Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
As soon as we were inside the vast building, as Sterling had predicted, Emily and Jerry peeled off and disappeared into the crowd. We didn’t bother to follow. They were on a mission. And so were we.
“Everyone’s scattered all over the place,” Sterling said. “I guess the better to browse. We’re going to have to cover a lot of ground.”
“I’m not in a rush,” I said. “Just keep me from shopping.”
Sterling laughed. “I’ll try, but you know—same. My room’s already full.”
“You have Forrest’s house,” I suggested.
She bit her lip and then shook her head; “No, we left it furnished for the renter.”
“But eventually you two are going to move in, right?” I asked as we walked down the first aisle, scanning for a jeweler whose work matched the necklace.
“Eventually, yeah, I mean, after the will terms are up and we’re allowed to move out of Heartstone Manor. I love his house. It’s so cool. With so much wood, it blends into the trees. But it’s bright and open too. He has good taste,” she said with a smug smile.
“Obviously, because he picked you,” I said, nudging her with my shoulder.
Sterling flashed me a radiant smile. I loved my littlest sister, always had, even when she’d been a hot mess of self-destruction. But I adored seeing her like this, happy and in love, sober, and working her ass off on a coding career of all things. To be honest, I didn’t really understand what it was she was learning. She’d tried to explain it, especially her new cybersecurity interests, but it all went right over my head. She was working with some of the tech guys at Sinclair Security, the company our brother Griffen and Quinn’s husband Hawk used to work for. They were serious. Uber high-end security to the stars kind of thing, and they’d offered her a kind of internship. I knew it was a big deal.
Her confidence had taken a boost as she settled into pursuing her career goals, but it was Forrest who’d put that blissful look in her eyes. Sterling was happily in love, and I had to admit I had the tiniest twinge of envy. For a moment with Matt, I’d hoped—but I’d never loved him. Been attracted to him, yeah. Appreciated his expertise and everything I could learn from him, but we hadn’t had that connection, that spark beyond the hormones of it. Not like—
I cut that thought off before I could finish it. The only man I’d sparked with lately was one I wasn’t touching with a ten-foot pole. West was hot, sure. He’d always been hot. I’d picked up on that when I hit puberty and noticed that boys were good for something other than hunting frogs and playing in the woods. But West was eight years older than me. Back then, I’d looked, maybe imagined a time or two, but absolutely nothing more than that.
My older brothers and their friends had felt like surrogate parents more than regular people when I was a teenager. I’d appreciated West’s thick, dark hair and the broad shoulders he’d had even back then. He was tough and didn’t take any bullshit, but he’d also been kind, which a lot of my brother’s friends hadn’t been. Why would they be? The rest of us were kids and, by their definition, annoying. Even with years of familiarity, I’d never grown used to West’s good looks. Maybe because he was so much older, and our paths didn’t cross often.
I stayed out of trouble, and Griffen had been gone from Sawyers Bend for years. There’d been no reason to see West. It was weird to know someone my whole life and not really know them well, but that’s how it was with Weston Garfield. That didn’t mean I’d lost my appreciation for his charms. Those shoulders were even broader. Whatever workout he did had left him with some pretty spectacular muscles.
But he was still my oldest brother’s best friend, and the police chief of Sawyers Bend. He was also bossy as hell and overly responsible. Definitely not my type. I mean, I like responsible, but...
“Are you brooding over the break-in?” Sterling asked as we turned down another aisle.
I stiffened, afraid my little sister could read my mind. I debated lying. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about any of this. But lying and deception were my father’s way, and he was gone. If I couldn’t be honest with my little sister… I shrugged. “Not about the break-in exactly, though it freaks me out that somebody knew I had that file and went to all the trouble to get in and take it.”
“Ave, you’re there alone a lot.” She slid me a sidelong glance, concern darkening her eyes.
“Yeah, and I know Hawk has the place wired, but apparently not enough to keep someone from breaking in,” I said. I should have listened to him when he said I needed more cameras. But it had bugged me to think about being watched. I suppose I needed to get over that.