Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Sam fell into the same category. I already knew I was going to look like a wrung-out old mop when I hit fifty. They all got more stunning with age. It wasn’t fair that some people got to be gorgeous their whole lives.
“So,” Vaughn began, taking a step closer, still holding my hand, “Rachel didn’t tell me what you do for a––”
“No!”
We both turned to look at Sam’s sister Rachel, who was running toward us, fast, from, I was guessing, the house, where my daughter had gone. As she moved, followed by two other women, she was waving her hands.
“What is going on?” Vaughn asked, releasing my hand so he could turn and face her when she reached us. “Rach?”
Hands on her hips, she sucked in air, trying to get her lungs to work.
“Oh dear God,” one of the other women said, winded as well, gesturing at me.
It was a bit of a clip, I would have needed a minute if I’d run too.
“It’s Debbie, isn’t it?” I asked her.
Glancing at me, she smiled and nodded, then returned her focus to Vaughn and shook her head.
“Seriously, what’s happening?” he asked the third woman, not a Kage relation like Debbie; instead, a friend, as was Vaughn.
“That’s your date,” the woman answered, pointing over her shoulder toward another tented area where a man stood drinking a glass of something. When he noticed us all looking, he smiled and waved, which made me chuckle, as we all returned the gesture as a group. “This is Rachel’s brother-in-law.”
“Oh, I beg your pardon,” Vaughn rushed out. “We all work together in the same office, and Rachel was setting me up today, as I’m recently divorced.”
“I’m sorry about the divorce, but being set up by well-meaning friends is one of the nice things about having them, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” he agreed, grinning.
“Oh thank God,” Rachel croaked out, straightening up. “I was so scared Sam was going to see you. I’ve never run so fast in my life.”
“I’m sorry?” Vaughn was confused.
“That’s a good friend there,” Debbie assured him. “She saved your life.”
“Ah.” Vaughn chuckled and turned to me. “Sam must be your husband. I’m sure he’s quite formidable from the concern of my dear friend”—his focus went back to Rachel—“but I’m sure if we just explained the little misunder––”
“No,” Rachel denied flatly.
“Oh no,” Debbie seconded.
The third woman snorted.
“Jory,” I stated, leaning sideways to offer her my hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“And you,” she greeted me, beaming. “I’m Shayla, Rachel’s next-door neighbor.”
“Do you know Sam?”
“I met him years ago, when he was still a police detective, before he became a marshal. I did see his picture in the paper when he was promoted to chief deputy.”
“Your husband is a marshal?” Vaughn asked me.
“Yes,” I answered, waving as I saw him.
Poor Vaughn. He did the thing that a lot of men found themselves doing when they met Sam Kage. His mouth fell open as he mapped the height, the width of his shoulders, and finally settled on his face as Sam stepped in beside me. When I realized that Vaughn appeared as though he’d seen a ghost, I checked my husband and immediately noted his scowl. The instant I bumped against him; he offered Mark his hand.
“Sam Kage”—he bit the words out—“and you are?”
“Stop,” I muttered under my breath.
They shook, and as Vaughn stumbled off to meet the guy who was invited to the soirée specifically for him, Rachel and the others stood glaring at my husband.
“What?” he growled.
“It was a simple mistake.”
His arm was around me, and he clutched me tight, kissing my forehead.
“You’re a Neanderthal,” Rachel assured him.
“Remind me how many times you’ve been married?” he asked her.
“Sam!” I scolded him.
“You married a Neanderthal.” Rachel made sure I knew.
“I know,” I murmured, snuggling in and wrapping my arms around him.
An hour later, I was on the back porch watching my son and Jake play volleyball, and I was laughing my ass off, along with everyone else there, because not only were Kola and his friend terrible, but so was everyone else.
“It’s not that funny!” Kola yelled over at me.
Rachel looked like she was about to pee, and his grandmother couldn’t even breathe. So many limbs flailing about. I had no idea that many uncoordinated people could be in the same place at one time. Sure, Kola could play basketball, and he’d played lacrosse in high school, but wow…horrible at volleyball. When the ball hit Jake in the face, he stood there stunned, blinking, and that was it, I was gone.
“Hey.”
After a moment, making sure I could move air through my lungs, I got up and looked over the railing. I knew that voice as well as my own.
Sam was there, aviators on, head tilted back to see me. “Where’s my girl?”
“She’s not under the deck somewhere?” Hannah didn’t stray too far from her brother at family gatherings, because she could always count on him to talk to. She and her cousins, we’d discovered over the years, didn’t have a lot in common. And it wasn’t that she didn’t like them, or they her, but there wasn’t closeness there. Hannah tended to stick to Kola, and with Jake being her main squeeze now, I would have thought she was taping the volleyball horror to show Harper, or would have him on FaceTime.