Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 24049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 120(@200wpm)___ 96(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“If you made a mistake, he’d smack you with a bamboo stick,” she says, shaking her head. “He did that to me once and I told him I’d shove it into his pee-hole if he ever did that again.”
I get a little twinge of fury at picturing another man smacking her, but then I laugh, brushing it away. This fierce woman can handle herself.
“He didn’t understand me,” she says with a grin, “but he understood me, you know? Anyway, he never touched me again. He smacked my spinning wheel instead. The other apprentices weren’t so lucky though.”
She tells me all about buying and renovating the barn into a pottery studio and all of the big plans she’s working toward of owning her own shop in town. I just know she’s going to do it all. She’s the most determined woman I’ve ever met. It’s such a turn on.
I tell her about my family back home and how I wasn’t compelled to become a doctor. “I don’t know why. It just wasn’t me.”
“It kind of is though,” she says, watching me with her head tilted like she’s breaking me apart and trying to figure me out.
“How so?”
She shrugs that sexy shoulder that’s peeking out of her large shirt. It’s been driving me crazy all day. “The way you were with me last night. So gentle and caring. I think you would have been a great doctor if you wanted to be. But either way you’re helping people and I can tell that’s what’s most important to you.”
“Hmm,” I say as I turn to the road, her words swirling in my head. “I never thought of it like that.”
“I don’t think you’re so different from them at the core,” she says like she’s got it all figured out. And maybe she does. “You’re wearing different uniforms, but in the end you’re both helping people when they’re at their most vulnerable, keeping them safe, and protecting them.”
Her words flip a switch in me. Maybe I’m not the odd duck out after all. Maybe I wasn’t switched at birth and am more like my family than I ever thought before.
“So, the gardening,” she says, resting her head on the seat as she turns to watch me drive. “Was that just a calendar thing or is that for real?”
I smile as I turn to her. “Can I show you something?”
She gives me a sexy grin. “You can show me anything, Mr. April.”
I laugh and turn onto the next road. “It’s just a quick detour.”
I take her to the firehouse and park outside.
Her eyes light up as she gets out and looks up at it. “Am I going to get a tour of the firehouse?”
I put my arm around her shoulder and guide her in. “A VIP tour.”
She claps excitedly.
Mason and James are washing the truck and June thanks them for their help last night. I feel so proud as I walk beside her. They keep darting their eyes at me, probably wondering if we’re a thing now. If we aren’t, we will be soon. I guarantee it.
“Oh my god,” Ethan says when the short guy from last night walks in. He has three bright red scratches across his forehead. “Dude, you have to get that checked. You probably need a shot or something.”
“He came clean this morning,” Mason says, chuckling as he comes over with his soapy hands dripping on the floor.
“Shut up, Mason,” Doug says.
“What?” I ask, looking from one to the other.
“The raccoon didn’t do that?” I ask, pointing at the scratches.
“Ronnie?” June says. “Yeah, that guy is a jerk. He’s always getting into my garbage.”
Doug exhales long and hard. “No, he just lunged at me and I got scared and ran into a tree. The branches scratched me.”
Mason chuckles.
“Why did you say he attacked you?” I ask, laughing.
Doug just goes red.
“He thought it would make him sound tougher,” Mason says, cracking up.
“Shut up, Mason,” Doug says louder.
I move June along as they start to go at it. If we get sucked into their drama, we’ll never get out of it.
We head upstairs and I bring her onto the roof to show her my garden. Bubba is sound asleep by my arugula, but he wakes up when we close the door. He runs over, snorting and panting as he heads right for my girl.
June kneels down and lets him collide into her, shaking his butt and covering her jeans in fur.
“You grew all this?” she asks, looking amazed as she looks around at my garden. It’s only spring, but it’s still impressive since I’ve been growing the seedlings all winter. Plus, it’s well organized and well loved.
I smile when she gets up—Bubba following on her heels—and walks around, slowly inspecting each planter box.
“You’re an artist too,” she says.
“I don’t know if I’d call this art,” I say.