Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 70488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70488 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
A woman.
I turned my head to see that Ida Bell, Koen’s nanny, was there.
“The kids settled with their parents?”
He nodded once. His face tight and sad.
Ida Bell touched my arm and whispered, “You okay?”
I nodded.
I was more than okay.
“Good.” She stepped back. “Yes, they’re with your sister and brother-in-law. They said that they’d call you when they made it back to Lubbock.”
I had no clue what was going on. But I didn’t necessarily like the way my belly felt when she spoke.
“Good.” Koen sounded a little bit sad. “It’s good that he finally made it home.”
Ida Bell nodded, but she also looked sad. Way more than sad. She looked devastated.
“We’re headed out,” Koen said. “Have a good one.”
I waved from Hux’s arms, which were still firmly around me, but only Ida Bell smiled and waved back.
The door closed, and I turned to look up at Hux. “What the hell was that? I thought those kids were Koen’s?”
“They kind of are.” Hux squeezed me and let me go, and the bereft feeling was back. “They’re Koen’s nephews. For the sake of getting custody of them, though, he was their dad. Long story short, Koen’s sister is fucked up. She has a really bad case of postpartum depression. Tried to kill them when her husband disappeared. And Koen had to say he was the baby’s father to get custody of the kids. He took them home with him and left his sister to get some help at an in-patient medical facility that specializes in PPD. Koen’s brother-in-law, Porter, however, was a prisoner of war. He was captured two years ago and found nine months ago. It’s taken him this long to recover on his own. And come find his sister and kids. Porter is a Dixie Warden down in Texas, which happens to be where his sister, Brea, also has her medical treatment facility. I doubt they stay down there long, though. Once Brea’s better, I’ll bet they’re right back up here.”
“That’s both awful and sweet at the same time,” I breathed.
“Come on,” he said. “I’m tired of breathing sawdust.”
I followed behind him, stopping when he did to get rid of my dusty boots right inside the door that led back to his main apartment.
“This place is going to be really cool when you’re done,” I said. “And heated floors. The guy I was talking to sounded like they were too extravagant.”
“I’d like to keep things that are important to me warm.”
It took me a minute to consider that maybe he was talking about something more important than his toes. Like a person.
But the butterflies in my belly made me clam up.
Just as we got to the kitchen, there was a knock on the door.
Hux walked to it and opened it up wide, revealing his cousin, Katana.
“I took this job to see more of y’all,” she said. “And guess what? I never see y’all. It was like you all dropped off the face of the earth. I only have six months, you know.”
Hux paused. “Six months for what? This was just a weird week. I was gone for five days. Hampton had to work a couple of forty-eight on and twenty-four off to cover for one of his coworkers that had a baby. Heidi is sick as a dog. And Harvey hates our mom with a passion.”
Katana covered her mouth. “Oh, nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Hux caught her hand and stilled her from retreating. “Katana, what did you mean?”
“Oh, nothing.” Katana stilled, looking cornered.
Huxley moved closer. “Katana.”
Katana’s shoulders drooped. “It’s just…”
Huxley growled. “Katana!”
Seventeen
Here, hold my morals.
—Hux to Bernice
Hux
Katana looked like she was about to run away and never look back.
When Katana stayed stubbornly silent, I said, “I’ll find out one way or another.”
Katana shrugged and smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Sure.”
I let her go and watched her leave, having a bad, sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
The moment the door closed, I walked the food over to the bar that I used as a kitchen table and placed it there before taking my phone out of my pocket and finding the number I wanted.
Beaufort answered in four rings, sounding hesitant when he finally answered with a gruff, “Hello?”
I placed the phone on speaker, set it on the counter, then leaned on the counter with both hands, letting my head hang. “What’s Katana hiding?”
There was a long pause, then, “Give me a minute. I’m in a meeting.”
He hung up, and I knew it was bad.
“Who is that?” The soft voice came from beside me.
Her hesitant hand went to the ball of my shoulder, and the calm that came over me at the simplest of touches from her was nearly overwhelming.
“That’s one of my club brothers, who also happens to be best friends with Katana,” I said. “Always thought that they were going to get together. They’ve been neighbors for their entire lives. I think they have some pact at thirty-five that they’ll marry if they’re single. If anyone knows what’s going on with her, it’s Beau.”