Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Not one of us disagreed.
Rick cleared his throat. “Hell.” He stared at my phone for a long moment before sliding it to me, pulling out his own and standing up. “I’ll tell Gene we’re wrapping the car. He’ll deal with it.”
Kingston grabbed his camera and got up too. “And I’ll call Dad. See how he’s doing with that boat August asked for.” He walked out through the open overhead door, head down, expression closed.
I couldn’t look at the image on my phone yet. Finding out what August hadn’t shared with me was a bitter pill to swallow.
She’d saved that voicemail all this time and never mentioned it until now. Until we’d already agreed to race Jiminy. Until Chick had shown up.
I wasn’t proud of the jealousy I was feeling, but I wanted to be the one she turned to and shared her secrets with. Hell, I’d settle for being in the top three.
I hadn’t known she’d been thinking of leaving before Sam died. Chick had offered her a place in California, but before that, according to that message, she’d been considering running away to Maine.
Was it a joke between the two women, or an actual possibility? Would she tell me either way? Would she want me to come with her?
Because you’d leave your family and friends behind? The businesses? Your life?
If I’d known twenty years ago how we’d be together, I might have said yes, despite my hang-ups. If it was fifteen to twenty years from now, I’d gladly spend my retirement chasing her sweet ass around the globe and back. But now? Starting from scratch at this point in my life, when my family still needed me? For a maybe?
“What’s going on in that handsome head of yours, Captain Wade?” Chick asked softly.
I wasn’t sure why he’d started calling me that, but I didn’t correct him. I was too busy pondering the nature of pointless plans.
“I’m thinking I need to get those measurements on the roll cage for Dalton before I pack it in for the day,” I lied flatly as I got to my feet and pulled out my wallet.
When had it become just the two of us?
“I’d like to remind you that communication is important in any new relationship, but particularly one with a writer.”
I threw a couple of bills on the table for Patty. “She’s the one keeping things to herself.”
“Then you’ve told her how you feel about her already? That you want more out of your current situation than great sex and temporary housing?”
I glared down at him, still lounging in his chair as if he intended to stay there a while. “I’ve been trying to show her. Aren’t writers supposed to be observant?”
“We’re phenomenally observant about everyone except ourselves and, more often than not, the people we’re dating. We’re like therapists that way. It’s a pesky blind spot that wreaks havoc on our personal lives.”
When I didn’t respond, he sighed and stood. As we walked out into the sun and back across the street, he said, “August is my family, Wade. The only one I’m willing to acknowledge. She’s been there for me through some dark hours and never asked for anything in return but my friendship. I would do anything for her, up to and including burying a body.”
“You warning me off?” Damn me if I didn’t like him better for it.
“Warning you, yes, but hard as it is to believe, I’m also attempting to help you. At great detriment to myself, since I’m the one who stands to lose here.”
What was he saying?
“She can frustrate even me with her inability to see her own worth or what’s right in front of her,” he continued. “You have a little time here, but if you don’t let her know what you want soon, she’s going to give you exactly what you’re expecting.”
I stopped in the open door of the garage. “What does that mean?”
“It means she’ll leave, because that’s always been the answer before and no one’s bothered to give her a good enough reason to find a different one.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do?”
Chick opened his mouth to respond as Kingston walked up.
“I’m out.” He spun his keys around his fingers. “I want to see if I can catch the last of their practice.”
“Mind giving me a ride?” Chick asked, his expression subdued. “Rick took off without me, and I need to get to the track myself.”
“You’re going to the track?” I asked, ignoring Kingston’s frown.
“That was the plan. There’s a steak place I’d like to drop by first. I thought I’d get everyone an early dinner. August said they only brought one cooler with soggy sandwiches, so she must be starved for something edible by now.”
“I know the restaurant.” Kingston gave me a look I couldn’t decipher. “Want to join us?”