Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68735 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
“I’d definitely like you to stay the night tonight,” he murmured. “I stopped at the store and got Little Debbie powdered donuts.”
My eyes lit. “Did you get the good stuff to go with it?”
“You mean, Borden chocolate milk?” He laughed, and the sound was so hearty it warmed me to my toes.
“Obviously,” I teased. “What is the point of eating those without the good hit of chocolate milk after?”
I’d never met anyone with the knowledge of what pairs best with Borden chocolate milk until I met Audric.
“I taught Damon everything I could about that delicacy,” I teased. “He was a chocolate milk monster. He could always tell when it wasn’t Borden.”
“Like his mama.” He laughed. “You remember that one time Laney tried to pass off Nesquik as Borden? I thought I might die.”
“I tried that one on Damon.” I laughed as I remembered the look he’d given me when he was a toddler. “He never trusted me again after that. He always checked the fridge to make sure that I wasn’t poisoning him.”
Audric’s smile was soft. “Laney used to share all those pictures in the group…he was all you, Creole. From his beautiful blue eyes to all that blond hair? It broke Laney’s heart when he passed. She was bound and determined that y’all have kids and raise them together.”
I wiped a tear that slipped past my defenses. “Everything is all messed up, isn’t it?”
He squeezed my arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
I smiled. “I like when I remember the good times with him. His time on earth was cut short, but that didn’t mean he didn’t live the hell out of his life while he was here. And he’s with my mom…and now Laney.”
His hand moved up and down the length of my arm before he said, “Come on. Let me show you around.”
I reached up and took his hand, then pressed a kiss to his knuckles.
Ten minutes later, I declared, “Okay, I’ve never realized that a double-wide could be this beautiful but…”
“It’s technically considered a triple-wide because of the front room right there,” he jerked his head in that direction. “But the guy completely gutted the place when he got it. He put in a new kitchen with better fixtures and cabinets. All the bathrooms are new. New wood flooring. Hell, I think he even redid the walls. The only thing that I added on my own once I bought it were the porches.”
“The porches are where it’s at,” I admitted as I looked out over the sprawling land. “How much land do you have here?”
“Thirty-three acres,” he answered as he came up beside me, overlooking the pastureland. “That house you can see in the distance?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“That’s my dad’s place. We have about thirty acres separating us, but the guy that owns that land has a verbal agreement with Dad. As soon as he’s ready to move, or he passes away, he’ll sell to either me or Dad.”
“Score,” I teased, turning to look up at him. “You like it here?”
“Love it,” he admitted. “I never really wanted to do the whole Dallas thing. Mom and Dad moved here because Mom hated the country. She couldn’t fuckin’ stand it. So Dad left his job for Kilgore Fire Department, that’s about two hours west on Interstate 20, and came here. Mom was happy…until Paisley passed away in that robbery. Then Mom hated it. Wanted to move back. But Dad was already upside down on the mortgage. He’d just been promoted to lieutenant, and he didn’t want to leave. That’s when Mom…”
When his mom tried to kill herself.
“Shit,” I said as I caught his hand with mine that rested down by our hips. “Sometimes, I wonder if a person can keep withstanding tragedy after tragedy. We’ve had our fair share, Audi.”
“Yeah,” he agreed quietly. “Creole?”
I looked over at him again, my eyes studying the laugh lines around his lips. “Yeah?”
“I talked to your dad today,” he started, then explained everything, starting with the phone call from Apollo, and ending with my dad giving him permission to date me.
“You didn’t have to be nervous. I could’ve told you that my dad wasn’t upset with you,” I rushed out.
He pulled me into his arms, not quite to the point where our bodies were touching, but close enough that I could feel his heat.
“I know that now, but…” He hesitated. “I would’ve wanted the clarification on my end had that happened to my daughter.”
I pressed in closer, until we really were touching, and pressed my head against his chest.
His heart thumped loud and fast, and I wondered if my nearness was affecting him like his was me.
As it was, I was feeling parts of my body tingle that hadn’t tingled like that in a really long time.
I hadn’t felt this feeling since I was sixteen and learning what it was like to be a woman.