Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“I’m going to the kitchen to make myself a coffee,” she snaps, “or am I not allowed to walk in my own house?” She’s wearing beige linen pants, a white tank top, and a long peach sweater that hangs to her knees. Her hair is pinned on the top of her head. “Someone is crabby this morning.”
“I’m not crabby.” I slip my feet in my sneakers. “I just thought you were going to make a run for it.”
“You’re safe for today,” she assures me, pouring coffee in a mug and then putting some in a stainless-steel cup. “Now, tomorrow is another story.” She hands me the to-go cup.
“We’ll see.” I grab the cup from her. “I’ll see you later.” I kiss her cheek before I walk out of the house.
The walk to the bakery takes even less time today since I’m speed walking, especially in front of the garage. I don’t even look to see if his truck is there. Last night was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made, and it’s not going to happen again.
I’m almost at the bakery when I notice two guys hanging around out front. One of them tries to open the door, while the other one looks in the window. They are both dressed in jeans, T-shirts, and baseball caps low on their heads to hide their faces. I wait a second to see one of them tell the other to go to the back. He takes a couple of steps toward the back when he looks up and notices me.
The scar on his left cheek makes shivers run down my spine; his blue eyes almost look like he is looking right through you. “Can I help you?” I ask them when I’m standing in the parking lot.
“Um.” The one at the door fumbles with his words, and I look at him. He’s shorter than the other guy, but not by much. The man at the door has brown eyes, and when he smiles, there is nothing friendly about it. “We heard this is the place to get some coffee and donuts.”
“It is.” I look around, wondering if anyone is going to see if something happens to me. The street is pretty much empty with just the three of us. “But we open in about an hour,” I tell them. “You are more than welcome to wait.”
They share a look. “We’ll be back,” the man who was going to walk in the back says, nodding at the other man, who shares a nod with him, and the two of them walk over to a black car. I watch them get in and drive down the street. My eyes go to the license plate as I take my phone out and take a picture.
“You are being paranoid,” I tell myself, putting my phone into my back pocket before I open the front door. The sound of a car approaching has me looking up to see if they have returned, but instead, it’s Harmony, who is parking right in front.
“Morning,” she greets when she gets out of the truck. “How are you?”
“Good,” I reply. “What kind of cakes do you have for me today?” I put the two men in the back of my mind and go on with my day.
Chapter Nine
BROCK
I grab my cup of coffee at the same time as the phone starts ringing with a FaceTime call from Saige. Propping it against one of the walls in front of me, I slide it to the right and wait for her face to fill the screen. The smile on my face goes even bigger when I see she’s waiting for me. “Good morning,” I say when we connect.
“Morning, Daddy.” Her voice is so chipper today; it usually is when it’s at the end of her week at her mother’s place, and she knows that at the end of the day, we are going to be seeing each other. I can see she’s not in bed this morning, but instead, she’s sitting at the island in her mother’s house, eating or just finished eating.
“How are we doing?” I ask and see Karla in the background going back and forth.
“Good,” she replies. “I’m going to school now. Are we having pizza tonight?”
“We can,” I answer her, “but if we have pizza tonight, then we have to cook tomorrow.”
She groans, thinking she would have gotten pizza tonight and then also tomorrow since Saturday was declared pizza night since she was five. “We can have it two nights.”
“We can,” I agree with her, “but we won’t.” She throws her head back and almost snorts while she rolls her eyes. “So you let me know tonight.”
“Fine,” she pouts. “I have to go brush my teeth.”
“Okay, baby girl, love you, and I’ll see you tonight, yeah.”
“Bye, Daddy.” She waves at the phone while I blow her a kiss, and she disconnects.