Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
He grinned at me.
I heard Big Petey and Dutch chuckle.
I turned back to Big Petey who was shuffling through pictures on his phone.
“Playboy and Princess?” I asked.
“Nicknames,” Pete grunted. “Real names are Landon Kane and Caroline Tyra. Their middle girl is Wren. Their son is named after Shy’s brother and Tab’s father, and their last girl is named after Shy’s ma and Tab’s stepma. Wren is pure wren, our pretty little bird.”
“Ah.”
“This is Joke and Carrie’s brood,” Big Petey said, turning the phone back to me.
And yes, you guessed it, Joker was ludicrously good-looking, and his woman, with blonde-red curls, reminded me of a cheerleader. They were surrounded (and one might even say besieged) by children.
“Travis, Clementine, Wyatt, Raven and Dakota,” Big Petey said. “They were gonna go for another one but thought instead maybe they should let the kids get a little older and adopt one who’s older, ’cause they’re harder to place. Or they might foster.”
He turned the phone his way, slid his finger across the screen, then showed it to me again.
When I saw the picture on it, I felt something I’d never felt before.
My womb clutching with unadulterated yearning.
This was because it was a photo of Hugger with Raven on his back. She had her little arms wrapped around his thick neck. She appeared to be whispering something in his ear, and he appeared to be taking whatever it was seriously.
“Thick as thieves, those two,” Big Petey announced. “Uncle Hug’s all the kids’ favorite, ‘cause he’s got all the time in the world for them.”
“Pete,” Hugger warned low.
Big Petey ignored him. “But think sometimes Rave gets lost in the mix with all the kids. Not just her own brood, but all a’ Chaos is crawlin’ with little ones. She’s a shy little gal. Hugger is her safe place.”
Slowly, I turned my head to Hugger.
His full lips in his beard were thin in annoyance at Big Petey laying it on kinda thick.
But I loved this.
“Uncle Hug,” I whispered.
“Shut it,” he whispered back.
I smiled huge at him.
Hugger sighed then stood, announcing, “Di cooked, so Dutch, we’re gonna clear.”
Dutch, who was grinning madly at his lap, muttered, “Right,” and stood up, grabbing plates.
Hugger nabbed some of his own and the two men left Pete and me alone.
When the men had gone, I turned to Big Petey.
“Can I see that picture again?”
Pete handed me his phone and I stared at Hugger and Raven.
“They’re super cute together,” I murmured my understatement.
“Wait until you get a load of them in real life,” Pete said.
I couldn’t.
I simply couldn’t wait.
I also couldn’t wait for other things. And seeing that photo made me hope even more than I already was that I’d get them.
Hugger and Dutch came back to get more stuff, then they returned to the kitchen.
I leaned toward Pete, handing his phone to him.
“I think you get we’re together now,” I whispered.
Pete leaned toward me, his lips tipped up. “Oh, I get that, darlin’.”
“He’s different.” I kept whispering.
“Different how?” Pete asked.
“After Maddy left, he seemed to be pulling away. I mean, not really, but it was like he thought something would happen so we wouldn’t. Even before Maddy left, it seemed like he was holding something back. But today, it’s not like that at all.”
“That happens when a man who’s fallin’ in love quits fightin’ the fact he’s falling in love.”
My breath caught.
Falling in love.
We heard washing-up noises coming from the kitchen.
“He’s got some shit it’s his to give you, Di,” Pete said, then he warned. “It’s heavy.”
“Heavy like me working things out with my dad and finding things out about my mom that rocked my world, and Hugger was at my side through all of that?”
Big Petey’s brows shot up. “What’d you find out about your mom?
I told him.
“Well, shit,” he said, collapsing back in his chair when I finished.
See?
Heavy.
“Harlan told me he had this stuff, I’m not going in blind, Petey,” I assured. “But it isn’t like he’s balked when all my stuff was coming at me. We can’t decide how life is going to go, and it’s for sure what’s going on with him and me isn’t out of a storybook. What I can say is, I totally like it like that. Trial by fire, then maybe we’ll have smooth sailing.”
“Hope you do and glad for you,” Pete murmured. “Glad for you both.”
I smiled. “Me too.”
“Now about your mom…” he trailed off so I’d jump in.
And I did.
“I called her. Left a message. Asked her to call me. She hasn’t. Since then, I’ve texted twice. She left them on read. I think she knows I know and she’s avoiding me.”
“What are you gonna do when she stops doin’ that?” Pete asked.
Hugger and Dutch came back with the tin of almond cookies as I answered, “I haven’t decided. I want to hear what she has to say.”