Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
I nod slowly then.
“Yeah, I can see how that could be a dilemma.”
Kaci bites her lip and looks down.
“It’s just a weird situation because I don’t love what they’re preaching and some of the crazy beliefs they put out there. But I love my dad, even if Mike seems a little misguided at the moment. He’s all the family I have, and I don’t want to cause any problems. I don’t want to lose him either.”
I nod. “But you wouldn’t lose your father over something like this, right?”
Kaci merely sighs and shakes her head.
“You don’t know my dad,” she says in a soft voice, her brown eyes worried. “Again, Mike is just …”
Suddenly, the pretty woman jerks forward as her eyes focus on something in the distance. Confused, I turn and find an older man with a young woman next to him, her arm tucked into his elbow. He’s relatively inane looking because he’s just a middle-aged dude with thinning brown hair, a blue button down, and khakis. But the woman is interesting because she looks to be a teenager, and she’s dressed as if she’s a character in Little House on the Prairie in a long floral gown that goes up to her chin, with full sleeves and a long skirt. Her brown hair is done in a braid that trails down her back, and lo and behold, she’s got a white bonnet clutched in one hand. What the fuck?
Kaci immediately looks down, her cheeks reddening, as the man bends his head to say something in an intimate tone to his companion. I turn back to look at my curvy girl.
“Is everything okay, sweetheart? Do you know them?”
Kaci merely continues staring at the table, careful not to move so as not to bring attention to herself.
“That’s my dad,” she says in a low whisper. “That’s Mike Stott.”
Immediately, Hunter and I understand. We put money down on the table for the bill, and then taking Kaci’s elbow, exit quickly out the back. It’s only once we’re in my truck that she exhales, her shoulders sagging.
“That’s my dad,” she repeats in a low voice. “I don’t know who that young woman is, but it doesn’t look good.”
I nod because obviously, Kaci wasn’t lying when she said her dad has gone full fundamentalist. The question is who was that girl? His sister? Wife? Sister-wife? Daughter? Given the churning in my stomach, the answer doesn’t seem promising.
7
Kaci
Thank god my dad didn’t see us at the restaurant because can you imagine the dust-up? Me, with my skanky outfit and two boyfriends, and my dad with that young woman on his arm? Who was she, anyways? I’ve never seen her before, but she couldn’t have been more than a teenager. Nausea churns in my stomach as I shake my head.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” I murmur, hot tears springing to my eyes. “I mean, WTF?”
Hunter and Brent merely growl.
“It’s fine, honey. Besides, we don’t know what was going on just now. Maybe your dad was just showing a friend around town. That girl could have been anyone.”
Nausea rises in my throat again, and I swallow hard to make it stay down.
“No, she clearly wasn’t a friend. Mike was on a date, I’m pretty sure. But hell, why her? And why so young too? Plus, why is he even out? He never goes to restaurants because he likes staying home eating TV dinners while watching The Old-Time Gospel Hour on TV. It’s insane.” I slink down further in my seat, embarrassed and humiliated, as Brent and Hunter are silent. “I’m sorry again for walking out like that,” I stammer, desperate to fill the awkward quiet in the car. “We were enjoying such a nice dinner, and now it’s all ruined. Maybe we can do this another time?”
With that, Brent sighs while starting up the truck.
“Maybe,” Hunter says in a low voice. “We’ll see. Did you not want us to meet your father for some reason?”
“No, it’s not that at all!” I rush. “I’m not embarrassed to be with you guys, or by the fact that we’re in a threesome. It’s just that I told you about my dad and how Mike’s been getting crazier by the minute. I need to vet things first, and I didn’t think a surprise meeting at a BBQ joint was the time and place.”
Hunter nods slowly.
“Okay, that’s fair. I get it. Not everything in life should be a surprise.”
“Of course not,” I say quickly. “And I promise I’m not like Maria. I’ve stopped seeing other men. She broke your hearts, and I understand that it was really painful, but we’re talking about two different things here. This thing with my dad has nothing to do with you guys, and everything to do with him.”
“You did say Mike’s a harsh guy,” Brent growls from the driver’s seat.