Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 385(@250wpm)___ 321(@300wpm)
Big Dick looked back toward the shop. “Different?”
“Yeah, since she got shot. You can’t tell me you don’t realize it? The smiles don’t quite reach her eyes. There’s a hesitation. Look, man, you’ve just got to be observant, but I figured that was what you were doing.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Then, you’re looking like a creep with the way you keep looking over at the bakery. You want to go and talk to her, go ahead and do that.” Brick shrugged. “No one is stopping you.”
He didn’t like that Brick had noticed the difference in Larissa. The Larissa he had known wouldn’t have taken a dare to kiss a stranger, yet she had done so. Also, she wouldn’t have drank tequila either.
Big Dick finished his burger and left his fries for Brick to finish.
“Don’t do anything you will regret,” Brick said to him.
All he wanted to do was slap him around the back of the head and tell him to shut the fuck up. Instead, he made his way out of the diner, as he’d already paid for his meal, and went straight across the street to the bakery. He wasn’t going to win this bet by keeping his distance.
Stepping into the shop, he was quickly surrounded by the smells of freshly baked cookies. His mother would usually bake some when she wanted to have a talk with him. Her talks usually consisted of complaining about his life choices. She had a reason to hate everything he did.
Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he instead focused on the woman who looked up and offered him a smile. He noticed it slipped slightly when she saw it was him.
“Hello,” she said. “Are you after a sweet treat?”
She had no idea what he was after.
“Yeah, but I don’t know what is good here.”
She giggled. “I can attest that pretty much everything is damn good here.” There was that pesky sweet smile he just couldn’t get enough of. “What would you like?”
“Who were the people that were in earlier? The little kid you cuddled?”
She frowned. “Why?”
“Just curious.”
“That is Dean Moseley and his daughter, Winnie. She’s an adorable little girl, and she has just gotten the all-clear from her cancer diagnosis.”
“Cancer? The girl looked like she was eight years old.”
Larissa nodded. “She is. Her diagnosis came when she was five. My dad and the church have been doing everything they could to help with funds, prayers, and just to be there.”
“Wow,” he said. “I had no idea.”
“She’s a good kid, strong, and resilient.” Larissa took a deep breath. “I spent a lot of time praying for her and with her. It has been a hard time for both of them.”
“I can imagine. Wait, are you talking about Dean Moseley whose wife ran off with some tourist who came through town?”
“Yep. The very same one. She divorced him not long after Winnie’s diagnosis.”
“Did she know about it?” he asked.
“Yes, she did. She was the one that told Dean she couldn’t handle it, that she signed up for a marriage, not to deal with a sick kid.”
“What the ever-loving fuck?” Big Dick asked.
“What can I get you?”
“You’re not mad about that?” He didn’t even know the woman that well, yet he was seriously fucking pissed off.
“I can’t be angry at someone I don’t really know. I never met his wife. I know Dean and Winnie because they come to my dad’s place and to the church.”
“And you’re at the church every Sunday?”
“Actually, I’m not,” Larissa said.
“You’re not?”
“Dad insisted on me taking my own time and finding myself. He doesn’t expect me at the church every Sunday. I go when I can, but he wanted me to have my own life away from his obligations.”
“Do you miss the church?”
“Sometimes. I’m happy when I’m there, and I know he’s doing it because of my mom.”
No one truly knew the story about Larissa’s mother. At first, he had thought her mother had passed away. There was no evidence of that. He had come to the late conclusion the mother had skipped town for some reason.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Big Dick asked.
“No, thank you. Not with you.”
“What’s wrong with talking about it with me?”
“George, you’re a stranger to me, and that is pretty personal.” She shrugged. “Besides, you do not want to hear about my life.”
“I saved you, didn’t I?” he asked. “I don’t mind learning more about you.”
She smiled. “You’re the one who told me you didn’t want me around, remember? You didn’t want my prissy attitude and my holier-than-thou presence. You think I think I’m better than you and the club.”
“You don’t?”
“I don’t think I’m better than anyone. I never have and I certainly don’t judge people as more than me, or even less than me. I don’t know why you would even say that.”
He might have been pissed and also a little drunk. The truth was, he’d been in a bad mood. He might have already learned about Hunter and Harlow, and he’d been angry. Larissa had been there, and the sight of her had pissed him off, as well as something else, but he wasn’t going to say that.