Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
I managed a tight-lipped smile at Elliott, but my hands curled into fists at my sides.
Maddie put a hand on my back.
At home again, I sent my father into his room to rest and helped Maddie and Elliott take their bags upstairs.
I had two guest rooms, one on either side of a full bath. My room, which had its own full bath attached, was across the hall.
Elliott raced up ahead of us and checked out both rooms. “Can I have the one with the bunk beds?” he asked hopefully.
“Sure,” Maddie said.
He grabbed his pink duffel bag from Maddie’s hands and disappeared into the room we called the “bunk room” for its two sets of stacked beds. My nieces and nephews slept there sometimes if they stayed over.
“I thought you might like this one,” I said, leading Maddie into the other room. It held a queen-sized bed covered with a floral comforter and brightly colored throw pillows, all of which my sister Amy had picked out. I set her bag down next to the dresser. “There are clean towels in the bathroom, but let me know if you need anything else.”
“This is perfect, Beckett,” said Maddie. Walking over to the window, she pushed the curtains aside and looked out. “God, I forgot how beautiful it is here. Or maybe I never appreciated it.”
“Yeah, sometimes that’s how it goes.” I liked the way the sun coming in the window gave her dark hair warm streaks of reddish gold.
“Mom, guess what! I can see the goats from my window!” Elliott cried from the next room.
Maddie laughed. “That’s great, buddy.”
I checked my phone. “We’ve got about fifteen minutes before we have to meet Enzo. I’ll let you get settled.”
“Beckett, wait.”
Before I could leave the room, she came toward me, arms outstretched. Next thing I knew, they were looped around my neck, and her body was pressed flush against mine, chest to chest.
“Thank you,” she said. “This means so much to me.”
“It’s no big deal.” My voice cracked as I said it, and I swallowed, praying I wouldn’t start to get hard with her body so close to mine. I knew she’d feel it.
“It is.” She clung tighter. “I like to think I’m a strong person, that my experiences have taught me resilience. But right now, I feel taken care of, and that’s nice too. So thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, trying to keep my thoughts clean and my hands in an appropriate place on her back. Meanwhile, my caveman brain wondered if I’d have time to lock myself in the bathroom and jerk off before we went across the street.
“You’ve always been so supportive of me.” She let go of my neck, sliding her palms down my arms and taking my hands in hers. “And while I’m here, I promise to do everything I can to make your life easier.”
“Maddie, you don’t owe me anything. That’s not how friendship works.”
She shook her head. “God, Beckett, can’t you ever just be an asshole about something?”
“Put me in a room with your ex,” I told her, “and you’ll have your answer.”
Just before four o’clock, Maddie, Elliott, my father, and I drove down the road to her old house in my truck. Elliott wasn’t too keen to go inside, so he and my dad sat on the porch steps to wait—but not before I double-checked the splintering old boards would actually hold them.
After walking through the house, I tried to sound encouraging when Maddie asked what I thought, but deep down I wasn’t sure the place was worth saving, unless it really meant something to Maddie.
Back outside, we circled the house, surveying the overgrown weeds and tangled brush. “I can help you with the landscaping,” I said. “I don’t think that would take more than a few days to get under control. But let’s get Enzo’s opinion on the structural issues.”
When Enzo pulled up a couple minutes later, there was someone in the passenger seat.
“Who’s that with him?” Maddie asked, shading her eyes with one hand.
I squinted at his SUV. “Oh, it’s Bianca. His wife.”
“Enzo got married?” She sounded shocked, and I didn’t blame her. Enzo had been a notorious ladies’ man back in our high school days. “I can’t believe you didn’t say anything!”
“It was just a few months ago. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
Enzo and Bianca got out of the car, but while he stood back, studying the house with a critical eye from the gravel driveway, she came bounding straight for us. “Hi, guys!”
Maddie held out her hand to the petite redhead. “Hi! I’m Maddie. It’s so nice to meet you!”
Bianca smiled and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you too—I’ve heard so much about you.”
Glancing at me, Maddie laughed nervously. “Good things, I hope.”
“All good things.” Bianca grinned and looked back at her husband. “Honey, what are you doing? Come and say hi.”