Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 124(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24747 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 124(@200wpm)___ 99(@250wpm)___ 82(@300wpm)
I’ve run myself ragged trying to make Nibbles into a success. For the first time in years, I feel the exhaustion of it. I’ve put off my own needs for so long that maybe I don’t know what I want anymore.
I rest my hands on the railing as I lower my head, trying to quiet all the internal noise. I’m not an old man, but suddenly my bones feel weary, like I’ve been trying to hold the weight of the world. I suppose I have been.
Not only do I have to think about myself when it comes to the future of Nibbles, but I’ve got employees depending on me too. People that have families of their own and mortgages to pay. They rely on my company to take care of them, just like I rely on them to help make Nibbles the best. It’s not like I can close up shop and backpack around the globe. I’ve got to think about the people that got me where I am.
A soft squeak pulls me out of my spiraling thoughts, and I look up to see where it came from. It sounds like an animal, which is not surprising considering I’m in the woods. But when it happens again, there’s something about it that sounds out of place.
I push away from the dock and walk toward the woods. The sun is beginning to set, so the light isn’t as good as it was when I first walked out here. It’s hard to see what’s through the trees, but I see a flash of something white and furry before I hear the sound again.
“Hello,” I call out, but there’s no response.
The sound of a branch snapping from overhead has me spinning around and looking up. That’s when I see it: two furry white ears poking out from behind a tree.
“What the—” Before I have a chance to finish my sentence, the ears come out a little more, and I see they are attached to a woman.
I blink a few times to make sure that what I’m seeing is real. A woman wearing cat ears is stuck in a tree.
“Hello,” the woman says, looking sheepish. She starts to wave, but then she teeters and has to grab on to the tree again to keep from falling.
I curse under my breath as I rush over in case I have to catch her. “Be careful.”
“I bet you’re wondering how I got up here,” she says, her voice shaking a little. Is she scared?
“I have to think it’s got to be a pretty good story,” I tell her. I keep my voice even and calm so she doesn’t panic. “But why don’t you come down and tell me.”
“That’s a great idea.” She hesitates. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s an option.”
“Are you stuck?”
“I think it appears that way,” she says, looking at the surrounding branches.
She’s not that far off the ground, and there are several large branches she could use to climb down on. I have no idea how she got up there, but I remember climbing trees with my brother when I was a kid. And I remember getting stuck in them a time or two because I climbed too high and was terrified once I got up there.
“What’s your name?” I ask, trying to keep her calm.
“Bellarose.”
“Okay, Bellarose,” I tell her as I start to roll up my sleeves. “If you can’t come down, then I’ll come up there and get you.”
“Wait, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“I think the good idea train left the station when you decided to climb the tree.” I look up at her, but she’s too far away for me to see her expression.
“True,” she says, sighing heavily. “But to be fair, I was lost in the woods, and I thought if I could get to higher ground, I could find my way.”
“I think the signs might have worked better.” I point my thumb over my shoulder to the bright orange posts with large letters and arrows showing where everything is.
“Oh,” she says, as if seeing them for the first time. “I suppose you’re right.”
I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from chuckling. Who the hell is this woman?
Chapter Three
BELLAROSE
My fingers are starting to cramp as I cling to the branch. I’m pretty sure my dignity is lying somewhere down there next to my missing shoe. I lost it when I nearly slipped off a branch. Seriously, how do I manage to always get myself into these situations?
“You still doing okay up there?” he asks, his tone warm and calm but also confident. That makes me relax marginally. If I’m going to be rescued, I hope the person has confidence because I’m at a net zero with mine at the moment.
“Great. Fantastic, honestly. I was thinking of redecorating. Maybe a couple of bird feeders,” I say, trying to find the humor in this.