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)
My mother looked murderous. My father, however, didn’t look anywhere near as surprised.
And that likely had to do with my grandfather who came in moments later, nodding in agreement.
“Sorry, I had a phone call. But I heard what you said. I just got finished explaining to your father what I found on my own when we got the call that your June was shot.” He paused. “Now, can you direct me to Rosie’s room? I heard she’s here, also.”
I looked at my grandfather and shook my head. “Don’t bother. You just missed her. Once she was cleared with four broken ribs, she was hauled out of here by two of my fellow police officers.”
***
“I’m okay, I promise. It’s a nick, they say. The only reason I’m still here is because it hit an artery…yes, I’m quite aware that that is really bad, but the doctors don’t seem too concerned about it. I’ll be back at work…fine. I’ll be there next week if Johnny thinks I should be.” She rolled her eyes and glared at me.
I couldn’t help but grin.
She hung up with Coke moments later, only for it to ring again flashing her grandfather’s name.
“You answer that one. I’m tired.”
I grinned and pressed the phone to my ear. After explaining to Tennessee what had happened, and then promising to bring her by tomorrow so he could see for himself, I hung up and started to laugh.
She punched me on the arm, and I couldn’t help but kiss her.
“Let’s face it, honey,” I whispered into June’s ear. “You’re stuck with me now. And you have a lot of people that care about you.”
I pulled back to see tears filling her eyes. “I only need you, though.”
I moved until I pressed my lips against her tear-streaked cheek. “And I’ll always be here, whether you want me to be or not.”
She turned her face until our lips touched.
“I never doubted you for a second.”
I pulled back so I could look into her eyes. “Did you know that I want you to be my wife?”
She blinked, and I would’ve laughed had her eyes not filled with tears.
“I…”
“June Common, will you marry me?”
She blew out a shaky breath. “We haven’t been together that long.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care. I feel it right here. What we have is right.”
I pointed at my heart.
A tear spilled over. “Then I don’t care, either. Yes, I’ll be your wife. I’ll marry you, Johnny.”
Epilogue
Apple needs a ‘nap’ setting so it will automatically send out an ‘I’m napping’ message so my family doesn’t think I’m dead.
-June to Johnny
June
“Why are you pacing?” I asked my husband.
Johnny shrugged. “I’m fuckin’ nervous.”
He tilted the bottle of beer to his lips and took a hefty pull.
I rolled my eyes and walked away, knowing that he needed to get his head on straight before he came inside.
That was his second beer in ten minutes.
Poor thing.
Today was the day that we celebrated Blaise’s choice to go into the Army. Today would officially be her last day with her family before she shipped off to Missouri and spent the next ten weeks in basic training and then five more months after that in training to become military police.
Needless to say, none of the Mackenzie men were in a good place.
Not brother. Not father. And certainly not grandfather.
Which was proven as fact when I walked down the side of the house and found the eldest Mackenzie, Silas, standing next to a tree, a half-filled beer bottle in one hand and two empties at his feet.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he grumbled.
I zipped my lips and pretended to be ambivalent.
I wasn’t.
But it was easier to let these big ol’ Mackenzie men brood it out rather than try to convince them of something that they already had ‘figured out’ in their heads.
Needless to say, they didn’t have anything figured out, yet.
I bent over to grab the empty beer bottles as I passed, and he grunted out a ‘thank you.’
I murmured out a ‘welcome’ to him as I continued to walk. Then I came upon a third Mackenzie man, Sebastian, who was leaning against the deck railing with his arms crossed, a beer dangling from his own fingers. He had four empties beside him, meaning he’d started earlier than the other two.
“Wow,” I finally said, unable to hold it in any longer. “You Mackenzie men are a bunch of wussies!”
The man’s eyes came to me, and I found myself grinning at the look of aggravation there. “And you women that belong to us men are annoying.”
I giggled, my hand going over my mouth as I did, trying in vain to contain my mirth.
“I’m glad that y’all are having these parties,” Silas murmured, standing up. “Family is the most important thing that there is.”
That’s when it hit me.
Family wasn’t only blood. Family didn’t have to be so black and white. They were who you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, would be there if you needed them. I knew, if I needed them, every single person in this room would be there for me if they could be.