Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Guess they weren’t kidding,” I said as I read the paperwork. “I feel like for this to have been filed so fast, they were planning on taking this route anyway. So why visit you where you work? Not to mention, how did she know where you were?”
“That’s a good question, because it’s not like I’ve shared where I’m working on any given day. I make up my schedule the night before. Not even the funeral homes really know when I’m coming.” She pushed through the front door of my house, and the smell of pancake syrup and waffles greeted us. “And how did she know that we were here? And why does it smell like…”
“Paka!”
“Hey there, Beanie Weenie,” my Uncle Parker cooed as he walked toward us.
The biggest, gruffest, scariest man I knew was a goner for my little girl.
Then again, he was a sucker for his own kids as well.
“Ahhh, if it isn’t little Sutton,” he said as he saw who I was with. “I’d heard you’d moved in.”
“Among other things,” Sutton scrunched up her nose. “It’s nice to see you again.”
He took the hand she was holding out and shook it once before he said, “Was in town, so I thought I’d run by. Passed y’all on the road running, so I figured I’d come back and cook waffles. Hungry?”
“Starving,” Sutton admitted. “It’s been a long day.”
“It’s only seven in the morning.”
“Yeah, but a lot of shit has happened since I woke up two hours ago,” she admitted. “I’m gonna go get changed out of these clothes. I’ll be right back.”
She disappeared without another word, tossing the papers onto the counter as she moved past it to her room.
I watched her go, and when I finally returned my gaze to my uncle, he was staring at me with a knowing smile.
“Knew you’d always had a thing for that girl.”
I shrugged.
There was no use denying it.
I had.
“Why the long morning already?” he asked as he moved to my kitchen and started dishing out waffles.
I took the plate for Lottie and set it on the counter where she had a stool that was designed to hang onto the counter securely.
Once I had the food in place, Parker placed her into it then handed her the syrup.
She drowned her waffle in the syrup and Parker had to pull the bottle away or she would’ve kept going.
“Thanks!” she chirped.
Parker winked at her.
“Morning went pretty good until we decided to take a different route this morning and encountered the man I fired yesterday.”
“Which one?”
“Yates.”
“Huh, why’d you have to fire him? He was pretty solid. Rafe even recommended him.” He narrowed his eyes at me.
I explained everything that happened with him over the last couple of months, and ended with who I found him in the car with this morning.
“Son of a bitch,” Parker shook his head. “That’s…”
“Sucky?” I joked.
“That’s one word.” He jerked his chin at the paperwork that was on the corner of the counter. “And that?”
“That,” I grumbled, “is Sutton’s ex causing trouble.”
“Needless trouble,” Sutton breezed in with a wave of her hand, dressed in black leggings, a slouchy black t-shirt, and socks. “Because a few days after moving here, I gave them the go ahead to destroy them. The fertilized eggs are no longer.”
“Do you think that you’ll get in trouble for doing that?” I wondered.
“I don’t see why I would. I mean, they were mine to do with as I pleased.” She paused.
“Send all that information to Gunner’s junkyard dog of a lawyer. Let her sort it out,” Parker suggested. “Now, for the reason I’m here. I want to take Lottie home with me for a few days. We’re headed to the lake to go camping, and Kayla’s jonesin’ for a hit.”
That warmed my heart.
“Well, actually, I was about to go out of town for a few days anyway. I’d asked Sutton to watch her, but if you don’t mind, that’ll free her up to get some work done.” I raised a brow at Sutton, who looked sort of crestfallen. I reached out and caught her hand. “You can have her anytime you want her.”
She squeezed it back before heading to the pile of waffles and taking one for herself. “It’s okay. I’ll figure out some other way to occupy my time while y’all are away. Maybe I’ll pick up a few more dead people.”
Parker paused. “I have no idea what that means.”
Sutton sat down and started to eat while I explained what her job was.
In the end, Parker was super interested in how she got into this, and by the end of the meal, they were discussing what she could do to further her career if she wanted to.
“But that’s the thing, I’m not sure if I want to,” she admitted. “I know this is my last year in the 1500. It’s a young girl’s game, and I’m just not as young as I probably should be to hang. But I’m going to train for this last one, and then I’m going to pivot into marathons. I want to pursue this for now…and then we’ll see where I go for my career outside of running. I have a ton of sponsors that have already talked about making the move with me when I transition to marathons. Plus, I have a ton of brands that have now asked to pick me up after the last run I ran.”