Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” Silas grumbled. “We’ll find him.”
“You think he’s gone?” I asked.
“If he was smart,” Silas answered.
I didn’t have the same feeling.
We’d just have to wait and see, I guessed.
Another coughing fit started, and Denver caught my hand. “Let’s get you to the house and showered.”
“Actually, I was going to suggest you stay here from now on.” Boone’s eyes gleamed as he pointed at the room that he’d built out with a little apartment inside for those kennel attendants that were here overnight. “I was talking it out with Nettie, and we figure we’d give you first dibs on the apartment in case you want to stay here. It has a working shower.”
The way that Boone said that made me frown. “I have a working shower at Denver’s place…but it does make sense to be closer to my job…”
“On that note.” Silas clapped Denver on the shoulder. “We’re heading out. We’re sorry we couldn’t stay longer,” he declared. “We’re going to head home and coordinate from there. We’ll find your guy, Denver. He won’t get away with this.”
“Thanks, man,” Denver said, sounding livid.
I didn’t blame him.
A man had come into his town and pretended like he belonged, using the Dixie Warden name to get a leg up. I would be pissed, too, in his situation.
Boone’s eyes were dancing with mirth when he said, “Get her home and showered, Denver.”
I glanced between the two men and decided to ignore them and walked over to Sawyer.
“I’m so sorry that this meeting didn’t go better.” I hugged her. “If you want to shower, you can come to Denver’s place.”
“We’re good. I’m not that smoky anymore after I dunked my hair into the hose outside. Plus, we’re going to be riding the rest of the night anyway. I’m glad you’re okay, Holly.”
I hugged her tighter and let her go.
I waved at Silas, and he winked. “Don’t be too hard on him.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
He didn’t answer, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
When Denver joined me, he seemed even tenser than when I left him.
“What’s wrong?”
He cleared his throat. “It’s just been a long day. You ready to go home?”
I nodded. “More than.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Nothing says ‘I love you’ like the sex washcloth toss.
—Holly to Denver
HOLLY
A week after the kidnapping I was now terming the “incident” in my head, and two days after the fire, I found myself at the kitchen table with the Windsor children.
We were in the middle of making dinner for the entire crew, ranch hands included, and they were rapid firing questions at me.
“Do you want kids?” Catalina asked.
I thought about that, then scrunched up my nose. “I love kids. I love y’all. I love everyone else’s kids. I just don’t think I want any of my own.”
Catalina frowned. “You don’t want a baby? Doesn’t everyone want a baby of their own?”
I shrugged. “I mean, not everyone. Seeing as I don’t want one.”
“Why not?” Joe asked, absently rubbing her belly.
I smiled. “I have nothing against babies. Or children. Or anything really. I just haven’t ever envisioned myself with children of my own. I’m not really sure why. I mean, nothing happened to make me not want them. But I’m pretty happy with my life right now. I get to work when I want, where I want. I don’t have anything tying me down. I can pick up and drive to Texas if I want, and I don’t have to consider much of anything.” I scrubbed at Froto’s neck. “And even this little guy was a little too much for me. If it wasn’t for y’all and Nettie, he might very well have died.”
“It was kind of touch and go there for a while.” Joe looked worried. “He’s pretty demanding.”
I grinned. “I think it’ll be different when it’s your own baby. A dog and a child are two completely different things.”
“Going by that, don’t you think that you might feel differently about your own child?” Catalina, so much like her father it was comical, asked.
She was the devil’s advocate for sure.
“I mean, maybe?” I shrugged. “I don’t really know, to be honest. And I’m not all that gung-ho about figuring it out.”
“So…” Joe asked. “You and Dad…”
I smiled, though the nerves did tickle my belly at the mention of her father and my relationship. “We’re exploring things right now.”
“Does that mean you’re in a relationship?”
I was already shaking my head, because that hadn’t been discussed in the week and a half that we’d been doing whatever we were doing.
“Uh, not exactly,” I admitted. “Hey, did you hear that I might be moving out?”
They all gasped. “What?”
“The really cool thing about the building that Boone and the Windsor trust just bought is that it comes with a fully functional unit. Boone already offered it to me.”
I hadn’t exactly considered it when Boone offered it to me at first, but the situation I found myself in was really weird.