Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77730 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
She nodded. “He reminds me a lot of you when it comes to the horses. I love how he watches you with them. He’s like a sponge, absorbing it all.”
“He’s a good kid, and one hell of a rider. Don’t tell your dad this, but I think he’s going to be better at training them than Tanner.”
Lily made a motion to lock her lips, then tossed the pretend key over her shoulder. “Before I forget to tell you, Ben stopped by.”
I raised a brow. “What did that asshole want?”
Scrunching up her nose, Lily replied, “To be besties again. It appears he and Abby didn’t work out. She cheated, baby wasn’t his, that kind of thing.”
“Oh wow. What did you say?”
“Do you want the short version?”
Laughing, I said, “Sure.”
“I told him no. Then Nathan punched him, and basically told him to get off the ranch and never come back.”
I stared at Lily for a good thirty seconds, then started to laugh. “I love that kid.”
She giggled. “It was something else to see.”
Leaning down, I kissed her. “We better get going so your dad’s not waiting on us.” I turned to the gelding. “You need me to take the reins?”
He bobbed his head and Lily laughed as I took them, then we walked hand in hand out of the barn.
I couldn’t help but send a little prayer to the man upstairs. I never in my life, ever, thought I could be so damn happy.
Christmas at the Shaw Ranch.
It turned out that Thanksgiving was simply a steppingstone to the Big Holiday.
This year, it was at Dirk and Merit’s house. They weren’t technically Shaws, but they were family nonetheless. The moment Lily and I stepped into the family room, I did a quick sweep of the crowd.
Bradly and Avery, Dirk and Merit’s kids, were arguing in the corner about what music should be played.
Next to them sat Kipton and Hunter, the two of them wearing dreamy looks, and Hunter’s hand on her stomach. I couldn’t wait for that to be me and Lily. She must have noticed as well, because she slipped her hand in mine.
“Look at Blakley trying to get Bradly to pick her up,” Lily said with a laugh.
Bradly reached down, picked her up, and gracefully swung her onto his shoulders while still arguing with his sister.
“Ryan’s already holding a few shot glasses in his hands. Is he going to drink… Wait. Is he giving those to Morgan and Georgiana?”
Lily grinned. “Oh, wow. Morgan and Georgiana knocked those back fast.”
Blayze attempted to keep Ryder and Rhett from tearing open all the presents, while Josh and Nathan argued with Merit and Timberlynn about going up to Bradly’s room and playing video games.
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked, as I searched for the older Shaws.
“My guess is Uncle Brock, Uncle Ty, and my father are all in Uncle Dirk’s office, knocking back a few beers. Gramps is probably in there with them.”
A loud scream caused everyone to look at Rose, who was jumping into Bryson’s arms.
“Wonder what that’s all about.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Who knows? I honestly don’t know why we don’t do Christmas at each of our own families’ houses. I mean, we do in the morning, but this let’s-get-everyone-together thing is already getting a bit out of hand. Can you imagine when Kipton has her baby, and we have ours? Then Rose will most likely be popping out a baby soon. It’s going to be chaos.”
I smiled. “I kind of like the chaos.”
“Oh,” Lily said with a dark laugh, “you say that now. Wait until the games start later, after we eat. If you think family game night is intense, you haven’t seen the Christmas version.”
My body actually shuddered. “Do you think we can come up with an excuse to leave early?”
Lily’s eyes lit up. “We can say I’m not feeling well. They can’t make us stay if I’m feeling sick.”
“Okay, that’s the plan then.”
“What’s the plan?”
We both jumped, and Lily let out a little scream before she turned and saw Bradly.
“How did you get over here so fast? You just had Blakley on your shoulders five seconds ago while you argued with Avery.”
He smirked. “Please. All I had to say was Avery had dolls in her room and Blakley went nuts. Now, what’s the plan? Tell me you’re cooking up something to get us out of here before hell night starts.”
I grinned. “Hell night?”
He nodded. “Listen, I can endure family game night, but only because I’m on the road so much that I don’t have to do it every week.”
“They dropped it to once a month,” Lily added.
“What? Why?”
“For someone who doesn’t like it, you sound upset by that.”
He laughed. “I’m just wondering why it had to happen when I’m never home and don’t get to enjoy that perk.”
“With all the little ones, it’s getting too hard for everyone to slice out a night a week, so they voted and it’s once a month now. But I did hear Merit saying she’d try to get your schedule so we could do it when you’re home.”