Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
“You saw the whole thing and you did nothing,” I repeat. “What kind of a man does that?”
I kneel, not caring about the mud and the cold. My grandpa may as well not be here. He’s dead to me.
Taking Davis’s face in my hands I stare into his eyes, even as he tries to turn them away.
“You protected a girl you didn’t even know. You risked yourself for her. I love you so much for that.”
“I killed a man. Two men,” he says. “I don’t deserve you. You are all the goodness in the world, baby. And I’m a fucking killer. I can’t risk—” He shakes his head, kicking the heel of his boot in the mucky dirt. “Losing you, going to prison, leaving Stevie. I don’t see a way out.” He glares at my grandfather, the anger returning to his eyes. “I could kill you, old man, then my secret would die too. My sin will die with you.”
A knot forms in my throat.
“I love you,” I say, ignoring the threat to my grandpa, “and I’ll go on loving you no matter what. For better or worse, right? That’s what it said in our vows.”
“Vows?” Grandpa’s voice cuts through. “What vows?”
“Marriage vows,” I answer, keeping my eyes on Davis. His face relaxes, brow smoothing and a flicker in his eyes returns. He knows that I mean what I say, that what he did was right. “I’m pregnant and married, Grandpa.”
“You’re pregnant?”
Silence stretches on the dirt road in the middle of nowhere, and I don’t care. I have everything. My Davis, the baby growing inside me, the brother I never had in Stevie. Everything.
I’m the luckiest girl alive.
And as Davis draws a deep breath and stands, pulling me into his arms, I know none of it will be taken from me.
“Damn right,” he says in a low growl, turning to my grandpa. “Damn right she’s pregnant. And mine. You watched that girl getting beaten bloody and you did nothing. You took notes so you could blackmail me later. You come forward with that information, and there will be plenty of questions for you to answer too about that. And kidnapping my wife. Threatening her. Leaving her to die in a cabin. Do what’s right. Not what you preach, but what’s right. Then, I’ll let you live.”
Davis pulls me against the solid muscle of his body and I inhale his scent, feeling the tension melt away.
“Get in the truck, baby. Go on now. He isn’t going to do a damn thing. Because if he does, I’ll be coming for him. Marin is mine now. Anyone hurts my family, they better be ready.”
My life is still level-10 bananas. But now, I’m not alone. And I’m all in.
chapter thirteen
Davis
She isn’t in a little black dress or in a little red dress. Fuck no. Because today? Today she’s in a long white dress. And she looks fucking gorgeous. Dark hair all around her bare shoulders wearing plum lipstick, light make up, cowboy boots…gorgeous. Just like always.
City Hall is bustling. All the normal Tuesday afternoon business of Sherman swirls around us, but I pay zero fucking attention. Because I’ve got her in my arms, and we’ve got a date with the judge in twenty-five minutes.
We’re getting married in the gazebo behind the courthouse and I’ve had it decorated with a hundred thousand little blinking white lights, pink roses, gold balloons and paper lanterns like the picture she showed me from one of her bridal magazines.
Things with her Grandpa are… thawing. Slowly. He’s seeing the error of his ways. But not enough to be invited to witness our wedding. The others will meet us outside once the judge is ready. I told her she could have a giant wedding and whatever she wanted but she just wanted this. The big dress, her friend Stacey, Stevie and Janie here to watch and the rings.
She’s all about the rings since drawing the Sharpie ones on our fingers every day is probably not practical. Or healthy.
I gave her a debit card so she can spend at her whim, but she doesn’t drive so either Janie or I take her everywhere she needs to go like the princess she is. Janie took her to the jewelry store to buy my ring, and I don’t know what she picked out, but it could be a Hello, Kitty pink plastic band. If she picked it out, I’m wearing it.
I’m pretty sure I knocked it out of the park with what I chose. She had a few pages in the wedding magazines dog eared and some of them were for rings.
She doesn’t seem to want a big rock. She wanted something antique looking with a few delicate diamonds. I got her exactly that, but then, I got her something bigger to wear around her neck. My girl needs to shine like the diamond she is so we will exchange rings, but I’ll also be putting a two-carat heart shaped diamond around her neck.