Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 155900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 155900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 780(@200wpm)___ 624(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
The child rushed straight for a giggling Maci.
“He told me you wanted to be my other best friend.” She swayed in her white sundress, redness lighting her cheeks.
“’Course I do because my uncle Kane said you’re really awesome, and I was gonna be super excited that you get to play with me all the time now.”
“Wait.” Her voice dropped like it was a secret. “I get to play all the time?”
“I guess so because my uncle Kane doesn’t tell lies.”
“Lies are bad,” Maci agreed.
“Well, my dad and my uncles are really good,” he told her.
I’d been too distracted by the adorable little boy that I hadn’t noticed a man had come up the stairs behind him.
Just as intimidating as Theo and Kane. His hair midnight and his eyes to match. Tattoos rolled up from the neckline of his shirt and onto his throat, and five little stars dotted the edge of his hairline.
Apprehension skimmed through my nerves.
Who were these men?
“Maci, want you to meet one of my best friends. River. Nolan’s dad.”
“I fought you said he was your brother?” Confusion wound Maci’s little brow up tight.
Kane chuckled one of those light sounds. “He’s not my actual brother, but I care about him so much that I consider him that. My family. That’s what all these people here are to me. Family.”
“Family is who you love most!” Nolan sang.
Emotion thickened my throat, and I tried to swallow around it.
River leaned down in front of Maci, and he stretched out a tattooed hand. “It’s really good to meet you, Maci.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. River.”
“How about you call me Uncle River?” he said with a quick glance at Kane.
Kane gave him some silent look that said a million things.
Be careful. She doesn’t know who I am yet.
“I didn’t even got an uncle, but then I got Uncle Theo and an Uncle River?” Her cheeks grew pink with all of her adorableness rippling out.
“Well, think you’re going to have a whole bunch of them now.” River gestured to the group who had gathered behind them.
A group I’d been too caught up to notice since I’d been watching the interaction.
Shock widened my eyes when my attention locked on one of the women there, the same kind of shock that dropped her jaw with a gush of surprised air.
“Oh my gosh, I cannot believe this. I know you!” Eagerness blazed from her as she touched her fingers to her chest. “Do you remember me? I’m Raven. I met you outside my flower shop, Moonflower.”
Oh wow.
I couldn’t formulate a response before Maci squealed and jumped with a hand high over her head. “Me, me! I remember! I remember! You’re the lady who gots all the flowers!”
Gleeful laughter rolled out of Raven.
Goodness, she was really beautiful.
Strikingly.
Sleek, shiny black hair twisted into a loose knot with a few flowers tucked into the plaits. Midnight eyes rimmed in black liner and mascara, wearing bright red lipstick and a floral dress that hugged all her curves.
“That’s right. I have all the flowers. And I told you I have a nephew who I thought would really like to meet you, and it turns out he definitely does.”
She set a tender hand on Nolan’s head.
“Wait, Nolan is the good friend you got for me?”
“That’s right.”
Maci released a dreamy sigh. “I fink it’s meant to be.”
“You think you were meant for me?” Nolan peeped, his blue eyes wide.
I tried not to laugh, but a soft sound came out of me, anyway.
The child was so cute it would be impossible not to be captivated by him.
Clearly, Maci was.
“I fink so since I got here and I found you.”
“Then you better come on so I can show you all my stuff. I bet you’re gonna like it,” he told her as he snatched her by the hand and hauled her across the large, covered patio and down the steps, the dog hot on their heels as they ran into the backyard.
It had clearly been set up with a child in mind.
A fort and a swing set and a big grassy area where he could run and play.
It was enclosed by a high wooden fence that would keep him safe and contained.
A small amount of ease filled me.
It didn’t last long since Kane returned his hand to the small of my back.
A shiver streaked down my spine. That energy that dragged between us thick and suffocating.
Something about the way he did it this time felt possessive.
A claim.
The strength of that arm a band that I foolishly craved to fully wrap around me. Tie me in chains. All while I knew I needed to run.
“Everyone, I want you to meet Maci’s aunt. Emery.”
It was the first time I allowed myself to fully look at all of them.
River had risen, so darkly intimidating I would have stepped back if Kane hadn’t become a fortress behind me.