Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 25792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Heath scoffed, “Unless your proposal is to bring more clients back with you when you come home, I don’t want to hear it. Do you have any idea the hoops I’ve had to jump through to meet with clients while you’ve been gone?”
“I’m sorry about that, but my proposal could actually solve that problem, too.”
Again, there was an extended silence, then Heath muttered, “I’m listening.”
“I need you to be open-minded and listen to everything I have to say before making a judgment.”
“You know that telling people to be open-minded before you tell them something just makes them even more narrow-minded, right?”
I laughed. “You’ve never been narrow-minded, Heath, or I wouldn’t be in business with you.”
“Good point.”
I looked out the window and blinked a few times, still surprised that nothing in my vision was blurry. “First, my vision is healed. One hundred percent.”
“What? Wait, does this mean you were fucking with me and you’re really coming home?”
“Mouth shut, dude. Wait until I get to the end.”
Heath grumbled something under his breath, then went quiet.
“The thing is, they didn’t heal on their own. This cabin I’m renting is on the outskirts of a small town. I heard rumors about it when I first came here, but it wasn’t until I ran into one of its residents in the forest that I knew they were true.”
I took a deep breath and raised my eyes to the ceiling, knowing that it was unlikely Heath would believe what I said next…at first. “So I was almost trampled by a horse, carrying a headless man and a green-skinned witch.”
Heath burst into laughter, and I waited until it faded away. “You’re fucking hilarious,” he said, his tone thick with sarcasm.
“I wasn’t being funny, Heath. The town, Screaming Woods, is full of monsters. And the forest all around it is also inhabited by monsters. It’s a long story on how it happened. I’ll tell you when I see you next.”
I waited, but this time, Heath refrained from commenting. Hopefully, by the time I was done, he wouldn’t be sitting there stewing about whether or not to have me committed.
“Maggie, the witch—the Wicked Witch of the West, in fact—told me she might have something that could cure eyesight. I was skeptical, but I decided I might as well try it. When I went into town the following day, I met a man who radiated electricity and his lavender-haired wife, who were friends of Maggie’s. But when I arrived at the shop, it was to find that Maggie had also found a solution to my isolation. She found me the perfect woman. Literally, the woman of my dreams.”
“I…What do you want me to say?” Heath mumbled.
“Nothing yet. I’m sending a picture to your phone. Take a look for yourself.”
I texted a picture that I took of Isla and me while we were in the air the day before. It captured the skyline behind us and her magnificent wings.
“Holy shit.”
“She’s drop-dead gorgeous, right?” I grinned.
“Um… Yeah. She’s pretty…sorry, I was distracted by the wings.”
“Understandably,” I chuckled. “Anyway, I am head over fucking heels in love with her.”
Heath sucked in an audible breath at my announcement. Yeah, considering how fast it had happened, I’d been a little taken aback when I realized it, too. “Anyway, I won’t ask her to come back to California with me. Not only is this her home, but her business is here. She fits in, has a mostly normal life, and I’m not going to ask her to choose to live a life where she could be ridiculed or simply spend every day feeling out of place and uncomfortable.”
“Okay, I see your problem, but I will tell you right now that if your proposal is for me to buy your half out, you can forget it.”
“Just the opposite, in fact.”
“You want to buy me out?” he croaked.
I laughed and assured him, “No, I want to expand. The thing is, Isla owns a food delivery service. They cater to monsters and deliver the food via wings.”
Just chuckled. “Alright, that’s kind of brilliant.”
“Right? It got me thinking. Not all monsters have wings. And some who do can’t fly. So many of them never go anywhere because they aren’t willing to subject themselves to the eyes of humans. Particularly in a tin can where there’s no escape.”
“You want to open a new charter service that caters to monsters,” he guessed.
I knew he’d get it. However, relief trickled through me when I heard the undertone of excitement in his voice. “Yes. I think it would do very well, and it doesn’t mean we can’t take charters from humans in the local towns. But our main clients would be the residents of Screaming Woods, and we’d have separate hangars for them to use if they wish.”
Heath was silent for so long that I began to wonder if I’d actually heard the anticipation in his voice. Maybe he hated the idea. That would suck, because it didn’t matter what he said, I wasn’t leaving.