Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Ember walked in a few moments later, and I seemed to spit out my thoughts before ever thinking about how they would come across. She probably thought I blamed her, but I didn’t. This wasn’t her fault in the slightest.
She wasn’t in the house when I got to the back, so I went in search of her at Cheyenne’s place.
Cheyenne opened the door with a child attached to both legs screaming.
I looked down and reached for Pru who had big crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“They had their shots today. The shots make them run fevers and feel bad for 48 hours. So here we are.” Cheyenne said dryly.
I gave Pru a kiss on the forehead when she laid her head down on my chest wiping tears and God knows what else on my shirt.
“Where’s Ember?” I asked.
“I haven’t seen her, like I said, we just got back. I was about to run up to the shop, could you carry Pru for me? That’s probably where she is. Sam just said everyone was there.”
Nodding in agreement, I walked with Pru while Cheyenne picked up Piper. Pru was fast asleep by the time we got to the shop. Pizza had been ordered sometime in the fifteen minutes I’d been gone, and everyone started chowing down.
Everyone that is, except Ember.
Turning towards Max I asked, “Is Ember asleep at your place or something?”
“No, I thought she was with you.” He replied.
It was then that it sunk in. She left. She heard what I said this morning, and left. Passing Pru to Blaine who was the closest, I ran out the door and slammed into the house. Glancing around the living room, I noticed what was missing. Her blanket was gone; her shoes that were normally strewn half-hazardly in the corner were gone.
I went into the bedroom and it was the same. All her clothes were gone. Her toiletries that covered the counter were no longer there.
My hands went to my hair as I yanked on it. Of course, she would do this. She didn’t want my child to be in danger, so she left thinking she was doing the right thing.
I walked into the living room and finally noticed the note on the coffee table and on top was her ring.
Gabe,
I’ll let you know where I end up. Don’t worry about me, worry about your sweet girl for now. I’ll give Max updates when I can.
Ember.
The tearstain on the bottom of the note is what broke my heart. Oh God, she had better be all right or I was going to do something this world had never seen before. I balled the hand not holding the note into a fist so hard that my knuckles cracked.
Max walked through the door taking one look at my ravaged face and nodded his head that he knew she was gone.
He handed me a paper and key and then said, “She went to the cabin. I have sensors set up. The whole place is wired. The code is on this paper. No one will get in without me knowing. She’s laying on the bed right now sleeping. Here are directions. Pack a bag and stay a few days, I think y’all need it right now. I would have known earlier, but my phone was dead.”
I ran to the room and packed a small overnight bag, and then back into the living room. Max was gone, which wasn’t surprising. Walking at a fast clip out the door, I straddled my bike, glanced at the directions, and took off. I rode hard and arrived in forty minutes instead of the hour Max said it would be. The gate at the bottom was locked so I pulled the bike over in front of the gate and shut it off.
Swinging my leg over and off, I hopped the fence and walked up the long driveway. It was a sweet spread. Trees lined both sides of the driveway and about a third of the way from the gate a creek ran underneath through a large drain.
I walked about half a mile when I saw a pond. No fish jumped from what I could tell, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. Around the bend of the pond, the cabin came into view. I couldn’t see Ember’s car, so that meant that she parked behind the cabin itself.
Pulling the key out of my pocket, I unlocked the door. The main room looked neat and tidy. A wood burning stove dominated the entire left side of the room. Large cedar beams lined the vaulted ceilings. The cabinets were cedar as well. Overall, this looked beautiful, and had a ton of potential.
I walked quietly to the hallway where I assumed the bedrooms were. The bedrooms split one on each side, and I stood in the middle of the hallway to look into both rooms. Ember was asleep in the one on the left.
Her face was tear stained, and her breath caught in her throat every other breath. It was my undoing. I dropped to my knees and ran my hand over her hair, smoothing it down. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking away the sleep.
I moved my face closer to hers, and then ran the tip of my nose along her face. I kissed her nose before leaning back on my heels and regarding her slowly. Her eyes filled with tears, and then spilled over.
“Alright, crazy girl. I know I said something that set you off, and I can guess how it sounded and what you think I meant. Let me tell you what I really meant. This gang has to go; I don’t want you, or my kids getting hurt. So either I’m going to help bust them, or I’m going to take them out. I don’t really care what it takes, but it’s going to happen. I need to be able to not fear for your safety when we go buy shit for our kids.”
Her mouth dropped open about halfway through my explanation, and by the end of it, her tears dried up.