Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 31149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
“I am so ready!”
“I bet.”
I wiggle the ladder that is the reason my mom came to get me, and I notice it’s stuck on the rug. Freeing it, I move the ladder into position before climbing up to the top, where we keep our special edition sets. This one is a first edition from when the full Twilight series initially came out. It’s still in the original packaging, a lucky find when we went estate sale shopping. It was just for decoration, but when Jamie came in and oohed and aahed over it, we gave her a price, and she was set on buying it.
She doesn’t know it, but we planned on just giving it to her.
We wanted to teach her how to save, and this was the perfect opportunity. A book set like this is meant to be treasured by another book lover. Jamie is that book lover. While I can feel her excitement now, I know it’s going to be even better when she learns the book set is hers free of charge.
This is my favorite part of being an author and store owner. I can bring happiness to so many.
I wish I could bring happiness to myself—not that I’m not happy. I love my life, my family, and my little apartment upstairs, but I want someone to share it with.
I want the love of my life.
I don’t know why I’m being so hard on myself. I haven’t had a boyfriend in years. Yeah, I’ve hooked up with tourists, but nothing has stuck. That’s fine, I guess. I don’t know. I think because Valentine’s Day is coming up, I’m being whiny. I shouldn’t be. It isn’t like I’m the only single person in the family. Opal is still broken up over the boyfriend who dumped her on Lock Night five years ago. Sadie is too busy for a man, and so is Blake. Either would have to be chased and for someone to make it worth their while for them to settle down. Bless Willa’s heart, but her husband passed over five years ago, so she’s alone again.
I should throw a Galentine’s Day party for us, so we don’t have to see our parents gush over each other.
That’s not a bad idea.
I’m just about to reach for the set, and maybe I’m shaking with excitement, because suddenly, the ladder jerks to the left. I squeal and I hear my mom call out to be careful, but I have no chance. It’s as if it happens in slow motion. I circle my arms as I try to right myself. It doesn’t help, so I try to grab the shelf for purchase.
Instead, I accidentally grab the girth of a stone sculpture of a cock.
Which is attached to nothing but a pair of stone balls.
Next thing I know, I’m falling to my death.
And as the world goes black, I can’t help but think that, once more, a dick has let me down.
two
. . .
Dermot
“I don’t want your money, Dermot. I want my big brother.”
My stomach drops as the guilt slams into me. At my feet, Kip makes a whining noise, totally attuned to my stress. My Australian shepherd, with one blue eye and one brown, looks up at me as if to ask if I want him to bite my sister, causing my lips to quirk. I pat him to reassure him I’m okay for right now before I lean against the glass doors of Tessa’s Cozy Cup, my sister’s drive-thru coffee spot in Lake Placid. Her shop stays busy, which is why she’s able to close at one every day. It leaves her the time and the ability to be creative at home with whatever ADHD-induced hobbies she’s doing at the time.
Right now? She’s making pottery.
Six months ago, it was diamond paintings.
She’s a wild one and doesn’t hold back at all.
“I know,” I say softly as she shuts and locks the door, the last customer driving off. “The clinic has been busy, or I would be around more.”
She gives me a sideways glance before rolling her dark-brown eyes that match my own. Her dark hair is up in a curly bun on top of her head as she pushes her blue glasses up her nose. I’m a full head taller than her, but my sister carries herself like she’s 6’2”. She’s a little thing but, like a kitten, her claws are sharp.
Tessa starts to break down one of the two espresso machines with her back to me. Her bright-yellow tee displays her business name, a business she built from the ground up. On my dime. To make up for the fact that I left when she was thirteen and never came back, I constantly sent her money. When I lost my grandfather, he left me a trust, and while Tessa wasn’t my dad’s, I have basically given her half since we were able to reconnect. My grandfather is probably rolling over in his grave, but I don’t care.