Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121296 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
And I wouldn't change a single thing.
***
The porch creaks under the weight of our makeshift family. Eleven men spread across rocking chairs and steps; boots kicked off, plates of dessert balanced on knees. Laughter rolls lazily through the warm evening air, mixing with the faint hum of cicadas and the joyful shrieks of kids chasing fireflies out in the yard.
I sit on the swing, Beau sprawled at my feet, his tail thumping every time a child races by. Rory trips and falls, giggling, and Levi is off the step in a heartbeat, scooping him up and holding him close. “Come here, son. You've got to be careful.” He kisses his cheek, brimming with so much love and pride that it squeezes my heart. Matty shrieks something about cops being stronger than cowboys that makes everyone laugh.
The land stretches out around us like it's cradling the house in both hands. Moonlight lies softly across the pasture. Cows groan in the distance, sleepy as the night. The air smells like hay, smoke, and home.
I hold my notebook in my lap, but I'm not writing. I'm watching. Relaxing. Belonging.
I won't wait much longer to start my next book, but I'm not quite ready yet. My own story is reaching a climax, and I want to enjoy it.
“You still think this place is in the middle of nowhere?” Conway asks, stepping onto the porch with two mugs of warm, sweet tea.
“No,” I say, and it's the truest thing I've said all day. “I think it might be the center of everything.”