Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 348(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Cody looked sick.
“We could’ve been having this conversation at a funeral home right now,” I said. “Over her dead body.” I looked at the three tight members of a family that Birdee should’ve always been a part of and added, “By some miracle of God she’s still here. But not for long. At least in name only. If I have to keep seeing you hurting her, I’ll cut you out of her life like the bad infection that you are. And I’ll give her everything she’s ever wanted. I’ll make sure she is so happy that she doesn’t ever think of you. I’ll give her kids. I’ll build her a house. I’ll give her all the love I have in my soul to give. And she’ll never think of you. She’ll never wonder why you’re not there. She’ll never see you and be sad. She’ll never have the chance to be anything but happy because I’ll be there. I’ll give her the life you all should’ve given her from the start.”
A sniffling from the door made me realize Mable had come back.
She’d likely heard it all.
And seeing she was back and Romeo was on his way in, I took my leave.
As I got closer to Mable, she said, “Will you ask her when’s a good time for us to come over?”
“It’s not now,” I said. “She needs some time to process. She only has a finite capacity to process all of this, and she has much bigger things on her plate right now.”
“I’m going hunting,” I heard Cody say as she started to march out the door behind me.
I thought about telling her there was nothing worth hunting for right now small game wise that would be worth going out into a possible storm for but kept my mouth shut.
“Cordelia…” her mother called.
I didn’t hold the door for Cody.
I walked right to my truck that was pulled up next to the door and got in.
I shivered at the heat that blasted me in the face.
“Fuck, it’s cold.”
“Always is this time of year.” Birdee turned to me with a half-smile that fell off her face. “What was that, Creed?”
I pulled into traffic, and my tires slipped a little bit before they caught traction.
Slippery slope, and I didn’t just mean the driveway to get out of the diner.
Twenty-Three
Due to personal reasons, I’m evil now.
—Birdee to Creed
Birdee
“What was that, Creed?”
He started off in his truck, and the tires slipped.
He eased off the gas lightly before they caught traction, and he began driving again.
“Do you want me to give it all to you now?” he asked.
I thought about that answer, and then went with, “How long is the drive to your place from here?”
Logically, I should know that answer. But my brain wasn’t functioning in that moment.
“All the way back to Jawbone, almost. That’s generally about thirty minutes on a good day. Why?”
“That’s near Mike’s Pass.”
“Yeah.” He looked at me. “You hike there?”
“Not really, no. But there’s a house up there for sale,” I rambled. “And Shade’s mom, Reyelle, fancies herself a realtor almost. She loves looking up all the places that become available and talk about them. She and her husband own multiple rental properties.”
“She follows it that closely?” he asked. “Knows when someone new moves in?”
“Reyelle is the biggest gossip in town, Creed. If you don’t want her to know it, don’t do anything within fifteen miles of her.”
“Noted,” he said. “The property that I bought butts right up to that trailhead that leads into over two thousand acres of public land.”
I surprised him with my next comment.
“Cody goes out there a lot and goes hunting.” I swallowed.
He winked at me.
“You and Cody are close enough for you to talk about where she goes hunting?”
Usually that’s a well-kept secret, even among family. Well, with our family.
“She never told me, per se,” I admitted. “But I did follow her a few times. At first it was because I was young and wanted to see where the girl that had everything I wanted was going. I was young and followed her out to an area of land. She’d sat down against a tree and just waited there. I think she shot a fox that day. The next couple of times was purely by accident. A lot of times, when the dogs that I work with at the shelter get one last day, they have a fun day. Staff takes them out for a hamburger from McDonald’s or something. Then we take them out to go for a walk. I guess just to make them happy one last time before they’re euthanized. It’s pretty great in a terrible way.” I shook my head. “Anyway, I saw her take the trail off of Mike’s Pass and head that way in the middle of the summer with a crossbow. I went the opposite way as her even though her way was an easier trail.”