Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 479(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“You sure? I’m a good listener.”
“I… it was just old shit about my aunt. I don’t really want to talk about it. Please.”
“All right,” he soothed. Poor little darling. He thought over what he should do. It was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep straight away. And neither was he. “How do you feel about some hot chocolate and a movie?”
She was silent and he didn’t think she was going to answer. Then her head rose. “What kind of movie?”
“Your choice.”
“All right. That-that sounds good. Unless you need to go to bed? I’ll be all right.”
No, she wouldn’t. He shook his head and stood, holding his hand out. “Come on. Let’s go find some marshmallows and eat our weight in sugar. Just don’t tell Clint.” He winked at her and she smiled. Then she reached up and slid her hand into his.
5
He switched off the television. If he never had to see Patrick Swayze gyrate his hips again it would be too soon. But he’d sat through the entire thing, and he hadn’t moaned once.
Clint owed him big time.
He looked over at Charlie who was curled up at the other end of the couch, snoring softly. He smiled. He’d been surprised she hadn’t chosen a kids’ movie, rather than Dirty Dancing. But then she didn’t really let her Little out around him.
Just as he was trying to decide how to move her without waking her, his phone rang. He frowned as he saw his sister’s name on the screen.
“Eden, everything okay?”
“Can you come pick me up please?” There was a strange note to her voice.
“Are you all right? What’s happened?” he demanded.
“Nothing’s happened. I just need you to come get me. Please. I’m at the diner in town.”
“Are you safe? I can send Ed to you.”
“Kent, Ed’s the sheriff. He has better things to do than come babysit me.”
Not as far as Kent was concerned.
“Kent. Really. I’m sitting in the diner. I’m fine.”
“Who else is there?” he demanded.
“I didn’t call for an interrogation.”
“Eden,” he said in a warning voice.
“Abby is working. Old Pete is sipping on his fifth cup of coffee. There’s no one else around. But they’re going to close soon and I’ve drunk too much to drive home.”
At the mention of Abby’s name, his body flooded with heat. He didn’t know why. She was so shy that she could barely manage to look at him, let alone talk to him. He forced his mind back onto his current problem. He glanced over at Charlie sleeping. He couldn’t leave her after that nightmare.
“I’ll arrange someone to come get you. Stay there.”
He hung up before she could argue or question him, then called into the security center. There would be a couple of guys there.
“It’s Zeke. Speak.”
Shit. Zeke and Eden were like oil and water. They fought all the time. But he trusted Zeke almost as much as he did his brother. “Zeke, it’s Kent. Need a favor.”
“Shoot.”
“Charlie had a nightmare. She’s sleeping now, but I don’t want to leave her.”
“Right. What do you need doing?”
“Eden’s at the diner in town, can you go pick her up?” he asked.
There was silence on the other end. “You want me to go?”
“Yes, Zeke, that’s why I asked. I know you two don’t get along and she’s likely to hiss and roar at you, but I also trust you with her safety.”
“She’s in trouble?” Zeke’s voice quickly changed. Became deeper. More deadly. Kent long suspected that he had feelings for Eden, but he wasn’t sure how deep they ran. Or if he ever intended to act on them.
“She says not, but she sounded funny.”
“I’m going. I’ll get there as quickly as possible.”
“Thanks,” Kent said tiredly. “I appreciate it. I’ll get Charlie to bed and wait up for you.”
6
Charlie danced around the kitchen as she put together some sandwiches. She put one on her plate and four on Kent’s. Boy, that man could eat. She hummed as she made her way to Clint’s study, where Kent had decided to work from today.
“Someone’s happy, I wonder why?” Kent teased as she brought his lunch to him. He usually worked through lunch. He’d worked all Saturday too. On Sunday, he’d taken her and Eden out for breakfast in town, though. It had been a relief to get out of the house. She’d been going stir crazy.
Eden had been acting a bit strangely, though. Something was going on, but she wasn’t saying anything. Charlie knew that Zeke had picked her up Friday night, so she figured that was the problem. When were those two going to figure out that they were attracted to each other?
She sat on the sofa and put her sandwich on the coffee table, picking up her puzzle book. The first day of being grounded, Kent had made her write lines. Followed by an essay explaining why she shouldn’t wander off on her own. That had sucked big time.