and throwing outstanding events. It’s why she’s always asked to be on some type of committee.
“Hey, honey. I’m so happy to see you,” she coos as she looks up at me.
I kiss her cheek, then turn my attention to what she’s working on. Something on the top page catches my attention. I pick up the page to read a little more.
“What are you working on?” I ask.
“It’s a charity event for one of the youth centers. They’re losing their funding. The biggest donor had a fatal accident.
“For whatever reason he didn’t write the charity into his final wishes. Then there’s the unfortunate mess with the director who ran off with what funding was left. Those poor children don’t deserve any of this.
“I’m going to do my best to raise some money for them and I’m going to personally find them a new director. Someone with a heart for them and their well-being,” she replies.
“That fucking sucks. Have the police tracked down the thief? Are they sure nothing was in the will?
“It sounds a bit shady to me. I could look into it if you want,” I offer.
“Your father is right. You will always be a detective at heart. They are investigating, but these children need help now.
“I’ll let the police handle all of that. My goal is to make things right for the center. It used to be such a nice resource in the community.”
“How’d you hear about it? This isn’t a part of town you would frequent.”
“Madison told me about it. She used to volunteer there. Then she joined the staff for a while once she received her degree,” she replies.
“Oh, the counselor with the little laugh,” I muse aloud.
I remember her from the party. A bit too shy for me. I did get the feeling mom was trying to push her on me.
“Yes, she did make an impression then.”
I knew it. As soon as I caught on, I made sure to steer clear of her. Mom loves playing matchmaker. She’s gotten worse now that Bishop is married with kids.
“I was hoping you two would have hit it off, but you took more interest in Harper. How did that go? Have you two been out on a date?”
“Who?” I furrow my brows.
“The brunette with the pretty smile. Harper. You chatted her up quite a bit at the party.”
“Oh, yeah. We went on one date. It was a bust. Not my type,” I mutter.
Mom sighs and turns to look up at me. Oh boy, I didn’t come here for this. I thought she would be after me about the job, not my dating life.
“Honey, maybe if you found someone to settle down with, you’ll see you don’t need to be out there chasing bad guys. Things didn’t work out with Harper, that’s fine. I didn’t think they would.
“Maybe I can set something up with Madison. Yes, she’s soft spoken, but I think you will like her once you get to know her.”