Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 110113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Billie chuckles. “You don’t miss a damn thing, do you, Ava?”
“I can tell by your shoulders.” I point to the screen. “You gotta keep breathing, Billie. Otherwise you’ll stay stiff, and that muscle memory we’re building up won’t work for you. I wonder if some yoga wouldn’t help with that? It’ll also keep your core nice and strong.”
“I could try yoga, yeah.” Billie lifts a shoulder. “I’m all about trying new things these days, so why not? Maybe it will help with this quarter-life crisis thing I’m having.”
I nudge her with my elbow. “Better than having that crisis when I did with a new baby in my arms. Good news is, life is so much better on the other side. You just gotta keep going. And please, for the love of God, don’t let a guy distract you from the work you’re doing on yourself.”
“Late bloomer here.” Sally raises her hand, where a yellow diamond winks from her fourth finger. “I can attest the wait makes the payoff so much sweeter.”
“You and Wyatt are the freaking cutest together.” Billie kicks at the dirt. “I’m happy for you guys. Even if I am a little jealous that you got one of the good ones. They’re few and far between, you know?”
Sawyer was a good one.
A really, really good one. So good that I’ve had zero interest in anyone else since our one-night stand. Not like I’ve had the time to pursue anyone anyway as I’ve started my job and helped June acclimate to our new home. I’ve become intimately acquainted with my showerhead and the new vibrator I ordered online after a friend recommended it.
Billie has to run, and so do I. I have to relieve Miss Lee so June and I can make some dinner and do bath time. I don’t love this time of day—we’re both tired, and I often wish I had the luxury of putting up my feet after work instead of picking up my “second shift” as June’s mommy—but I do love getting to spend quality time with my daughter.
“So, hey,” Sally says as we head across the corral. “That comment you made about guys not distracting you—”
“Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson.”
Sally grins. “Does that mean you’d be up to meet someone? A fellow single parent?”
Letting out a chuckle, I pretend to busy myself with the gate, which always gets stuck. “Who’s this someone?”
“A guy who has a daughter the same age as Junie. I’ve known him forever, and I can attest that he and his little girl are pretty damn great.”
“I appreciate the offer, Sally, but to be honest, I’m not really interested—”
“Oh, I’m thinking y’all would just get the kids together. You know, for a playdate or whatever. I’m not setting you up with him or anything.”
I let out a silent sigh of relief. I need a man distracting me from the beautiful little life I’m building like I need a goddamn hole in my head.
Things are good right now.
Life is good.
Meeting another parent can’t hurt, right?
“Junie is quite the little social butterfly, so I know she’d love to make some new friends in town. We’re in.”
“Great.” Sally claps her hands. “I think he’s coming to the barn raising tomorrow, so this will be perfect.”
The community in this little corner of Texas apparently still hosts old-fashioned barn raisings, where neighbors party while also engaging in some pretty legit construction. I thought these events only existed in movies like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, but Mrs. Wallace was dead serious when she said she’d been approached about hosting one to rebuild the fire-damaged barn here on the ranch.
That’s how I ended up helping to plan a kegger-slash-HGTV-style party that will take place this weekend at a construction site a few hundred yards from the carriage house where I live.
I use the back of my wrist to push the hair out of my eyes. “I appreciate you thinking of me, Sally.”
She cuts me a look. “Are you just saying that?”
“No.” Shaking my head, I sigh. “I really do mean it. I was so scared that starting over would suck. Don’t get me wrong, things did suck when I first got separated. But moving here …”
I glance over the pasture that borders the corral. The winter landscape is stark, the gnarled old oaks and soaring pecan trees having lost their leaves long ago, but there is beauty in the bareness. The spotless sky is huge, a shade of blue so vibrant it makes your pulse beat faster. A slow-moving creek glistens over pale rocks. There’s a calmness here, a wild stillness, that’s hard not to fall in love with.
“It’s been the best decision ever. Y’all have been so welcoming, and I’m more than happy to return the favor.”
Meeting this guy, whoever he is, doesn’t have to be a big deal. It’s not like I’ll run into him again, seeing as I live and work on the ranch and rarely, if ever, leave. Junie hasn’t started preschool yet at the cute little school downtown. I’ve also been super busy getting our program up and running, which doesn’t leave me a lot of time to do much else besides eat, hang with my daughter, and sleep. Mrs. Wallace gets a large grocery delivery once a week, and offered me the chance to have our groceries delivered too—so I don’t even need to go downtown to the store.