Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Gideon was physically fit. More than physically fit. He was a man who looked like he could handle himself in any situation. If she saw him on the street in the distance, she might think he was a professional athlete. Up close, she would guess he was a man in a job far more serious, far more dangerous, although she couldn’t imagine what, not after speaking with him. He was very gentle and kind.
“If you don’t even know where he works, what in the world did you talk about?” Lydia asked. “I was worried, so I got up every hour to check to see if you texted that you were home, which you had not.”
Color crept up Rory’s neck into her face, something that didn’t happen that often. “I’m sorry. I should have texted that I was fine. He’s so fascinating. Even his voice is sexy.” She pressed one hand to her hot cheek, feeling silly. “I’ve never, not one single time in my entire life that I can remember, felt this way about a man. I really like him.”
“I think we get that, Rory,” Cindy said. “I’m happy for you. We just want him to be a really good man before you go all in.”
“There are a lot of not nice ones,” Pam said.
“Tell us what you did,” Sally said.
“We talked about places he’d traveled that we both have in common. He really liked that I write songs by listening to birds as well as the different surroundings I’m in when I’m writing. I could tell that he really understood and wasn’t just trying to placate me.”
“How could you tell?” Pam asked. “Men can be very deceiving when they want something, Rory.”
Rory looked around at her friends, feeling a glow of happiness. They were being protective of her. She felt that vibe. They weren’t being mean or trying to put her off Gideon. They wanted her to be cautious. They understood she wasn’t naturally trusting, because they’d been around her these last few months and had observed her. This was what it was like to have friends. She felt protective of them, and they returned those feelings. They wanted her to continue to be cautious now that she’d found someone she was attracted to, and they were right. She had to be careful.
“I know this sounds kind of crazy, but working at a bar for as long as I have and being around so many customers telling me whoppers, I’ve learned to get a good feel for the difference between lies and truth. I hear it. Gideon doesn’t give much away with facial expressions. His eyes warm up, but he’s stoic. I can feel the truth versus a lie. I might be wrong, because I want him to be the real deal.”
“Give it time,” Lydia advised. “You aren’t committing to anything by seeing him.”
“We’re slammed at work, and I told him that. It isn’t like I can go on dates with him for the next few days. It’s work at night and sleep during the day. I’m not comfortable enough yet to meet him at his place or to have him come to mine. He was very sweet about it. He said he’d walk me back to the apartment, and when I had a day off, we could go to an early dinner. He knows a restaurant on the wharf that’s close. He didn’t push or act upset at all.”
Pam raised an eyebrow. “A little too good to be true?”
“Pam.” Cindy hissed a reprimand. “We don’t know that. Let’s give the man a chance. There are decent men in the world. My husband was a good man. Gideon might be as well. Besides, we need to talk to her about the other thing that happened today.” She glanced down at Ellen, who was coloring. Cindy made all kinds of hand gestures pointing toward the child.
Rory raised her eyebrows and sipped at her coffee. The circle of women instantly sobered. “What’s up?”
“The police were back today,” Cindy said, “but it thankfully didn’t have anything to do with us.” Again, she glanced at Ellen. “Someone who lived in one of the apartments on the main floor um . . . took his . . . um . . .” She broke off.
Lydia took up the narrative. “S-U-I-C-I-D-E,” she said, spelling out the word. “It was Dustin Bartlet. Fortunately, it had nothing to do with us, and no one came to question us. None of us live on the main floor.”
“It was weird that so many cops were here,” Pam pointed out.
“I do feel bad about all the awful things I thought about him,” Cindy said. “I could have been nicer. He just seemed like he was always leering. Was he? Did we imagine it?”
“Once in a while, it occurred to me,” Rory ventured, “that the four of them—Harvey, Ret, Dustin and Jarrod—didn’t want to get caught talking together, so they said idiotic things to get us to go away.” Now she felt guilty too.