Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114647 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
I placed my palm on Phoebe’s back feeling the rise and fall of her chest before leaving, closing the door behind me.
I could hear Sam and Cheyenne hissing back and forth at each other, and I was supremely grateful that they were keeping their lover’s spat quiet, seeing as I didn’t want Janie to wake up. Shiloh needed my attention tonight.
The cat, still sprawled limply in my arms, shifted when I entered the door to my house. Setting the cat down, I watched him explore the area with a bored air to him. I didn’t own any animals, I was lucky enough to get Janie fed and watered every day. Another living being wouldn’t be beneficial to me right now, much to Janie’s disappointment.
The cat must’ve picked up Shiloh’s scent, because as soon as the cat hit the hallway, he was off like a shot in the direction of the guest room.
I followed slowly behind, laughing at the site of the humongous cat laying protectively on the pillow Shiloh’s head rested on. The cat had his paws resting on Shiloh’s face as if in claim of the sleeping woman.
I walked into the room and right up to her bedside. She sure was a beautiful woman, even with her face puffy from crying and a cat lying on top of her head.
Her casted arm now laid on the side of the pillow I’d originally rested it on. As careful as I could, I repositioned it on the pillow again, and then moved my hand up to rest on her brow.
Her silky hair was splayed much the same Janie’s was, only there was a lot more of it. The cat was laying on a quarter of it. Some of it was tucked underneath her body, while others were splayed across her face.
“Jesus, honey. Where’d you get all that hair?” I whispered as I pushed it off her face with one blunt finger.
She shifted, inadvertently moving her arm, and then whimpered.
Glancing at my Luminox, I realized that it’d been nearly four hours since her last dose of pain medication. I’d also forgotten to fill her prescription.
“Fuck.” I groaned and turned towards the door while fishing the phone out of my pocket.
I dialed Jack’s number and waited.
“Hello?” Winter answered.
“Hey, sweet stuff. I was wondering if you had any extra Vicodin or something that matched that in strength.” I asked without preamble.
“Sure, I have some left over from my C-section. Do you need me to bring it over?” She asked.
“If you don’t mind. Jack around?” I asked.
“He’s burping Cat. Well, he was before she puked on him. Now he’s changing his shirt.” She snickered.
I remembered those first few months before I deployed. How hard it’d been. I’d been stubborn and refused any help from my mother and sister, until one day I just couldn’t do it anymore. I envied Jack and Winter being able to raise their child together.
My relationship with Anna, Janie’s mother, started innocently enough. We met at a rodeo. Her sister was a barrel racer and she was there to watch her compete. I was there with my sister a week before I went into basic training. I was eighteen years old and about to become a man.
Anna and I had fun, but when I left for boot camp, I hadn’t given her a second thought. Then I was deployed my first time. When I got back nine months later, I just happened to bump into her again and we’d hooked up. Only there was a consequence to my decision, and it changed my life forever.
Janie was born nine months later. I was scheduled for another deployment when Janie was two months old, and at three months, I left her for six more months. Then again when she was two months shy of two years old for another seven months.
I missed nearly half of my daughter’s life, and it finally hit home when Sam and Cheyenne started seeing each other. I was missing everything, and I didn’t want my daughter to grow up without her father. It was only when one of my best friend’s in the world died, while on a mission, that I really understood the repercussions of my career.
Dougie was the life of the party, and when I watched a bullet tear him apart, I just knew that I couldn’t do it any longer. The benefit wasn’t outweighing the cost anymore. His daughter would grow up without a father, and that could’ve very easily have been me.
“Alright, James. I’m on my way.” Winter said before hanging up the phone.
I paced the living room floor and waited.
I had no clue why I’d called Winter, and not, for instance, my sister, the nurse. Well, quite frankly, I did know. I was somewhat pissed at her, too. She had to have known that the situation with Sam was weird. That he wasn’t acting right.
Didn’t she ever wonder why Sam wasn’t making an effort with his sister? Hell, I would’ve known way sooner if I didn’t have so much bull crap from Anna swirling around me like an Afghanistan sand storm.
Hell, I was doing good just to get to sleep at night.
The knock at the door interrupted what was sure to be a horrible place for my mind to go at that instant.
Walking to the door, I swung it open and smiled at Winter.
She was still wearing her medic uniform, which meant that she must’ve just gotten home from work. She smiled brightly at me, but I missed the full effect because my eyes were drawn down to the newest addition on the Free family.
Cat was nestled in a tight swaddle in the crook of Winter’s arm. Cat was also one pissed off girl, too. Of course, it’d been raining and thundering every other day here since she was born, and it was a common occurrence around the compound.
“Hey,” Winter said as she slid past me inside.
“Hey,” I said and closed the door behind her. “Shiloh broke her arm today, and I forgot to get her prescription filled. Can she have one of yours until tomorrow?”