Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 77576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“You know what’s funny? I’ve never really thought about where the Steels come from.” Ava sets her fork on her plate.
“Steel sounds like it’s a British name too.”
“Maybe. We could ask my mom tomorrow. But she wasn’t born a Steel, so she may not know.”
“Maybe it’ll be a good way to break the ice,” I say.
“Yeah, in fact… I’ve been thinking. I don’t want to worry my mom.”
“Why would she worry?”
“Because she’s my mom. I know the text doesn’t seem to be a threat or anything, but it came from an unknown number, and I don’t know what it means.”
“True. I don’t want to worry your mom either, but I got the same message. I agree it doesn’t seem like a threat. Do you think it could be some kind of warning?”
Ava sighs. “Mom is the person most likely to be able to help us decipher it. She was a police detective and private investigator for years.”
“Yeah.”
“In fact, she’s the one who helped Dale come out of his shell when he first came to the ranch. By letting him in on the investigation.”
I drop my jaw. “You mean Dale came out of his shell long ago?”
“Yeah.” Ava smiles. “I can understand why you think he didn’t. But that’s the story. I have no recollection of it, of course, because I wasn’t born yet. But apparently my mom brought him in on an investigation back then, and he was able to help her a little. And that really got him talking. Apparently he didn’t talk at all when he first came.”
“He never has been that chatty,” I say. “He’s a good guy, though. He and I were never friends because Dale didn’t really have friends. But everyone liked him.”
“Probably because he was a Steel,” Ava says.
“I’ll admit your name doesn’t hurt, but although he was kind of a recluse, everyone knew he was a good guy. Ashley has really helped. I’ve seen him laugh and smile more in the last year than I have since I’ve known him. And I’ve known him since we were ten, when he first came here.”
Ava laughs nervously. “You’ve known my cousin longer than I’ve been alive.”
My heart drops into my gut. There it is. The age thing again. Why does it bother her so much? Perhaps she’s not truly ready for a serious relationship. In which case I need to slow it down. I will not take her to bed tonight, no matter how blue my balls get.
God, that’s going to be hard.
No pun intended.
“So I drew some tarot cards,” Ava says, “asking for guidance about the text.” She looks down at her plate.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed about that, Ava.”
“I’m not embarrassed. I’m just used to others not taking me seriously.”
“I’m not most others. I know you take the tarot seriously. What did you find out?”
“Thank you,” she says.
“For what?”
“For not rolling your eyes.”
I grab her hand across the table. “Maybe you should do a reading for me sometime.”
A gorgeous smile splits her face. “I’d be happy to.”
“But first, tell me what you found out about the situation we both seem to be in.”
“It does seem that you are part of the situation. And I’m not talking about the two of us on a date tonight. I’m talking about the two of us getting the same message.”
“That makes sense.”
“The feeling I got from the cards I drew was that something new was coming into my life and I may not like it.”
“I hope you don’t mean me on that count.” I force a smile.
“Oh, no. That’s not the feeling I got it all. It has more to do with my family. I’m feeling very hostile toward my cousin Brock right now because he’s keeping information from me. Brock and I, along with Dave, have always been very close because we were all born only months apart. We were in the same grade at school, and my uncles started calling us Huey, Dewey, and Louie after Donald Duck’s nephews. I never thought about the fact that they were all boys and I was the lone girl. We were simply Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Our genders didn’t matter.”
“And now you feel like Brock is pulling away?”
“Not pulling away so much as…” She draws in a breath. “I guess you have to have a big family to understand. But Brock, Dave, and I—even though we’re cousins—have always felt more like siblings.”
“And you’re feeling hostile.”
“I am. And I don’t like feeling hostile, especially toward Brock, who, like I said, is more like a brother to me than Gina’s a sister.”
“I understand. At least I think I do, not having any siblings of my own. So that’s why you seem a little off tonight.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah. Not in a bad way. Just like you’re a bit distracted.”
“I admit the reading took me back a bit. I don’t like thinking badly about my family. And I sure don’t like thinking that something’s going to happen with my family that I’m not going to like.”