Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“Do what?”
“That’s hot,” he says, pointing to Winnie and Soph.
“Fucker, she’s feeding our daughter.” I don’t take my eyes off them. Memorizing yet another moment.
“I know. I get it. I’m also a man. I know,” he says, wagging his eyebrows.
I don’t deny it. He’s right. He doesn’t need me to tell him he is.
“So what happened at the gym?” Winnie asks. “We’ve all been here. What’s going on?”
“It’s out of our hands,” Chase explains. “The fire marshal is performing an investigation. No one is allowed in until it’s complete. It’s a waiting game.”
“Do you have any ideas?” she asks.
“Not one,” I tell her. “However, it’s obvious this is all connected somehow.”
She looks up at Gabby, and something passes between them. “Guys, I have a theory,” Gabby says, turning to look at Chase and me. “You might want to sit for this,” she warns.
We both remain standing.
“Do either of you remember my twenty-first birthday?” she asks.
“Yeah,” Chase says. “You wore those tight-as-hell leather pants, and that sparkly tank top, no bra.” He goes on to describe her hair and shoes.
Gabby looks surprised. “Y-Yeah. Um, so that night, do you remember there was a girl hanging all over you, Harrison?” I can tell by the way that she’s looking at me, she’s being cautious.
I think back to that night all those years ago. “Yeah, she was annoying as hell. I was never so glad to see you,” I tell my wife.
“That girl was Gina,” Winnie tells me.
“What?” Chase and I say at the same time.
“Are you sure?” I ask, even though I know it’s possible. I barely spared her a glance that night.
“Surely we would have remembered that?” Chase says, almost as if he’s thinking out loud.
“Apparently, not.” This from Gabby as she never takes her eyes off Chase. “Do you forget all the women you sleep with?” Gabby asks, her face pinched as if it pains her.
“What are you talking about? I never slept with her.”
“That night she told me that the guy she wanted to go home with fell through, so she went home with his best friend.”
“It wasn’t me,” Chase says through clenched teeth.
“Right,” Gabby scoffs. “No point in denying it, Chase.”
“I’m telling you, Gabrielle, it wasn’t me.” He turns to look at me. “Ethan was with us that night.”
“That’s right. He just accepted that new job and was moving away,” I say as the memory comes back to me.
“It wasn’t you?” Gabby says, her voice sounding strange.
“No, Gabs, it wasn’t me. I remember distinctly. I had my eye on a girl way out of reach. I couldn’t see past her to notice anyone else.” His eyes lock on hers.
“It fits,” Winnie says, peeking under the cover at Sophia. “She’s snoozing, and I need to burp her.”
“Let me.” In a couple of long strides, I’m at her side. Grabbing the extra blanket, I place it over my shoulder, like I saw Winnie do earlier. Gabby helps her hold up the blanket while I lift my sleeping daughter into my arms. I go back to the window, and take my spot beside Chase, rubbing my little girl’s back. The conversation goes on as we continue to put the pieces together. Sophia burps and Chase laughs loudly, causing her to startle.
“I’m sorry, sweetie,” he says, reaching over and lightly running his finger over her cheek. “I didn’t expect that from such a little thing,” he says gently.
“So what do we do?” Winnie asks.
“I’ll make a call. Tell them what we know. Otherwise, we do nothing.”
“What do you mean, nothing?” she asks incredulously. “She’s torturing us, messing with your business. She started a fire, Harrison.”
“I know. But all that matters is that we’re all okay. No one was hurt. We have a new baby girl to take home and get settled. We’ll let the authorities handle it. Right now we have no concrete proof that this is happening. We’ll tell them what we remember, what we think and let them work it out.” I’m furious at myself for letting her stay employed by All Fit as long as I did, and at her for everything she’s done. However, I refuse to let it ruin the miracle that is my little girl.
“Who are you?” Gabby asks.
“I’m a father,” I tell her. “I’m a husband, and a brother-in-law, a friend, a son. I’m lots of things, but most of all, I’m deliriously happy. If it was Gina, which I believe it was, they’ll get her.”
“And if they don’t?” Winnie questions.
“Then we’ll figure it out when that happens.”
“He’s right,” Chase agrees. “We can’t take matters into our own hands. I mean, what are we going to do? Tie her up in the basement? We’ll tell them what we know, and it all leads back to her. We’re all confident of that. They’ll more than likely need to talk to all four of us, to give our side of the story.”