Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“My little underdog got a Triple Crown nomination and qualifies,” she said with pride in her voice.
Calvin turned his head to look down the table at her. “Slingshot is yours?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yep. He sure is.”
“Are you going too?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
“That’s awesome. You must be excited. Did you buy him, or how did you get him?”
Calvin was very curious and always asked a lot of questions. Halo didn’t seem to mind though. She seemed pleased he was interested.
“He was a gift from Bane. The first horse I ever got to name,” she explained.
“You called him an underdog,” Calvin pressed.
She laughed softly. “Yes, well, he proved them all wrong. He was an end-of-the-summer baby. All thoroughbreds, no matter when they are born, turn one on January 1. If a horse is born on December 31, it turns one the next day. Since thoroughbreds race according to their age, trainers want them born in January or as close to it as you can get.”
“That’s interesting,” Calvin replied. “I’ve bet on some races for fun. When we went to the Kentucky Derby two years ago, I made a few bets. But I don’t know anything about it.”
“Who’d you put money on?” Forge asked, leveling Calvin with his gaze.
Calvin smirked. “I’m not stupid. There was a Hughes horse racing.”
A small grin tugged at Forge’s mouth as he leaned back in his chair and took a drink from his mug.
“Smart,” Oz replied.
“I wace too!” Hawkins announced, and Forge reached over and ruffled the boy’s platinum-blond hair. “Yeah, buddy, you do,” he agreed.
“You’re not eating much,” Calvin said to me, leaning close to my ear.
I dropped my gaze to the plate in front of me. “Not very hungry.”
“Try,” he urged quietly.
He was right. I needed to eat something. Picking up the fork, I stabbed a portion of the casserole and took a bite.
I held on to Calvin as he hugged me. This was it. He was leaving me here for an undetermined amount of time.
I didn’t even have details on my parents’ funeral. There was no contact with the DEA. Their death had been covered on the media by now, but I hadn’t watched any of it. Calvin had just warned me not to watch any news.
I didn’t know how to navigate any of this. What should I do? Wait? I had all these questions for him now that he was leaving. Reasons why I needed him to stay were mounting. But I wouldn’t beg him. I’d already asked. He’d said he couldn’t.
“You’re going to be okay. I can’t call because it’s not safe, but I will be able to contact via email. They have a secure server, where I can send emails to you,” he assured me. “I will be back as soon as I can.”
I nodded, unable to talk passed the lump in my throat.
The fact that I was being cut off from everyone in my life was finally sinking in.
Calvin started to step back, and it would be pathetic if I didn’t release him. Reluctantly, I loosened my hold and let him go. The only person I had left was leaving me.
The sad glint in his eyes as he stared at me only brought me guilt for making this so hard on him.
“Good luck,” I choked out.
“Thanks,” he said and reached out to pinch my chin before turning and walking out the door, following Oz’s retreating form.
I stood there, trying to gather myself, staring at the closing door. Hands touched my shoulders.
“Let’s go out back. Get some fresh air,” Winslet suggested gently.
I knew there were others in the house, but I hadn’t seen them when I walked with Calvin to the front entrance. Halo, Hawkins, and Forge had left a couple of hours ago. Ransom and Noa had come to breakfast but left right after to go to the house they were having built. Kash and Cressida had been at his parents’ house this morning, but Cressida had come back here earlier. I’d seen her briefly in the great room. It would be easy to isolate myself here due to its sprawling layout and size.
Turning from the door, I nodded my head and followed Winslet back through the entryway, into the great room, and out the French doors. I’d not been out here yet, and it was as impressive as the rest of the place. Winslet led me over to a sitting area with plush furniture that looked rather luxurious for outdoors. There was a firepit lit in the center of it. The temperature wasn’t cold exactly, but there was a chill in the air.
“Would you like something to drink? Tea, water, soda? I can even open a bottle of wine,” she asked me.
I was tempted to say yes to the wine. I wanted something to dull the pain, hollowness, loneliness that filled me. But I didn’t think drinking this early in the day was a habit I needed to start.