Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 132(@200wpm)___ 106(@250wpm)___ 88(@300wpm)
He waves at the painters. “Hey guys, can you help me push this into the driveway?”
“Oh no, you don’t have to—”
I don’t even finish the sentence because the men are all lumbering toward me. I get a few ‘Hey Isabels’ from them, but they are focused on doing what Ryker asked them to do.
I stand to the side as they move my car into Ryker’s driveway. Once it’s parked, I walk over and grab my purse and phone out of the van.
“I’m going to call a tow truck.” I look at my phone. “Shoot, I’m going to be late picking up my son.”
Ryker puts his hand on my back and guides me up the driveway. He pushes a button on his phone, and the garage door opens. “I'll drive you.”
I stop. “What? No.” Panic sets in. “I can call Caroline.”
He opens the passenger door. “Come on. This will be the quickest.”
I look at my phone again. “Fine.”
I get into his SUV, and as I settle into the plush leather seat, he grabs the seatbelt, reaches around me, and clicks it into the harness. I’m trying to catch my breath as he closes my door, grabs a set of keys off the hook in the garage, and then walks around to the driver’s side.
He’s typing out a text as he opens his door. “Can I have the keys to your car?”
I point out the back window. “They’re in it.”
He gets into the car. “Okay. Tate Jennings is coming to pick it up.”
“I could have called them. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but I’m usually on top of things. I—”
He is backing out of his driveway, and he glances over at me. “Oh, I know how you are, Ms. Independent. It’s okay to let someone help you sometimes. Plus, Tate’s a friend. He’s helped me a few times when I was on the road and Dad’s car was acting up.”
I nod and rest my head against the back of the seat. “Okay.”
“I'll call him in the morning to see when it will be ready. I told him I needed it by the end of the day tomorrow because I knew you wouldn’t want to go without a car.”
I sigh softly. How nice is it to just let someone take care of things. “Thanks, Ryker.”
He waves me off as if what he’s doing is no big deal. “We going to the high school?”
“Yes, please.”
He drives toward the school, and my mind is going crazy. “Thank you for this, Ryker.”
He just smiles. “It’s no problem. I’m happy to do it.”
I nod. “Uh, I just wanted to see the swing,” I murmur as if I’m trying to explain why I was lurking outside his house.
His smile gets bigger, and he looks over at me. “You can see it any time you want. I’ll push you on it if you want me to. Like we did in high school.”
I bark out a laugh. “That would be a sight. I haven’t been on a swing in probably… well, probably since I was on that swing twenty years ago.”
His voice deepens. “Well, anytime you’re ready.”
I pull my coat tighter around me. I’m glad I have the bulky coat on so he can’t see my heart about to beat out of my chest.
When we get to the school, Brock and three boys are sitting outside on the school steps. I close my eyes and shake my head. Of course, I forgot that today is the day I pick up Brock’s friends, too. Some moms and I have a carpool thing for basketball season, and I completely forgot that we have a Tuesday night ritual.
I turn to Ryker. “I'm so sorry. We have a few boys to take home. I forgot today was my day. They live close to my house. You can just take us there and they can walk.”
Ryker reaches his hand out, and I think he’s about to touch me, but then he lets it fall to the console between us. “Izzy, stop. It's fine. Anything you need. I got you.”
The boys are all looking at the car, and I realize I'm going to have to roll down my window and holler for them. Once I figure out how to roll it down, I lean out. “Brock!”
My son’s mouth drops open. I’m sure he didn’t expect to see me in a high-dollar, blacked-out SUV. He and his friends run toward us. “Mom, this is sweet.”
He looks through window and sees Ryker.
His hand goes to his mouth. “Mom… Mom, that’s Ryker Kirby.”
I hide a smile. Of course, he’s excited. “I know. Get in.”
The boys all climb into the back. It takes a bit for them to get settled and into seatbelts because they’re all losing their minds. They can’t get over the fact that they are in a car with Ryker Kirby.