Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“Or they’re worried.” Nicole zipped up her backpack. This mission of theirs hadn’t taken long at all. She already had more clothes after two shopping trips with her future mother-in-law than she’d had in years.
Of course she did have a big old closet to fill up. There was a Josh side and a Grim side, and a huge spot in the middle they’d saved for the woman they would marry.
They’d saved it for her.
“Well, their worry is making me crazy.” Harlow placed the aforementioned expensive-as-hell flip-flops in the suitcase and moved to grab the makeup bag. “And when I get back I have to hire a new receptionist of my own because apparently taking phone calls from clients helps grow a business.”
“Yes, I would suspect having someone to answer the phones would be helpful.” It was kind of fun to see her mentor so flustered. Sometimes it was like nothing could shake the woman.
“Yeah, neither Ruby nor I are good at the office running thing. But we can crack a case,” Harlow said. “Despite my dads constantly interfering. My sister had the right instincts. Greer stayed out of the investigation business. She took after our mom. She’s always known she wanted to be an artist. I envied that about her.”
“It’s hard to not know what you want to do with your life,” Nicole agreed. “I’m afraid I’m the one who did have to spend all my time surviving. But I want to run the shelter. I think it might be my calling.”
Harlow softened. “Your calling is to take care of the people you love and to live this wonderful, painful, awesome, sometimes awful, magnificent life with us. I know Josh joked about me being in love with him, but you know I do love him, right?”
Like a sister. “He’s your family.”
“And now so are you,” Harlow said. “Don’t ever forget it. You’re going to meet a lot of seemingly intimidating people in the next few weeks, but know every single one of them is going to love you. You walk into every room with your head held high because you should be so proud of who you are. I know I admire you.”
“All I did was run,” Nicole admitted quietly.
“All you did was survive, and you didn’t lose your kindness. You didn’t lose your ability to love. I’m worried I might have. I went through something terrible, something I haven’t talked about with anyone except my business partner.”
“Not even your parents?”
Harlow’s head shook. “No. I…can’t. But the point is I don’t think I came out of it with a whole soul. Not the way you did. You were in a terrible position and you managed to still be kind, to be open when real love came your way. I don’t think I can.”
“But you want to.” It was plain to see.
“There’s a man at the club I go to.” Harlow placed the makeup bag in the suitcase and started to zip it up. “He’s been hanging around my world for a long time, but I don’t have the feelings for him I have for Josh. That man is not my brother.”
“So you do have feelings.”
“Yes, but I won’t act on them,” Harlow admitted, pulling the suitcase off the bed and settling it on the floor. “I’ll see him at the club and maybe one night I’ll let him top me, but it won’t go further. I’m not good for anyone.”
“That is complete nonsense, Harlow Dawson.” Nicole felt like Abigail Barnes-Fleetwood now took up space in her head. Her future mother-in-law was rubbing off on her. “You have been excellent to me, and I would bet all your clients adore you.”
“The one who hired me to find out if his wife was cheating doesn’t. She wasn’t cheating, by the way, but he was, and I sent her pictures. The good news is there’s no like Hippocratic oath for private investigators. We don’t have to protect the assholes,” Harlow explained. “Might be why I went this way when all the cool kids were going into the military or worse. The CIA.”
Harlow had some intimidating friends. “I’ll be happy here in Willow Fork with my fur babies and my new family.”
“I know you will,” Harlow said with a wistful smile. “But come to Dallas sometimes. I’m going to miss you when I go back.”
“I promise.” Nicole settled her backpack on her shoulder. “Now I kind of want to leave this place forever. I don’t think I’m going to hang around here anymore.”
“See, you’re already proving to be smarter than me,” Harlow admitted. “I kind of want to hang out and see what happens. Like how many drug deals happen here? Open the door and we can wait for Landon outside. We need to turn in the key.”
“I’ll go down and drop it at the office so you don’t have to haul that suitcase around,” Nicole offered as she opened the door and walked out. She would go home, see what Kim had found out, and then spend the rest of the day being coddled by her men. They would cuddle her and probably fuck her a couple of times and then cuddle her some more.