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)
She’s wearing a new outfit, blue shorts and a white T-shirt, her black hair pulled into a ponytail that she did herself. We spent all weekend shopping and going to places I never fucking knew existed. Also, I never thought in my life I would be going to different stores to get white sneakers, and at one point, I bought her seven pairs. I also thought it was a good idea to go clothes shopping. I immediately regretted my decision when I thought I picked up something that was good but then got the grimace face, followed by a swift nod. I then waited back and would watch her eyes, and if I saw she looked at something twice, or even if her eyes changed when she saw something, I picked it up. In the end, we got home with twenty bags of clothes. I spent all of Sunday washing them to make sure they were ready for school the next day.
We walk out of the house side by side. “You okay?” I ask, waiting for the day she’ll actually say words to me. So far, she’s talked to Lilah, and she’s said a couple of words to Autumn and Charlie. I’m pretty much the only one she hasn’t spoken to, and it hurts. I also know she’s so unsure of everything. It’s a wonder she isn’t doing worse.
She opens the back door of the truck, getting up, and then places her bag beside her before she shuts the door and buckles herself in. I get in, starting the truck, and then turn to her. “Are you nervous?” I ask, and she shrugs. “Well, I will say you have to be the bravest kid I know.” I start the car. “I’m nervous for you, and I’m not even going to school.” I smile over my shoulder, and for the first time, she smiles at me. My heart, which was beating in my chest with nerves and stress, suddenly feels like it’s about to come out of my chest. Either that or I’m having a heart attack. “But I have no doubt you will just have the best day. Plus, I think you have to be the smartest kid in the class.”
I pull away from the house and make my way over to the school. I’m tapping the steering wheel with my finger, letting the nerves out, I’m assuming. We pull into the parking lot, and I see it’s filled up, leaving me to park on the side of the road. I meet her at the side of the road and walk with her toward the chain-link fence. I stop when we get there and squat in front of her, her eyes down on her feet. “Okay, I can’t go in there with you,” I say. “It was in the parents’ book they gave me to read. I have to say goodbye to you here.” Her eyes look up at me, and I can see she’s fighting back the tears. “They have my phone number, so if you need anything, you can ask Ms. Summer, and she will call me,” I remind her of what they told us when I came in to bring back all the paperwork I had to fill out. She nods and the bell rings, and I swear, I wish I could pick her up and take her away from all of this. “You got this.” I put my hand on her shoulder and squeeze her, not sure she’d be okay with me hugging her. “I’ll be here waiting when you finish school.”
“Okay,” she says softly. It’s a good thing I’m already squatting down because just the fact she spoke to me would have cut me off at my knees.
“Have a great day,” I say, smiling as I blink away my own tears. She nods and turns to walk into the schoolyard. I get up as Ms. Summer walks toward her, giving her a big smile. She reaches out her hand for her, and Lucy takes it. She must tell her to wave goodbye to me because she turns and waves at me. I hold up my hand, keeping it up until she’s inside the school.
“She’ll be good,” Brady, Autumn’s brother, says. “I pointed her out to Wyatt before she walked in, so he’ll check on her,” he says of his stepson.
“Thanks, man.” I nod at him. “Never thought I’d be in a parking lot watching my kid walk in the school,” I admit to him. “I also didn’t think it would hurt me as much as it did.”
“Kids, man.” He shakes his head. “Wyatt doesn’t share my blood, but I would die for him, so I can imagine.”
“Later,” I say, turning and walking to my truck. I take one more look at the school before I get in, feeling like I’m losing my mind as I make it to work and get out of my truck. I walk into the barn, already on edge, when I look up and see Lilah. She has her back to me, but I know every single inch of her from afar.