Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 126098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“Well, thanks,” she said aloud to Tex and Shooter who were nearby. She dug out her own check, also folded neatly, and handed it to the owner of the garage.
“It’s still too much,” Shooter declared.
Abby shook her head, as much to quell any arguments as to will away any tears that were threatening to fall. “It’s worth it,” was all she managed to tell him. She pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and turned away from them. “Have a good one,” she called out in a chipper tone. Her thumb swept over the screen and she was about to begin dialing a cab when the phone was taken from her.
She turned and looked up into Tex’s blue eyes. His blonde hair highlighted his tan. “I’ll take you home,” he told her.
Abby shook her head. “I can call a cab. It’s not-”
“I’m taking you home,” he said in a firmer tone. She realized he was holding her phone hostage as he guided her across the lot and toward a large, black Hummer. He opened the passenger side door for her and it wasn’t until she was safely ensconced inside that he handed her the phone back.
Abby sighed and resigned herself to being given a ride. As Tex pulled out of the garage’s lot, she leaned her head back on the leather head rest and looked out the passenger window.
“You okay?” Tex asked, glancing at her.
“Yeah,” she assured him. She sighed. “Maybe I wasn’t really ready.”
He turned the wheel and took the cross street. “You’re never ready.”
“He had cancer,” she declared. “It went on a long time. It’s not like I didn’t have time to prepare.”
“My old man had a stroke,” Tex confided. “He lingered a while, too. It doesn’t make it easier when you see the train coming, Abby. All you can do is make decisions and stick to them. No matter how strong the impulse is to change your mind.”
Abby turned to him, surprised. “How- how did you...?”
“The last thing I sold was my old man’s rodeo saddle. Never fit me right, but that might’ve been in my head. It seemed like the right thing to do. It was the right thing to do. But at the last minute it took everything I had not to back out of the deal.”
“Our relationship was....complicated,” she replied.
Tex smiled. “I think you just described everyone’s relationship with their father.”
He pulled up in front of the condo and parked. “Wait there,” he commanded.
Abby complied.
He came around the front of the Hummer and opened her door. He took hold of her elbow and helped her down from the rig. She smiled at him.
“I’ve got my boots on,” she reminded him. “I can get down.”
Tex was standing close, very close, and her body brushed up against his as she slid down to the pavement. His sparkling blue eyes met hers. “I didn’t ask.”
Abby’s stomach fluttered. Tex reached out and pushed back a strand of her hair that had come loose from its tie.
“I will ask you if you want to go out for a beer, though,” he said. “Rough day and all.”
Abby sighed inwardly. Of course a guy like Tex wouldn’t be interested in someone like her. He was just being nice.
“Well, thanks,” she replied in a steady voice that covered her disappointment. “But tonight’s a drinking alone night.”
“Some other time, then,” he said, in a tone that made it clear he wasn’t asking about that, either.
Tex was a nice guy, Abby thought. It was disappointing to just be friends with him, but she couldn’t complain.
“Some other time,” she agreed.
In her condo, she unzipped her jacket and hung it up. She left her boots by the door and mixed herself a martini. On the stereo Frank crooned that he’d left his heart in San Francisco.
“I know the feeling, Frank,” she said out loud. “I left something in Vegas. I’m not sure what, but it was big.”
The next day, Abby was torn between going out for lunch and staying in her office. She chose the latter and kicked the computer out of sleep mode to begin surfing the internet. She was clicking through pages when the door to her office opened. Kessler stood in her doorway, taking up the space. “What’s this maintenance request?” he demanded, jiggling a work order at her.
Abby tore her eyes away from the screen. “Pardon?”
She was more than a little irritated that he hadn’t knocked.
He sneered at her. “Looking at porn?” he asked. He flashed a crooked grin that he probably thought made him look cute. It only succeeded in making him look like a creep.
“No!” Abby retorted, disgusted.
Kessler just shook his head at her. “Maintenance request. What gives?”
“Among other things the carpet in the elevator vestibule on the second floor needs replacing,” she began, but Kessler only continued to shake his head.