Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 48550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 243(@200wpm)___ 194(@250wpm)___ 162(@300wpm)
“I’ll make sure you remember,” he warned.
Instead of rolling her eyes and grouching about his punishment, Amber slid her hand into his. “I’m glad you’re better.”
“Me, too. My bike has been lonely without me.”
“Daddy!”
“Just kidding, Little girl. You’re much more important than the ability to shift gears on my bike.”
Rio was quiet for a few seconds before studying her face. “Can I tell you a secret? You won’t be able to share it.”
“Of course.”
“Colt confided that he bought the parcel of land next to us.”
“No way! Wait until I talk to Harper.”
“Ella,” he said in a low warning.
“She doesn’t know?”
“No. It’s his secret to share. Can you be good?” Rio asked with a stern glint in his eyes.
“I’ll be good,” she promised before rising on her toes to scan the horizon. “Can we see where he’ll build?”
“Not from here, Ella. I think he’ll put his house closer to the main road than we did. I’d bet Colt has a plan for that front corner that’s closest to town.”
“We need to have them over for dinner or something,” she proposed.
“Don’t mess around in your friends’ business,” Rio warned. “They need to figure this out without interference.”
“I wouldn’t meddle,” she insisted before swallowing hard when he looked at her skeptically. “Okay, I’d meddle, but just a bit.”
“Would you have wanted Colt and Harper’s help with our relationship?”
“No, but…”
“Harper doesn’t know that Colt has purchased the land. Best to let him share the news with her. He told me in confidence,” Rio reminded her.
They walked around the perimeter of the house as Rio checked out the work that the crew had begun. He pointed out the different rooms as they checked out how it was coming to life from the house plans they’d perfected.
By the time they got to the footprint for the kitchen, Amber caved. “Okay. You’re right. I won’t say anything about the land and I’ll try not to grill Harper about what’s going on until they’re ready to discuss it. Can I at least tell her I’m here if she wants to talk?”
Rio looked at the woman by his side. “We waited so long to have each other in our lives. Their path is going to be different than ours. Hopefully, they’ll be as happy as we are. They have to find their way together.”
“Okay, fine. You’re right. I wouldn’t have wanted their interference, either, but it's going to be hard,” she complained.
“Support your friend but don’t meddle, Little girl.”
Looking up at his handsome face, Amber knew her expression revealed her struggle to not try to assist her friends. “I’m going to do my best,” she promised.
“I’ll just have to keep you busy, Ella.”
“Busy?” she echoed.
“I thought we might take up a new activity together.”
“What’s that? Intensive napping?” she accused.
“That doesn’t sound bad, but I thought we might want to try scuba diving.”
“Where would we go scuba diving?” she asked in total confusion.
“The Galapagos Islands?” he suggested.
“Like the place with the endangered wildlife?” she asked, instantly interested.
“Exactly. I’m going to Quito, Ecuador next month and I thought you might like to go with me.”
“Yes! I’d love that. I mean, it isn’t Paris… But turtles are better than the Eiffel Tower, right?”
“Don’t ask a Frenchman that or we’ll never be allowed back in the country,” he suggested, laughing.
“I bet there’s shots we’ll have to get,” she commented a few seconds later, obviously having considered the ramification of the trip.
“You give shots every day, sweetheart. You can’t be afraid to get one.”
“Not everyone is as nice as me. Some people jab them hard. Maybe I don’t like turtles anyway,” she muttered.
“If I go with you to the doctor’s office, would that make you feel better?” Rio asked.
Immediately, she nodded her head. “Yes, Daddy. That would be much better. And…”
“And what?” he asked when her voice trailed away without finishing her statement.
“Maybe we could get ice cream afterward? Or go play mini golf? That would help me forget about the pain,” she promised.
“I think we could do one of those things.” Rio wasn’t going to tell her until the last minute that several shots might be required, depending on what she’d already had to protect her in the emergency department.
“I could probably go with you then. You’d get lonely without me,” she informed him.
Rio wrapped his arm around her waist and hugged her close to his side. “I would indeed, Little girl.”
EPILOGUE
Harper looked at the vicious woman holding the sweet toddler. Crossing her fingers behind her back, Harper hoped to have some effect on how Cinderella treated others when she got older.
“Miranda, I don’t think you need to worry about my love life,” she said quietly, hoping that would end the conversation.
“I don’t think you qualify as having a love life, Harper. All you do is take care of other people’s kids. I worried about you being bright enough to care for Cinderella, but she’ll be in school before any lack of mental stimulation puts her behind other students.”