Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
We were all silent as church mice as our father told us all about the new woman in his life, and I found myself smiling along with my brothers as he spoke because he sounded happy. He, more than anyone, deserved to be happy. By the time he finished speaking, he looked like he might be sick as he waited for one of us to say something.
I put him out of his misery and asked, “When do we get to meet her?”
Da deflated with relief. “This weekend, if you’re all free.”
“We will be,” JJ answered. “Does Aideen know?”
“No.”
I winced. “She wants ye to be happy like we do, Da, but she might not take this well. She’s been the only woman in your life since she was a little girl. It’ll be hard for her to share her space.”
“I know.” Da nodded. “I’ll have a talk with her, don’t worry.”
I nodded, then looked at Harley. He stared back at me and said, “What?”
“D’you have somethin’ to share with the group?”
He blinked. “No.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Nothin’ about a certain blonde haired female mechanic we work with, maybe?”
We all grinned when Harley choked on air.
“Edana?” He spat out her name like it tasted like vinegar. “I’ve absolutely nothin’ goin’ on with that ungrateful, smart-mouthed shrew. All she does is shout and throw things at me. She nearly hit me with a poxy wrench yesterday. I don’t care if she has tits that I’d happily suffocate in. I’ll never have anythin’ goin’ on with her. I swear on the tears of the baby Jesus.”
Yeah, he was so going to have a thing with her.
“Date, we’re nearly there.”
I jerked forward and realised we were no longer on the motorway. We were on back roads and were surrounded by fields, forests, and farmland. My family talkin’ about their problem had distracted me, and I realised then that they’d spoke on their personal issues to distract me.
“Thanks, lads,” I said.
Each of them nodded. JJ phoned Lilly for another update on Ina’s position, and I was relieved to find that it hadn’t changed. We drove up a cut in road towards a mobile home that sat in the middle of a field. I leaned forward and squinted when the truck rolled to a stop. The second I realised what I was seeing, a roar left me as I sprung from my truck and took off sprinting.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Ina
* * *
When I woke up, I wanted to go back to sleep immediately.
The back of my head ached and throbbed something fierce. I lifted my hand and rubbed the spot, hissing when I found a lump the size of an egg on the back of my skull. My body ached all over. It felt like I’d been dragged through hell and back. I opened my eyes, and panic set in instantly when I didn’t recognise where I was. Then like the snap of my fingers, I remembered everything that had happened. Finn hurt Mr Collins, and he kidnapped me, beat me, and knocked me unconscious.
My mind drifted to my boss.
I wondered if he was okay. I prayed that he was. I peered around the place I was in, but I couldn’t make out any details. My glasses were gone and so were my hearing aids and shoes. The deafening silence was almost too loud as I felt around for my devices. They weren’t within reach. Finn had taken them and my glasses too. I wondered if he was trying to put me at an even worse advantage by taking away my ability to see clearly and hear.
After a minute, I concluded that I was lying on a chair in Finn’s mobile home. The sun still shone outside so I knew that I hadn’t been out for long. I couldn’t imagine Finn letting me sleep off a headache all night long. He didn’t have the patience needed for that. I called out his name a few times and waited. I couldn’t hear if he was close by, but when I sensed a presence, I looked up and saw the outline of a person. My sight was too bad to see details of any kind. The best I could do was tell it was a person. I wasn’t sure if it was Finn or the woman until the person moved closer.
It was her. She was much shorter than Finn.
I jolted when something landed on my lap. I touched it, realised it was my glasses, and hurriedly put them on. When my vision came into focus, I stared up at the pregnant young woman. She held her large, rounded belly protectively.
“Me aids,” I said, signing automatically. “I can’t hear without them.”
Her face flushed as she nodded. She turned and scurried off, then returned moments later with my hearing aids. I took them from her extended hand, put them in my ears, and switched them on. I felt like I could breathe when sounds registered.