Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69537 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“Glades is not a grumpy boy.” Bindi laughed. “Mom, come meet Glades. He’s the sweetest, cutest, most gorgeous baby you’ll ever meet.”
“You don’t even know what he looks like,” I countered. “How can he be all those things?”
“Because his mother told me.” Bindi laughed again.
I grinned and did the handoff with Bindi who held out her arms for him.
She guided herself to the seat at the kitchen island and climbed up, careful not to disturb Glades who was almost done with his bottle.
“She looks good with a kid.”
I blinked, surprised to find Ruben so close to me. “She does.”
“I want that for her,” he said.
I looked over to Ruben and said, “I’m going to give it to her if you’ll let me.”
“Is that a question?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“You know, she’ll always be a handful, blind or not.” He chuckled. “Are you sure you can handle her?”
“Handle her? Probably not. But I sure do want to try for the rest of my life,” I admitted.
He slapped me on the back. “You have a ring?”
I shrugged. “Kind of. I have one in mind at least.”
“Ask her while we’re here. Then my wife can help her pick out a dress before she goes home to start packing up our house,” he said.
“You’re moving here?” I wondered.
“How long do you think that my wife will let our daughter stay here without her when she’s happy, and married, and possibly could have a grandchild at any moment?” He chuckled. “That’s the good thing about doing mobile welding. I can work from anywhere. And my wife’s already establishing a relationship with a hospital here. Plus, it hasn’t felt like home since she moved.”
I imagined that it didn’t.
Any time she decided to stay at her own apartment, it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest.
“I guess I can see your point,” I said as I watched Bindi pull the bottle free of Glades’ mouth and prop him up on her shoulder. She gently started tapping his back, and this overwhelming wave of need rocketed through me. “I want that.”
“Then have it,” Ruben suggested. “It’s all within your reach.”
An hour later, I was driving Ruben with me to Bindi’s place to gather some of her clothes and a package that she’d had delivered.
I was pulling into her assigned parking spot—even though she didn’t drive—when I caught a flash of movement coming out of the front door.
I immediately reached for my phone and called it in.
“This is Garrett,” I said to the dispatcher who answered. “I need a unit to 3354 Duncan Road. I have a trespasser.”
Ruben shot his head toward me, then whipped it back around to see what I was seeing.
I knew the moment he caught Joseph’s form, too.
His back stiffened, and his chest puffed out as he drew in a deep breath.
“I thought he had a restraining order?” Ruben rasped.
“Not yet,” I admitted. “I’d thought he got the fucking point and would stay away. Apparently not.”
I got out of the car and headed in the direction of where Joseph was talking on his phone.
“No, I haven’t seen her,” I heard him saying as he stared down the street in the opposite direction of where we were coming. “I’ve been here for two days now. I’m on the same floor as her, for Christ’s sake. I think she’s actually with that guy.”
There was a long pause and then, “Moving in here cost us a fuckin’ fortune. I had to pay off every person in the city. The judge won’t sign the restraining order if it comes down to that, and the trespassing charge will be forgotten the moment that I get to the station if I’m arrested.”
“No.” Joseph paused as he saw a cop coming up the street. “Hold on. There’s a cop here.” He hesitated. “No, I don’t know why they’re here. I haven’t seen either one of them today. And the day front desk guy was moved to nights because we paid that other guy to quit. He hasn’t seen me. He’s the only one that would know that I’m here right now and shouldn’t be.”
Of course he’d made someone quit.
That was the least that I’d expected from a man like Joseph Harris.
The cop car pulled up, and Officer Assman—yes, that was literally his last name—got out.
He took a look at me standing behind Joseph who still had his phone pressed to his ear, then to Joseph, finally stopping on Ruben who had his phone out as well.
I looked over at him and saw the red record symbol on his screen.
Hopefully he’d gotten it all.
I couldn’t wait to find out which judge he’d paid off.
There were a few that I could do without seeing when I had to go to court.
“Joseph Harris?” Assman asked.
“Yes,” he said as he pulled the phone from his face. “What are you here for?”