Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 540(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
I picked up the phone and dialed. If I didn’t call right this moment, I might chicken out. I wasn’t even sure if his home number was still the same one I knew. Heck, he might not even have a house phone anymore—most people didn’t these days.
My heart raced as the phone connected.
One ring. Thump-thump.
Two rings. Thump-thump-thump!
By the time the third ring started, my chest was pounding so hard I thought I might go into cardiac arrest. I considered hanging up, but at the last second someone answered.
“Hello?”
My dad.
I didn’t say anything.
“Hello?” he repeated in a sterner voice. “Is someone there?”
I sat up stick straight and cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah. Hi, Dad.”
A pause. “February? Is that you?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
His tone softened. “How are you, honey?”
My eyes filled with tears. “Not so good, actually.”
“Where are you? Are you hurt?”
I smiled sadly. “No, no. It’s nothing like that. I’m fine, at least physically anyway. But…” I gnawed on my lip. “I’m at a wellness facility.”
“A what?”
“It’s a place people go when they need a mental-health timeout. I was working a lot and under a lot of stress and… Well, let’s just say I’m here, and it’s helping.”
My dad was quiet for a beat. “I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do?”
“Actually, there is. That’s why I’m calling. Tomorrow is family day. They have these counseling sessions and stuff and…”
I’d made it over the biggest hurdle—making the call—yet I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to come, to ask him to do anything for me.
Long seconds ticked by in silence, and eventually it was my dad who spoke.
“What time should I be there?”
***
“Hey.” I held the old phone up for a better angle and smiled at Brock’s naked chest. “Boy, I called at the right time. Are you naked?”
He chuckled. “Just came upstairs for a minute to change my shirt. Tossed out a drunk who was starting trouble, and the jackass spilled his beer all over me.”
“How about you set the phone down on the counter so I can get the full view from a distance?”
“You can have the full view, live and in person, anytime you want it, sweetheart. Just say the word, and my clothes will come off.”
“Is that a promise?”
“One you can take to the bank, Red.” He finished putting on a T-shirt and brought the phone closer to his face.
The abs had been nice, but this view wasn’t so bad either. “Sorry I couldn’t sneak out tonight to visit you. The maintenance guy was sick today.” I yawned. “Excuse me. That came out of nowhere.”
“Tired?”
“I think it’s more mental exhaustion than anything physical.”
“Oh yeah? Everything okay?”
I lay back on my bed and held the phone up to my face. “Ask me that at this time tomorrow, and I’ll let you know.”
“What’s going on?”
“I invited my dad for family day tomorrow. It was a last-minute decision. I called him this afternoon.”
“You haven’t really talked about your father. Do you not get along?”
I shook my head. “He screwed over my mom when I was pretty young, and I’ve never really forgiven him or gotten over it.”
“And now you feel like you’re ready to do that?”
I shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I think my relationship with him and my relationship with my ex have had far more of an effect on me than I allowed myself to accept before coming here. I think it contributed to my not wanting to get close to men or open up to anyone.”
Brock smiled. “I’m proud of you, you know that?”
Warmth spread through my chest. “Thank you.”
“I’ll have the truck gassed up and ready to go if you need to talk after you see him tomorrow.”
“I appreciate that.”
“So do you have anything you need to do for the rest of the night? Any counseling or stuff?”
“Nope. I think I’m going to take a nice, warm bath. I haven’t fully taken advantage of this ritzy place’s spa products and the big, beautiful tub in my bathroom.”
Brock was quiet for a minute. “What I wouldn’t give to be there while you’re naked in that bath.”
I smirked. “That might be able to be arranged.”
His eyes grew wide. “Oh yeah?”
I laughed. “Don’t get too excited. I didn’t mean in person—at least not tonight. But how about a little FaceTime fun? Do you think you can get someone to cover the bar in maybe a half hour?”
“I’ll shut the fucking thing down if I have to.”
***
I’d just set the phone up on a shelf in the bathroom and stepped back to see how I looked when a feeling of panic washed over me. Maybe I’d taken this too far. I should probably change... But as I reached for the phone, it rang. I lifted it close to my face as I answered to avoid showing what I had on.