Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74298 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“If you really want to know my mother, you have to try singing that song around her,” Shawn said with a wry grin.
“Don’t you even dare,” Jo said, lifting her eyebrows at her son as she clearly was hiding a grin, too.
Jolene—Jo—was wearing a dress that was a riot of colors even brighter than all of the wildflowers outside. She had her hair up in a high bun on top of her head, and while most of it was grey, she had a single bright blue streak running through it, which looked strikingly cool against her blue eyes.
“Your home is beautiful,” I said. “It’s like a big, incredible log cabin.”
“That’s what my husband and I like,” Jo said with a nod. “We built this house long ago, just before the boys were born. Took us way too long, and back then we could barely afford a thing. But we got it just how we liked.”
“And Nathan and I have made dozens and dozens of improvements to it over the years,” Shawn said. “The floorboards were falling apart.”
“Oh, give me a break,” Jo said with a chuckle. “Your father and I did a fine job. You boys have made it a whole lot better, though.”
“Did I hear someone say my name?”
“Nathan,” Tristan said, walking over to give his other brother a hug.
It was amazing to see the three Wood brothers in the same room: Tristan, the youngest, Shawn in the middle, and Nathan, the oldest brother. They all looked so similar and yet so different. They had almost the same eyes, but each of the three of them dressed differently and had done different things with their hair.
“Well, the only person missing now is Lindsay,” Tristan said after he’d introduced me to Nathan. “Where’s our sister?”
“She’s on her way,” Jo said. “And she said she’s bringing a surprise.”
“Lindsay Wood never comes without a surprise,” Shawn said. “I bet it’ll be fresh cucumbers from her garden.”
“Who knows? Maybe she’s taken up magic and she’s going to show us all tricks,” Nathan said.
“All right, I hear a lot of racket down here and not enough clinking of glasses,” a deep voice said from over by the stairs. A moment later Tristan’s dad appeared, and I now realized where all of the Wood genes came from.
Tristan’s dad also looked like all of his sons, just older, wiser, and with salt-and-pepper hair instead of the almost-black brown that all of his sons had.
“Dad, this is my best friend Jack,” Tristan said, introducing the two of us.
“Call me Bruce, because that’s my name,” he said, giving my hand a firm shake. “Our home is your home for the next week, so I hope you like whiskey sours, because you’re about to have one in your hand.”
“I love whiskey sours,” I said. “The plane ride was a little turbulent at the end, and I need some hair-of-the-dog, anyway.”
Bruce was wearing a nice Hawaiian shirt and he definitely looked relaxed and ready to party. But I could tell immediately why Tristan might have felt inferior, or like the black sheep of the family, when he was growing up. Even right now, in his relaxed mode, Tristan’s father had a commanding presence. It made sense why he and Jolene had been successful with their construction company. Bruce had sharp eyes and a knowing smile, and both he and Jolene were impressive, even though I’d only known them for a minute.
“Plane ride was shaky?” Bruce asked with a shudder. “Can’t stand plane rides like that. Can’t stand ‘em in general, really. Drinks for everyone, coming right up.”
He led the way into the dining room just past the kitchen, which was another beauty to behold. There were big picture windows that looked out onto the mountain drop below that gave way to pine trees and another view of the river. The dining room was also open to the living room, which had a gigantic L-shaped sectional couch, a big-screen TV mounted above the wall fireplace, and more picture windows.
I leaned over, whispering in Tristan’s ear. “You never told me your childhood home was like a resort at a ski lodge,” I said. “It’s amazing.”
Tristan grinned, looking up at me with a little bit of pride. “They’ve made a lot of additions and improvements to this house since I was a kid, believe me,” he said. “It was nice enough back then, but it’s badass now. I can’t wait to see these views in the winter, when everything’s covered in white snow.”
“It’s got to be good,” I said. “Tristan, thank you for making me come here. From the bottom of my heart. I had no idea it would be this amazing.”
“Making you come here?” Tristan said, sucking on his bottom lip. “You couldn’t have dealt with another week without me, and you know it.”