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)
“What are you doing here?” I ask as Lucy goes to Rosy to talk to her.
“Came to see how my horse was doing.” He points at the horse he’s had for the past four years. “Is that a problem?”
“Nope,” I reply. “We were going to go for a ride.”
“Heard you two got out of the house,” he prods, trying not to laugh.
“Is that what you heard?” I side-eye him.
“Word is spreading that you and Lilah left holding hands,” he continues, and I lean against the stall.
“She told me that you would give her a position up north,” I say, and Charlie nods.
“If she wants it, it’s hers. Is that okay with you?”
“Why wouldn’t that be okay with me?” I almost growl out the words.
“Well, now that you’ve got your head out of your ass, are you just going to let her leave you?” Every single time I look at her, I ask myself that same question. “Would you be okay with her leaving?” I don’t answer him; I just watch him. “Would you be okay with her being with someone else?” I stand straight. The image of me punching Charlie in the face now fills my mind.
“She wants kids,” I confide in him because he knows where I stand with this.
“You okay with her building a life with someone else?” He stares at me. “You okay with her making a child with someone who isn’t you? If you are, then let her go.” He shakes his head. “I love you like a brother, but I think if you let her go, you are going to regret it for the rest of your life. You love her, man.” If only he knew how much I love her. “Fucking admit it to yourself.”
I’m about to tell him that I have when I hear the sound of wailing and rush past him toward Lucy, tears running down her face. “She bit me,” she says, her bottom lip quivering. “I went to see if she was okay, and she bit me,” she repeats, standing next to one of the new horses we got a couple of days ago.
She cries out as I look at her arm with a red mark on it. “I didn’t even do anything. I just said hi and let him smell my hand, and then Coffee bit me,” she sobs. I hold out my arms, and she runs into them.
For the first time since she’s been with me, she accepts my hugs, crying. “It’s okay.” I rub her back, feeling the warmth fill my body. “I don’t think she meant to hurt you.” I get up, taking her with me in my arms. She puts her head on my shoulder. “Let’s get you inside and clean you up, yeah?” I tell her, and she nods. I know, just looking at her, I’m going to fight until my last breath to make sure she is safe and happy for the rest of her life. Even if it’s the only thing I’ll ever do for her.
Chapter Thirty-One
LILAH
“No worries, Baxter.” I smile into the phone. “We’ll see you today at four.” I disconnect the phone, putting it down as the front door opens and Emmett steps in.
The smile on my face gets even bigger when I see him. It’s a strange thing waking up with him every single morning and going to bed with him, and still being captivated by his presence. “Hey,” he says, taking off the baseball hat he’s wearing backward and scratching his head.
“Hey, how was drop-off?” I lean back in my chair and grab the coffee mug I filled up when he dropped me off right before he took Lucy to school. It’s been a week since our date out and since he held my hand in front of everyone. I thought it would be weird coming to work on Monday, but no one looked at me differently. I also didn’t hear any whispering, which I was happy about. I mean, I knew they would be talking about me, but it was nice not to have it in my face. We also don’t bring it to work. It’s not like he sucks my face every single chance he gets. He saves that for when we are behind closed doors, and I mean closed doors. He doesn’t even kiss me if Lucy is there. Which I’m grateful for since I don’t even know what to call this thing between us.
“Good,” he reports. “Saige is sleeping over tonight.” I try to hide the smile at the way he says this as if he would rather ride bareback on a skinny horse who tries to buck him off.
He’s about to say something else when Charlie comes waltzing in. “Morning,” he says, walking to my desk. “How is everyone this morning?”
“Emmett was good until he found out he’s going to have two girls over at his house. From the rumors I heard, they like to see if they can stay up all night long.”