Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141951 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 710(@200wpm)___ 568(@250wpm)___ 473(@300wpm)
“I’m here for the weekend, actually.”
Slapping a hand against the top of the Bronco, Malachi scoffed. “Someone is really keeping secrets, then.”
Lucas didn’t know much about that, but in any case, it could only mean good things that Malachi wasn’t unhappy to see him there. “That was four more hours in a vehicle than I would have liked to spend driving, let me say.”
“Ah, you made it. Now I know why Gracen wanted to order enough pizza to feed a fucking army later.”
“I could do pizza,” Lucas said. “Beer, too?”
Malachi nodded. “Definitely beer. Are you getting out or sitting in there all day?”
Well …
Either might work at the moment.
Lucas hated to admit that an old hockey injury from his younger days made sitting in the same position, like behind the wheel of a vehicle, particularly difficult. Stiffness and pain were the most common symptoms, but nothing a hot bath, a few beers, and a couple of Tylenol couldn’t fix.
“Yeah, I’m getting out,” Lucas said, sighing as he pushed the button to roll up the window before he removed the keys from the ignition.
Sure enough, stepping out of the Bronco made him aware of just how achy his mid-to-lower back had become over the long drive. His spine cracked, earning a grunt from Lucas, as he moved to the back of the vehicle where he placed a tote bag full of clothes and toiletry items. Whatever he needed to get him through the weekend, basically. Another bag, keeping his brother’s urn and ashes safe, remained in the back and would stay there until Lucas could make the drive to the cabin sometime over the next couple of days.
He still felt like that’s where he wanted Jacob to be.
“Do you want to take five minutes to check out the progress on your wall—” Malachi’s offer quieted when a beep interrupted him. He pulled the reason for the disturbance out of the pack pocket of his jeans, his gaze drawn into whatever he found on the screen.
Something good, Lucas thought.
It had to be.
The man grinned like a cat licking cream.
“What about the wall piece?” Lucas asked.
Malachi’s gaze darted upward to find Lucas waiting with his bag hanging from his hand before he pulled the back hatch closed. “Gracen is up to something—I can’t tell you what, or even what I just saw, but she is.” He put his phone away, stuffing it back into his pocket. “And now I have something I need to do in the house. Right now, actually.”
Lucas chuckled. “That important?”
“Something like that,” the man returned, smirking. “I suspect you probably want to say hello and catch up with Delaney for a bit, right?”
“That was my plan, yeah.”
Malachi’s head bobbed up and down. “Good, good.” He waved a finger between the two of them, saying, “And we’ll meet back up later—pizza and beer, eh?”
“Absolutely. I know where to find you.”
“Sure do,” Malachi replied, clapping Lucas on the shoulder as he walked on by, making a fast beeline for the house. Over his shoulder, he called, “The stairs for the apartment are around the east side.”
Lucas waved two fingers high. “Got it, thanks.”
The first time he visited the property, Lucas had not explored the apartment Malachi said had been built overtop of the garage. Apparently, Delaney’s friend and her partner had been using it as office space and extra storage for their home-based businesses, between the salon and wood working, but didn’t need the extra room in a pinch.
Hence, the offer for Delaney to rent it.
Which she had.
Knowing she would be a couple of hours further upriver than she had initially been when they first met made the time Lucas had been able to carve out for a weekend with her more special. Sacred, in a way, because they didn’t have a lot of it.
So, he didn’t want to waste any of it.
Lucas took the wooden steps on the far side of the garage two at a time. Salt, sprinkled liberally up the steps to keep them from getting icy, crunched under his shoes until he reached the large rubber mat on the landing at the top.
Someone else waited there for him, too.
Delaney yanked open the frosted glass door—similar to the main house, but smaller—with a happy shriek. “You lied—you told me you were in Woodstock!”
Lucas’ responding laugh at his trick having worked became muffled into the sweet-smelling crown of Delaney’s black hair when she engulfed his middle into the tightest hug of his life. Stopping at the edge of The Valley to finish his conversation with Lawrence proved useful when Delaney called right after, and he convinced her that he was farther away than was true.
To see her smile so big.
Just because her arms couldn’t reach all the way around him didn’t stop Delaney from trying, or taking the breath out of his lungs, either. Lucas laughed at her hard squeeze, and hugged her back with one arm while he used his other to keep the two steady and safe on the twenty-foot-high landing by holding onto the railing.