Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90164 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“I don’t think I’ve heard that, but I did know that you’re the safest in the middle of the plane.”
“You know, I have a theory that if you’re going down, there is no safest place to be. Other than the ground, that is.”
I turn in the seat so I can look at him.
“Are you the thrill seeker type?”
“No.” He smiles over at me. “Definitely not. But I don’t mind roller coasters. Johnny loves them, too. The ones he’s allowed to ride, anyway. However, Holly is just like you. They make her sick.”
“Then she and I can eat funnel cakes while we watch you two risk your lives on a roller coaster.” I stop and frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t just assume that you’d invite me to a carnival or something. That’s a huge assumption.”
“Oh, we’d invite you,” he assures me and reaches out to take my hand, pulls it up to his lips, and nibbles on my knuckles. “We like having you around, Doc.”
“That’s nice to hear. Holy shit!” I pull my hand out of his and point. “What is that?”
“What does it look like?” He puts the Jeep in park and turns off the engine.
“A hole in the side of the mountain, with a door.”
“That’s pretty much what it is.” He smiles over at me, and then hops out and lifts the cooler out of the back. “I figured we could stop here and eat.”
“Is something going to walk out of there?” I demand, still not moving from the Jeep.
“I hope not.” He closes the back hatch and walks over to a level spot on the ground, spreads out a big blanket, and sets the cooler on the corner of it. Then he smiles over at me and gestures for me to join him.
He doesn’t look particularly worried, so I decide not to worry about it either.
“This was a gold mine,” he says as we sit on the blanket. “From the mid-1800s. Western Montana was full of gold rush people, mining for the stuff.”
“Is there gold in there?” I ask as I accept a turkey sandwich from him.
“I doubt it. It was closed and sealed up about seventy years ago for safety reasons. Animals would live in there, and kids could get hurt when they were exploring shit they shouldn’t. The mine was abandoned before my ancestors bought the property. It was deemed useless, so the story goes that the property was cheap.”
“Do you know how much your many-times great-grandfather paid for it?”
“I’ve heard twenty-five dollars and a bottle of whiskey.” He grins over at me. “I’d say it was a good investment.”
“I’d say you’re right. And when did the Lexingtons buy their land?”
Remington frowns over at me. “Why do we have to ruin a perfectly nice day by talking about them?”
“I’m curious.”
“A year later,” he replies.
“So, the Wilds were here first.”
“Yes. We were. Their land is on the other side of that fence.” He points to a wooden fence about a hundred yards away. “These days, there’s no shooting at each other and shit like that. But I have cameras on this side, and they have cameras on theirs, just to make sure that nothing shitty happens.”
“I think you’re both paranoid,” I reply, with a bite of sandwich in my mouth. “Sure, back in the day, with no TV or any forms of entertainment, maybe a family feud was the way to go, but come on, Rem. It’s way in the future, and maybe you could let bygones be bygones.”
He watches me and looks absolutely stunned that I’d even suggest something like that.
“Millie told me about Holden, and it sounds like he’s an upstanding kind of guy. I mean, he totally had her back with those horrible tourists and everything.”
Rem sets his sandwich aside and holds up a finger. “Wait. What tourists?”
“Oh.” I cringe and then take a huge bite of the sandwich so I can’t talk while I try to think up a way to get myself out of this.
“Erin.”
I hold up a finger, concentrating on chewing my food. I would have thought that between Millie and Chase, Rem would have heard about the horrible tourist situation.
Unfortunately not, I guess.
“It’s nothing,” I say at last. “Totally nothing to get worked up about.”
“Do I look like I’m worked up?”
“You look like you’re on the verge of it.”
He laughs and takes a bite. “I guess I can piece it together. Some tourists were being obnoxious. Millie called them out on it, and when she might have gotten hurt, Holden stepped in on her behalf.”
“Punched the guy right in the face,” I confirm. “And, for what it’s worth, she wasn’t thrilled that it was Holden who stood up for her. But he did. So that tells me that their family isn’t all bad.”
“Holden just took over the business,” Remington says. “Like mine, his dad retired. I don’t have a beef with him.”