Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
The course of their lives and the trajectory of the town sets them on a collision course for disaster.
Lilah
I was left for dead when I was eighteen.
Coming to Mustang Creek Ranch gave me something to live for.
My boss is grumpy and reclusive.
But I'm secretly in love with him, even though he's made it known he'll never settle down.
Even though he's made it clear, he'll never be mine-or anyone's.
Emmett
I've kept my distance from Lilah for years. No matter how much I want her, she's off-limits.
The only family I will ever have are the ones I fought beside in battle-the family I chose.
Until the phone rang and I found out I had an eight-year-old daughter.
Watching Lilah with my daughter makes me wonder what it would be like to do the thing I
swore I never would: have a family and fall in love.
When I move her into my house to keep her safe from the dangers of her past, all bets are off
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
EIGHT YEARS EARLIER
LILAH
Soft music is coming from my phone as I get ready for the night. I slide on a pair of jeans before I grab my homecoming T-shirt and slip it on. Tonight, we are all wearing our shirts for a video we are going to be doing. It’ll be good not to think about anything but having a good time since I spent the whole day filling out college applications. There was one that was the number one in the running. The decision of where to go was easy to make since it was at the top of my list. It was far enough from home, which means I am not going to be living at home anymore, yet close enough to home that I could be here in two hours.
I look at myself in the mirror smiling before tucking it in on the side and grabbing my sneakers. My phone rings with the alarm I set to be ready as I slide my foot into my sneaker at the same time my watch pings. I turn it over, seeing it’s a text from Derek.
Derek: I’m here. Move your ass.
“Great,” I say of his message, sensing his mood is going to be good. When I grab my phone from the top of the dresser, I text him back right away.
Me: Coming, be out in two.
I tuck the phone in my back pocket before putting the other shoe on and walking out of my bedroom. I jog down the steps to find my parents in the living room, watching something on television, sitting side by side as always. Dad’s arm is around the back of the couch. “Okay, Momma,” I say, walking to both of them but going to her side. “I’m leaving.” I lean over to kiss her cheek.
“Where are you going?” she asks, surprised I’m going out on a Sunday night, especially since I got up at three this afternoon and spent the rest of the day camped out on the couch watching videos.
“A couple of us are getting together to celebrate homecoming,” I say, starting to make my way over to kiss my dad and stopping when he starts to talk.
“Didn’t you do that last week and then the senior welcome-back camping trip?” my father asks, looking over at me.
“Dad, it’s our senior year. We have to do all the things,” I inform him. “It’s like one step toward our freedom.” I smile big at him, knowing I’ll miss this when I leave.
“There is a party for everything nowadays.” He snickers, shaking his head and turning the channel on the television.
“What time are you going to be home?” Mom asks as I lean over to my father and kiss his cheek.
“Not late. I start work tomorrow,” I say of the job I got working for the local pizza place. I spent the summer as a day camp counselor. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but it was either that or work at the local ice cream parlor I worked at for the past three summers. This was a better decision since I would have all my nights free. The downside was I’d have to put up with six-year-old kids all day long, which meant I was in bed every night by ten from exhaustion. I was happy to be done with it, so now I am able to socialize.
“Regardless,” my father states, “your curfew is midnight.”
“Dad,” I reply, laughing, “you know I’m seventeen, right?” He just glares at me. “Next year, I’ll be living in my dorm room.”
“You know if you aren’t home by twelve oh one”—he glares—“I’ll find you.” He points at me. “Tell Derek I’ll be waiting up.”
I shake my head, laughing. “Got it.” I blow a kiss at both of them before I walk out the front door.
The orange pickup truck is by the curb. Derek’s in the driver’s seat tapping the steering wheel with his finger while he listens to some country song. “Hey,” I greet him, opening the door and getting in.
“Took you long enough,” he snarls at me as soon as I sit down. “I’ve been waiting forever.”
I try not to roll my eyes at him as I put my seat belt on. “It’s been five minutes max.”
“It’s a hundred degrees outside, and my air conditioner doesn’t work.” He pulls away from the curb.
I don’t bother saying anything to him when he’s in this mood since I know nothing good will come from it. So instead, I look out the window and think about how everything will be different soon. For the first time in my life, I’m going to be solo, even without Derek, which is something that has been straining our relationship. We started dating three years ago, and when it was time to apply to colleges, he somehow got it into his head I would follow him to wherever he got in. It started as a fight that ended up in us breaking up for a week before he said he was sorry that he thought I would pick him over a school. I didn’t bother arguing with him because I had already decided which one I was going to. I had also already decided we would probably not be together by the time I left for school.