Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Had to admit, though, I’d already discovered there were perks to living with Callie and Sutton. The house always smelled good, like someone was constantly cutting oranges. Sutton was funnier than I’d expected for a ten-year-old, and I liked the sound of Callie’s laughter way more than I should have. Plus, there was an energy in the house, always someone there when I got home, which made it feel like an actual…home. Maybe not my home, but someone’s.
I really had to find a place.
“We can put some weights in the corner of the hangar and pretend we’re deployed again if you’re restless.” Theo threw the ball into the air and caught it. “Seriously, though. We’re doing exactly what we need to right now. Getting set up, orienting ourselves to the landscape, and answering the damn phone when it rings.”
“Just feels like it’s not enough.” I’d hated this part of the year growing up. Action had always been my thing, not anticipation.
“It’s never going to feel like it’s enough for you unless we’re flying or skiing seven hours a day, seven days a week.” He caught the ball and turned a narrowed gaze on me.
I grunted.
The front door opened, and the little bell Theo had installed chimed as Jeanine walked in with a gust of cold air and her hands full with a casserole dish. “Well, hey there,” she said in her thick, southern accent. The two had met when Theo was in flight school at Ft. Rucker in Alabama, and the woman had an admirable ability to tell someone to go fuck themselves without them even realizing it. She was fantastic.
Theo and I both jumped to our feet, and he got to her first, taking the dish off her hands.
“I didn’t know you were coming in,” he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
“Hey, baby, I thought you guys might be hungry.” The way they looked at each other had me glancing away, as though I’d interrupted a private moment.
“You didn’t have to cook.” He slid the dish onto the desk. “But I’m always happy to see you. Want a seat?”
“I’ll take this one right here.” Jeanine sat on the edge of the desk and turned her back on Theo, focusing on me. “Why don’t you have a seat, West?”
Oh shit. I knew that look. She was about to nail me to the ground for something.
“How’s it going, Jeanine?” I lowered myself carefully to the office chair. “Get the kids enrolled and everything?”
“Since Monday.” She tapped her chin and tilted her head. “Funny thing about the elementary school here. It’s small.”
Theo pulled the lid off the casserole dish and his brow furrowed. “Honey?”
I glanced over and saw the dish held four cheeseburgers and fries from The Cheese, which happened to be the best burger joint in town. My mouth watered.
“I said I thought you were hungry. I didn’t say I cooked,” she replied over her shoulder before turning back toward me. “You see, Max forgot his tennis shoes since he wore his snow boots today.”
“Oh?” Theo handed me a cheeseburger, and I nodded in thanks, then took a bite. Damn, I’d missed these. It seemed like every day I was back, I was rediscovering something I hadn’t even realized I’d missed until I saw it or tasted it again.
“Jeanine?” Theo offered her a burger, and she shook her head, her brown eyes locked on me like a heat-seeking missile with a target.
“I was waiting at the front desk, and when Max came to get his tennis shoes, he asked me if Weston could bring a certain girl in his class over to play this weekend.” She leaned in. “Sutton Thorne?”
Caught. I chewed my burger with thoughtful intensity, using every second to think of something to say that wouldn’t be a lie, or have Jeanine offering me one of their bedrooms.
“What?” Theo asked, knocking on the hangar door and waving to Maria through the window. “Why would you know a ten-year-old girl, West?”
“Because he’s living with her,” Jeanine said, never once looking away from me.
I swallowed. “Technically, I’m living with her mother.”
“What’s up?” Maria poked her head in the door. “Hey, Jeanine!”
“Jeanine brought food and is currently interrogating Weston about living with a woman,” Theo answered, holding out a burger. “Should be a good show.”
“Ooh.” Maria snatched the burger and slid into the chair across the desk. “I’m so here for this. Who’s the girlfriend? And how did that happen so quickly? Is she an old flame? A love gone wrong? Someone you left scorned and longing for your return?” Her eyes sparkled.
I scoffed. “Hardly.”
“So, who is she?” Jeanine shrugged out of her winter coat and tossed it at the coatrack with alarming accuracy. Guess this inquisition wasn’t about to be over any time soon.
“She’s someone I hired for the resort right before I left.” I moved to take another bite, but the angle of Jeanine’s arched eyebrow told me she wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “Look, there was a mix-up, employee housing was full, and I wasn’t about to kick Calliope out of her house—”