Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44932 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
They’d given her a bottle of cold water to drink when the messenger had reported a delay in the flight. Pippa remembered everything getting fuzzy and then nothing. She’d been so stupid. Way too trusting.
The job had seemed perfect. Pippa had ignored things that now were glaring warning signs. She shook her head. How could she have fallen for the allure of all they’d promised? She should have known better.
Other people’s bad intentions are black smudges on their own heavenly record. She smiled at the sound of her grandmother’s voice echoing in her head. She still missed her granny. At least she had all the precious woman’s life lessons memorized.
Pippa knew her grandmother would remind her not to focus on the past, but to make the present and future the best possible. That was what she would do. Pippa wasn’t going to live her life worrying about any threat that was coming.
She rolled her eyes. Maybe that’s what got her into this situation. Her saving grace was meeting Zale. If she’d never made a stupid move, they wouldn’t have run into each other.
When the water cooled, Pippa forced herself to get out. The slight soreness she’d felt from making love to Zale was better. Leave it to Zale to continue to help her. He obviously knew what he was doing medicine-wise.
After pulling her outfit back on, Pippa collected the clothes in the hamper and grabbed the sack of clothing Zale had purchased for her. She smoothed out the receipt and set it aside. Pippa planned to pay him back.
The tags proved to be a problem. Pippa explored the kitchen, searching for a pair of scissors. She opened the bottom drawer on one end of the cabinets, expecting it to be a junk drawer like her granny had always had. She sat down on the floor and started pulling out the contents: two coloring books, an activity book with puzzles and dot-to-dots, colored pencils, crayons, even a sharpener.
“Oh, look! There’s even a sticker book!” Pippa cheered and then felt silly to be talking to an empty room.
All the pages were blank. They were new. Had he gathered them together in hopes that he would find his little girl? Pippa pulled the last item from the drawer. It was a diary. One with a small key that fit in a lock on the strap holding the covers together.
Pippa wanted that diary badly. If she could write out all her emotions, she knew it would help. And thanks to the lock it would be secret. Would Zale be okay with her using it?
Running for the phone she’d left on the charger in his bedroom, Pippa took a picture of the stuff she’d laid out on the floor. Before she could talk herself out of it, she sent the picture to Zale.
I was searching for scissors to cut the tags off my clothes. I found all this in a drawer. Can I have the diary?
She’d forgo all the other fun stuff in there to have the chance to write in the book. Her fingers lingered on the activity book and the coloring book with princesses on it. She checked out the stickers on the center pages of the sticker book. That would be so much fun.
Her phone buzzed on the floor, making her jump. Pippa grabbed it and opened the reply.
Save me the picture of the stallion on page twelve of the princess book. I’ll color that with you tonight. Everything is for you—especially the diary.
The heart emoji that ended his message made her teary. He was so good to her. Quickly, she returned the same symbol. Then, to distract herself from crying, Pippa turned to page twelve in the princess coloring book. Laughter exploded from her mouth. The goofiest, scrawniest pony stared up at her. What a stallion! Her daddy was the absolute best.
Setting aside the activity and sticker books along with the diary, Pippa replaced the coloring books, crayons, and colored pencils into the drawer. She’d save those to enjoy with her daddy.
Pippa carried her selections to the couch before returning to her search. She’d get a load of laundry in before enjoying them. The scissors were in the last drawer she checked along with pens. She grabbed a couple of those as well to try in her diary.
She returned to the laundry room and got busy snipping off tags. In just a few minutes, she had everything arranged in the washing machine. Adding in plenty of soap to wash his fatigues thoroughly, Pippa started the machine.
Skipping back to the stack of books, Pippa wiggled back into the cushions of the couch until she was comfortable. Without hesitating, she picked up the diary and selected a pen. Pippa stared at the date box. She didn’t have a clue what it was.
Remembering a calendar on the side of the refrigerator, she ran back to the kitchen to check the date. She stared at a heart drawn in red on the day she’d entered Zale’s life. Pippa pressed her hands to her heart, capturing the sweetness of Zale’s addition. After celebrating how wonderful her daddy was with a quick jig of joy, she forced herself to focus. Using that as her guideline, she figured out the date and headed back to the diary.