Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Ugh, absolutely,” she says like duh. “I even got some of it on video.”
“Holly.” I close my eyes, shaking my head.
“What? It was just like one of those moments from a Hallmark movie. All that was missing was the snow falling from the sky.” She looks over at Eva. “Am I wrong?”
“You’re not wrong,” Eva mumbles, shrugging.
“Please don’t encourage her.” I sigh, falling into one of the client chairs.
“Sorry, but I’m on her side.” She grins as she tips her head to the side, then her face softens as she studies me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I set my bag on the floor. “Bax is just worried.” It’s an understatement, but they know the situation, so I don’t need to exacerbate things.
“I hope that guy is caught soon,” Holly says, and I give her a sad smile.
“Me too.”
“We should go have a drink tonight after work,” Eva says, and I shake my head, already knowing that isn’t going to happen. “Come on, we can go to one of the local bars. You can invite your mom or whoever, and we’ll all be there. We won’t let you out of our sight.”
“I don’t know.” I fiddle with my fingers in my lap. Honestly, I feel like a bird who has been caged up for weeks, and the idea of stretching my wings, even for an hour, sounds almost too appealing to turn down. I never considered myself someone who loved going out, but I also never had that option taken away from me until recently. “I’ll call Bax at lunch and see what he thinks,” I say, and both Eva and Holly share matching grins. Holding up my hand, I look between the two of them. “I’m not promising anything. If he’s not comfortable, I’m not going.” Especially after he told me that I’m a piece of him that he would not be able to exist without.
CHAPTER 28
Bax
Hearing my cell phone ring, I reach across the console and pull my vest out from under Gemma. Once I get it out of the pocket and see it’s my mom calling, I slide my finger across the screen and put it on speaker since there is no way I can hook it up to my truck while I’m driving.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Hey honey, I just got off the phone with Willow, and she and Clay want to confirm that you and Olivia won’t be there for dinner on Thanksgiving since they’re trying to figure out what size turkey to buy.”
“We’re having dinner with Oli’s parents, then stopping by later in the evening for dessert.”
“That’s what I thought. I’ll let them know. How are you guys? Is everything okay?”
“Everything is good. We're just waiting until this guy is caught so we can move on.”
“When Dad spoke to Cobi, he seemed hopeful that the police were going to catch him soon.”
“That’s what he’s been telling me, too,” I mutter.
Every time I’ve spoken to my cousin, he’s told me that the men hunting this guy where he was last seen in Kentucky were sure that they were close. They just needed to wait him out. And from life experience, I know someone can hide out for only so long without any contact with the outside world. Eventually, he will need to step back into the real world, and hopefully, the cops will be there to arrest him.
“I’m sorry we haven’t been around much these past few weeks. I…”
“Mom, I get it.” I cut her off before she can spiral. She always wants to be everything to all of us kids, even though we’re all adults, and then feels guilty when she can’t be. “You have a new grandbaby on the way, now Nalia is home, and the holidays are coming up. I know if I really needed you and Dad that you’d be here.”
“In an instant,” she agrees softly, then asks, “Are you on your way home?”
“I’m turning into my driveway now.”
“Well, I’ll let you go then so that you can spend time with Olivia. Tell her that we say hi and that we’re looking forward to seeing her Thursday.”
“I’ll tell her.” I hang up with her and hit the button for the garage, noticing Olivia isn’t home yet. I’m not surprised. I called her about forty-five minutes ago when I was leaving my job site, and she told me that she and the girls were finishing up their last drink before calling it a night. As much anxiety as I’ve had all day thinking about her being out, even if she is with friends and her mom, the moment I heard her voice and heard how relaxed and happy she was, that anxiety settled. I know she’s been feeling suffocated and overwhelmed by everything coming at her, and I hate that I’ve added to that with my need to protect her.