Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
They did. I had.
“I just…Amanda, have you ever known me to ever freak out like that without cause?” I whispered, suddenly feeling ill.
She pursed her lips, then shook her head. “No.”
I swallowed and looked down at the two cups in my hand.
“I need a favor.”
***
Amanda led the way to the lab that her friend, Isaac, owned.
Isaac and Amanda had a weird relationship. The biggest problem was that Isaac loved her, but Amanda was clueless. Isaac was also too timid and tame to ever make the first move, so until Amanda realized what was right in front of her nose, she wouldn’t ever get with the one guy who I knew would treat her like she deserved to be treated.
“Isaac!” Amanda said, hurrying toward the door he was holding open. “Thank God you were still here.”
Isaac worked at a LabCorp in town, and they ran the blood diagnostics for all of the local doctor offices. He looked harried and tired.
“I’m so glad that you’re here,” Amanda blurted.
He smiled, and his face flushed. “You can thank my boss for spreading the flu around the office. I’m literally the only one working tonight.”
I immediately felt bad.
But not bad enough that I wasn’t going to ask him to do what I needed him to do.
Amanda explained what we needed as he ushered us inside, and I could tell after she’d finished that he didn’t want to do it.
He looked at something over his shoulder, and I did, too.
Wincing when I saw the stack of paperwork on the table.
Likely, that was all that he had to do, and I’d just added one more thing to his pile.
“Please,” Amanda asked, blinking innocently at him.
He swallowed, lost now, and nodded. “Anything.”
Amanda squealed and yanked the cups out of my hand. “Okay, the big one is Daddy’s—supposedly Daddy’s—and the small one is the little boy’s. Though, June also drank from it. Does that matter?”
He shook his head.
“You said you drank from this one?”
I nodded.
He sighed. “I’ll need your DNA too, to weed out whose is whose.”
I smiled wide, and I made a decision right then and there that I was going to make Amanda see exactly what she was missing.
Normally, I was one who would let things lie where they may so fate could work it all out. However, Isaac looked absolutely miserable, just as Amanda did when she let her guard down.
I’d make sure she knew, and then I’d make sure that she got exactly what I knew they both wanted.
Chapter 25
It is never okay to put anything inside your body, and then call the police about it. It’s called common sense, people. That is all.
-Hostel PD FB page
Johnny
Saturday came fast, and I was in no better mood now than I had been on Wednesday when I had walked out June’s door.
I know that I’d been too rough on her, yet I couldn’t find the courage to apologize for my dumbass behavior.
This entire situation was a goddamn clusterfuck, and I found myself in a bind.
I wanted to call her.
I wanted to go see her.
I wanted to have her in my arms.
But…I couldn’t get her to answer her phone.
I’d said some pretty hasty things to her, and I hadn’t given her the benefit of the doubt.
I surely wasn’t one to be able to judge character at this point.
In my opinion, Rosie had been a right bitch, but I hadn’t thought she was going to hide something from me like a son.
Sure, she had a perfectly acceptable reason. Rosie’s mother had never indicated that she didn’t trust me.
Now that I’d had three days to myself and time to think, I was ready to admit that Sharon, Rosie’s mother, wouldn’t have required me to stay away. If that was her grandbaby, she would want the best for him.
Which was why I found myself standing in Rosie’s living room in her apartment across town.
It irked me that Hank wasn’t there with her, and I realized that I still had a few questions, like why wasn’t she living with our son for starters.
I walked into Rosie’s apartment and took a quick glance around.
The place was very nice, and it looked like she’d been living there for years instead of just a few months.
I walked to the stool next to her countertop and took a seat with one foot hitched up on the stool, while the other was planted on the ground for traction.
I felt like my stomach was roiling, and I wanted to be anywhere but here.
Like with June.
But I also wanted to be near Hank to get to know him better.
I’d seen him twice now this week, and although I felt like I should miss him, I didn’t.
And that had a lot to do with the woman currently smiling at me like a cat that ate the canary.
“I’m so glad that you accepted my invitation for dinner,” Rosie purred. “I hope you like steak.”