Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20639 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
I can’t help it. I laugh out loud. “That’s a little chauvinist, Dustin.”
He just smiles at me. “What about you? Do you want kids?”
I put a hand to my chest. God, this man is going to break me. He’s pulling out all the punches today. “Yes. Yes, I want to have kids.”
He puts a hand on my thigh and then puts his foot on the gas. We’re almost back to the house, but I’m not ready for the morning to end. He points toward the backyard. “You remember when you first moved in? You said you wanted chickens. Did you mean that?”
I nod. “Yeah, I always thought I would love to have chickens and fresh eggs. I thought about—”
I stop talking, thinking that I’m saying too much, but he insists on me finishing.
“Tell me, honey. You thought what?”
I look straight ahead instead of at him. “I thought it would be nice to one day take my kids out and let them play with the chickens. I imagined their little faces when they would gather the eggs and bring them in for the family.” I shrug. “I don’t know. It sounds cornball when I say it out loud like that.”
Thickly, he answers, “Not to me. It sounds… perfect to me.”
He squeezes my thigh, and we’re both silent the rest of the way to the house. When he parks by the steps of the porch, I unfasten my belt. “Do you want a sandwich before you go back out?”
He steps out of the side-by-side, and we meet at the front of the vehicle. He searches my eyes. “I thought we could go into town to have lunch. There’s a new ice cream shop we could go to. They make sandwiches too.”
I try not to let my shock show. “Yes. I would love that.”
He goes to get the truck from down by the barn as I run in the house to freshen up and grab my purse. When I walk outside, he’s standing at the passenger side with the door open. He helps me in, fastening my seatbelt again, and soon we’re on our way into town.
The closer we get, the more unease I feel.
I shrug. “Maybe we should just get it to go.”
He tenses. “Why?”
I hold my hands together in my lap. “Well, it’s already all over town that we’re separated, and now we’re going to lunch together. The gossips are going to be going wild with this one.”
He shrugs. “I don’t care what people think, Annie. But if you’re uncomfortable being seen with me, then—”
I cut him off. “I’m not uncomfortable… I just don’t want it to be weird next month when…”
I let my voice trail off because I can’t bring myself to say it again. We both know what I mean, but I don’t want to talk about it right now. I want to live in the moment and have lunch and ice cream as if we’re just a happy couple spending the day together.
As soon as he pulls into the parking lot, I’m jumping out of the truck. He’s frowning now, probably thinking about the time limit on our relationship, and I want to kick myself for even bringing it up. I hold my hand out to him, and his eyebrows lift in surprise, but he puts his hand in mine, threading our fingers together. I lean into him as we walk into the shop. The bell rings above the door, and every eye in the building turns toward us.
It isn’t long before someone walks up to us, congratulating Dustin on his win yesterday. I wait for him to release his hold on me or to get lost in the attention, and I mentally prepare myself for it, but he doesn’t let go. If anything, he holds me tighter.
Whiskey Run is a small town, and I’m sure they all know who I am, but he introduces me over and over as his wife. He gives me a look every time he says it, owning me with his eyes. Eventually, when he’s done greeting everyone, he helps me into a booth and then slides in next to me.
I laugh and point to the empty seat across from us. “Uh, what are you doing over here?”
He turns toward me. “Honey, I’m taking full advantage of the situation, and unless you insist that I move away, I’d like to sit right here, next to you, with your body pressed against my side.”
I squirm in my seat. I’m not going to last. Being this close to him, I’m not going to be able to resist him much longer. “Okay,” I whisper.
We order our food, and the whole time we’re sitting here, I can’t help but wish that we could stay together just like this. The more attentive he is, the more this is going to hurt when it’s over, and I’m not sure how I’m going to survive it.