Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 228(@300wpm)
After the truck drove off, Collie dropped his arms and muttered, “I always hated that guy.”
“Understandable, but what were you doing? I thought you two were going to get into a fist fight.”
He turned to me and raised his chin. “I could have taken him. I know he’s huge, but I fight dirty. I would’ve gone straight for his nuts, like a crazed squirrel.”
I tried not to grin at that. “Do I need to remind you that you’re only a month out from major surgery? One punch to the chest and he could have cracked your sternum, which isn’t even fully healed yet.”
“As if he could’ve landed a shot. He might be bigger, but I’m faster.”
“Okay, Rocky Balboa. I’m going to move the van, because it’s in the middle of the street.”
After I parked on the edge of the wide driveway, we brought Kate and her things inside. While we got her set up in the guest room, I asked, “What did you mean when you said the house is Jeannie’s, not his?”
“Technically, it belongs to her parents. The deed is still in their name, and Jeannie has lived in this house all her life. There’s no way Brad can try to stake a claim to it in the divorce.”
“That’s good.”
Collie sat down on the edge of the bed and pressed his hand to his chest. I sat down beside him and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m a little achy.” He leaned against me, and I put my arm around him. “I shouldn’t have acted like that,” he said, “but I hate him so much for what he did to Jeannie.”
“I get it. I hate that guy too, and I don’t even know him.”
“Thanks for having my back out there.”
“Always.”
A moment later, his phone buzzed. He read a text and sent a reply before telling me, “Jeannie and the baby just left the hospital. She’s on her way to see her kids. Scotty, Allie, and Maddy are going to stay with her mother-in-law over the weekend, so Jeannie can spend time with the baby, and hopefully get some rest.” Collie got up and pushed his hair out of his face. “She’ll be home in about two hours, so I’d better get busy.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I want to tidy up, put fresh linens on her bed so it doesn’t smell like Brad, and cook dinner.”
I caught his hand and said, “That won’t take very long with both of us working together. You can let yourself rest for fifteen minutes.”
He thought about that for a few moments before kicking off his sneakers and climbing onto the bed. I took my shoes off too, and stretched out beside him. “Don’t let me fall asleep,” he said. “I really want to make everything nice for Jeannie.”
“Okay.”
We both rolled onto our sides, so we were facing each other. It was perfectly quiet. The cat jumped onto the bed and curled up at our feet. Collie and I studied each other, and I reached out and brushed his hair back.
After a while, he said, “About that kiss under the fake mistletoe…”
“I’m glad it happened.”
“Me, too.” He chewed his lower lip before asking, “Do you think it might happen again at some point?”
I grinned and moved close enough to feel the warmth of his body. He lightly caressed my cheek, and I sank my fingers into his hair as I brushed my lips to his.
His breath hitched as the kiss deepened. Did he feel it, too? It was like the whole world broke apart and realigned, rebuilt into something brand new.
There was no going back, no way to claim we were just friends after this. I totally gave myself away in that kiss, showing him exactly what he meant to me, how much I wanted him, how much I needed him.
He broke the kiss first, leaning back just a little to search my face before burrowing into my arms. I wrapped myself around him and closed my eyes, savoring the moment.
After a while, he murmured, “People have long-distance relationships all the time. We could do that, too.” It seemed like he’d been having an internal conversation and finally looped me in on it.
He was right, we could, except that I didn’t want him to live someplace that made him unhappy. For now I left it at, “We’ll figure this out, Collie.”
We stayed there, wrapped up in each other for almost half an hour before finally climbing off the bed. “Tell me how I can help,” I said.
“You don’t have to do anything.”
I reached up and gently tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “I want to, and this’ll go a lot faster if we work together, so lead the way.”
“Okay. Thanks, Miller.”
After we put fresh linens on the bed in Jeannie’s room, I carried the laundry downstairs and loaded the washing machine. Then, as we tidied up the living room, Collie paused to pluck Jeannie and Brad’s wedding photo off the mantel.