Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
“I’ll drop them off tomorrow after dinner,” he said flatly, already turning away.
“Okay, that’s fine, but you should know that Thomas has a book he needs to read this weekend. It’s in his bag.”
“He has what to do?” he snapped, finally looking me in the eye.
“He has a report due on Tuesday,” I answered. “He needs to read the book this weekend, so we can get…”
“That should’ve been done on your time, Rae,” he growled. “We’ve got tickets to the game tonight.”
“I know. Thomas told me, but…”
“No buts. He’s not wasting his night with me doing some dumb book report for school!”
“It’s not wasting his night, Dan. He can read a few chapters before you go…”
“I said no! I’m not rearranging my plans because you can’t keep up with what the kids are supposed to do.”
He always did that. He always found a way to turn everything into my fault, that I’d done something wrong, and it infuriated me. “You’re his parent, too. It wouldn’t kill you to help him.”
His jaw tightened, and for a second, I thought he was going to say something even worse than he already had. Instead, he shook his head and grumbled, “Whatever.”
He got back in his truck and slammed the door, putting an end to the conversation. What a jerk. I was still reeling from our exchange when the boys came over to me. Lucas reached for me first. He hugged me and whispered, “Have a good weekend, Mom.”
“You, too, sweetheart.”
As soon as he started for the truck, Thomas stepped up. He gave me a tight hug and said, “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll get the book read before I get back. I promise.”
I nodded and whispered, “Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
With that, he climbed in next to his brother and closed the door, and that hollow ache in my chest returned. Once they buckled up, Dan glanced over at me. Once upon a time, those eyes had been warm and full of love. Now, there was nothing.
I stood there and watched as he pulled off. The boys waved at me through the rear window, and I waved back, heart squeezing in my chest like it always did when they left. Yeah. Drop-off days were the worst.
Dan hadn’t even really looked at me. Not the way he used to. Strangely enough, the thought had me thinking about the man who’d approached our table at the diner. There was something about him that stuck with me.
He was handsome, but not in your typical hot guy kind of way.
This guy was rugged and intense, and looked like he’d been shaped by life, not sheltered from it. His flannel shirt was tattered along the hemline and pulled against the muscles of his chest, and his jeans were worn and fit like a glove. One might think he couldn’t afford new clothes, but I got the feeling that wasn’t the case.
He was solid, sure of himself, and didn’t seem the type to care about something as trivial as what he was wearing. His sleeves had been pushed up just enough to show the tattoos running down his forearm, leaving me wondering if there were more beneath his shirt. I also wondered if they meant something, if they told a story.
His story.
Something told me his wasn’t an easy one. I could see that in the roughness in him. His graying hair and the beard that hadn’t been trimmed in some time, along with his calloused hands, didn’t take away from him. If anything, they made him more.
So much more.
But it was his eyes that got to me the most.
I felt a warmth and sense of understanding the second he looked at me. It didn’t make sense. The man didn’t know anything about me, and yet, he looked at me like he understood all the hardships I’d been through.
More than that, he looked at me like I mattered.
Not like I was in the way. Not like I was an obligation.
Like he saw something in me that compelled him to stand there a moment longer than he should, just so he could get a better look at me. And that made me wonder if he might’ve found me attractive, which brought a smile to my face.
That smile stuck with me all the way over to my parents’ house.
I’d been promising to go see them all week, but with school and the boys’ after-school practices, I hadn’t been able to make it, which I felt awful about. They were getting older and needed me more now than ever.
I turned down their road and sighed when I spotted the white farmhouse in the distance. There was a time when that house brought me nothing but comfort and joy. Now, it deepened the ache in my chest.
Dad was out on his tractor, mowing the front lawn, and I couldn’t help but notice that the lines weren’t as straight as they used to be. It wasn’t a big deal, but something about it saddened me. It was just another sign that my parents were getting older, and there would come a time when they wouldn’t be here anymore.