Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Mostly because he wanted to give the Fox this as well.
They quickly came up with a plan. It really wasn’t a good plan. So much could go wrong. But it was a plan.
Sorted, Brody ended the call and felt a sense of euphoria and nerves.
They were really doing this. He just hoped they could pull it off.
14
SUNNY
15th December
Sunny sighed sadly as she sat down on a seat in a quieter area of the mall. It was Friday, and she’d just finished up her Christmas shopping. She should be happy.
But instead, she felt a bit sad.
Duke had dropped her off at the mall earlier, and she still had about forty minutes until he picked her up so they could get to work.
So she thought she’d check her emails.
Three rejections! All right, so they weren’t actual rejections. Just messages from people who owned cabins they rented out over the holidays.
All of whom had no openings for Christmas or New Year’s.
Shoot. She’d known it was a long shot, but she’d been hopeful. Christmas was the season for miracles, right?
“Hey Sunny. Why so sad?”
She jumped as someone sat next to her . . . someone dressed all in green with pointy shoes and pointy ears.
“Are you . . . are you one of Santa’s elves?” she asked breathlessly.
The elf turned, and she went bright red. “Oh, my God. Jonas, hi! Sorry, you must think me a complete idiot.”
Jonas was a regular client of Duke’s.
His face softened. “Sunny, girl, of course I don’t. It’s good if you think I’m one of Santa’s elves because none of the kids seem fooled.”
Hmm . . . he wasn’t a typical elf, that was for sure. He had tattoos all up his arms and along his chest. She couldn’t see the chest tattoos right now, of course. But she knew they were there since Duke had been adding to them for the last two years.
“What are you doing here by yourself? Where’s Duke?”
“Oh, I’ve just been finishing my shopping. Duke’s coming to pick me up. Um, Jonas, why are you dressed as an elf?”
“Because I refused to dress as Rudolf,” he muttered with a scowl. “But I still look fucking ridiculous.”
“What?”
“A friend of mine manages this mall. The guy meant to be an elf is out sick with gastro. Anyway, long story short, I owed my friend, so here I am.”
Wow.
“That’s nice of you.”
He just snorted, looking unconvinced.
“And I think you make a great elf,” she told him loyally.
He just shot her a look. Yeah, maybe great was a stretch.
“What’s got you sitting here looking so sad?” he asked.
“It’s silly, really.”
He shot her a look, so she told him what she was looking for.
“Duke never mentioned wanting to go away for a few nights. I was under the impression he was busy as hell at the moment.”
“Oh, it’s a surprise.”
“Hmm. I’m going to get a friend of mine to call you. He’s got a cabin in the mountains. Be perfect for what you want, and he usually only rents it to friends and family.”
“Would he rent to me?”
“Course he would.” He grinned at her, then programmed her number into his phone before he stood. “Got to go. I’ll set it up so you can go take a look at the cabin. And don’t worry, I won’t tell Duke anything.”
Sunny smiled and waved. Things were looking up.
15
FOX, PUP, AND BUNNY
“This place is perfect,” Sunny said, clapping her hands.
Jonas had come through. His friend had messaged her last night, and they’d all managed to sneak out this afternoon.
“We need to go inside first,” Brody cautioned as they all stood outside, staring up at the large A-frame cabin that was nestled into the woods.
The ride up here had been a bit hellish. Sunny had ended up driving since he and Tutu weren’t the most confident drivers. Driving up a mountain covered in snow wasn’t his idea of fun.
So they’d met Sunny at the bottom of the mountain and got into her truck. Well, it was Duke’s new truck. He didn’t know how she’d convinced Duke to let her take it, but here they were.
“Let’s get inside then,” Sunny said. “I told Duke I was doing a run to Walmart for essentials, so I’m going to have to buy some toilet paper on the way home.”
Luckily, the Fox had gone out to do something so they hadn’t had to lie to him.
“Henry, the guy who owns this place, said the key would be hidden under a fake rock. He really shouldn’t leave his key hidden on the front porch. I learned that lesson a long time ago. Uh-huh. Here it is!” Sunny held up the key.
“Sunny, you’ve already been gone close to two hours,” Brody said.
“Oh, I’m sure it hasn’t been that long.” She glanced at her Mad Hatter watch. “Crap.”
“Don’t you think Duke will be getting worried?” Brody asked.