Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 118693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118693 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 593(@200wpm)___ 475(@250wpm)___ 396(@300wpm)
I held my breath as I waited for his response. When nothing came after two minutes, I walked into Dillon’s and looked for Robert and his fiancée.
“Excuse me, are you Rory Adams?”
I turned to see a young blonde grinning at me. “I am, yes.”
“Your party is up on the patio. Please follow me.”
Taking one more look at my phone, I sighed when I didn’t see a response from Finn. My heart hurt a little as I followed her up the stairs, and each step felt a bit heavier.
When we got to the top of the stairs, I heard a familiar voice.
My eyes widened when I saw my father sitting at Robert’s table.
“I see them, thank you,” I said to the hostess as she nodded her head and headed back down the stairs.
Lifting his head, my father brightened when he saw me. “Rory, sweetheart.”
He stood, as did Robert. “Hey, Dad. What are you doing here?”
“Came in to grab a quick lunch and saw Robert and his beautiful girl, Rochelle, waiting on a table. He told me he was meeting you, and I thought I would hang out for a bit to say hi and to catch up with Long here.”
I knew my smile was forced. I wanted to get this lunch over with and get away from the station. The risk of running into Finn was growing by the minute.
“It’s great seeing you, Dad.” Turning to Robert, I reached for his hand. “Mr. Long, it’s a pleasure seeing you again.”
“Please, call me Robert.” His face lit up as he pointed to his fiancée. “This is Rochelle.”
Reaching for her hand, I gave her a warm smile. “It’s a pleasure.”
“Same here. Thank you so much for helping to clear Robert’s name.”
A sinking feeling hit me in the chest. She was counting on us to keep her future husband from going to jail.
My father pulled out a chair for me. “Here you go, sweetheart.”
I thanked him and took a seat. “Dad? Are you staying here during lunch?”
“I invited him, if that’s all right? Captain Adams was one of the first captains I worked under.”
I shrugged. “If you don’t mind him being here while I ask questions, then neither do I.”
Pulling out my notebook and the few files I had, I’d just started to talk when the waitress showed up. “Hey, Captain Adams! How’s it going down at the station? Haven’t seen your guys in here in a while.”
With a huge grin, he replied, “It’s going well. Yeah, the boys have been keeping busy.”
She chuckled. “Well, tell Colton and Finn that Kate said hi.”
Instantly I froze.
“Colton and Finn, huh?” my father stated. “Them boys hang out here a lot?”
The waitress shrugged. “They’ll usually come in when their shift is over, either to grab a drink or some food. They haven’t been in here in a few weeks, though.”
Swallowing hard, I cleared my throat, getting her attention. “May I please have a Diet Coke?”
“Sure. Are you going to eat?”
I knew with my father sitting here I had no choice but to eat. So much for a getting in and out.
“Sure. I’ll take a bowl of clam chowder, please.”
Her eyebrows wiggled. “Great choice. Captain Adams?”
“I’ll have the chowder and the lobster roll.”
Robert and Rochelle each ordered a bowl of chowder and a salad.
After writing our order down, the waitress glanced around the table. “I’ll get this put in.”
Once she walked off, I got back to where I left off.
“Robert, I understand you volunteered at the Boston Public Library during reading time.”
He nodded. “Yeah. How did you know?”
“The children’s librarian told me.”
“Do you volunteer there too?”
Oh shit. Here we go again.
Rory
One crazy lady and one suspicious father
All eyes were on me, waiting for me to answer how I knew about Robert volunteering at the library. Why, oh why, did my father have to show up?
Before I blurted it out like I had earlier, I stopped and took in a deep breath. “No. A friend of mine does, and I noticed another firefighter volunteering. I asked the librarian on a hunch if you volunteered there as well.”
Robert’s expression softened as he spoke. “Yeah, it’s kind of a tradition for us to go and spend some time with the kids. I really enjoyed it.”
“She said you had somewhat of a stalker there and that you had to leave the main branch and transfer.”
Rochelle grunted. “That woman was insane.”
I asked Rochelle, “Did you meet her?”
She shook her head. “No. I never met her, but Robert told me about how she started asking him to do all this stuff for her. Then she was following him to his car and found out what station he worked out of and called up there a few times. I thought he should call the police about her.”
With my eyes back on Robert, I asked, “Did you ever call the police on her? Why didn’t you mention her to Russell or me?”