Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
She sighed, going to sit on the sofa and putting her head in her hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. This is all just…” Her voice trailed off, and I saw the light bounce off her thick dark hair, turning it ruby red.
I went to sit next to her, deliberately keeping a few inches away. “I can’t imagine how overwhelming this is for you. But I promise that I will do everything I can to keep you safe.”
She looked up at me, her big blue eyes going wide as she met mine. She bit her lip, and I had to physically hold myself back from reaching out and touching her lip to keep her from tearing into it with her teeth.
“If you give me your keys, your address, and a description of Alex, I can take your car over to the garage and then get Hank to give me a ride over to your place. Tell me what you want from your place, and I’ll pack a bag for you.”
She looked at me, swallowing hard before nodding at me. “Do you have a pad of paper?”
I drove my truck down to the trailhead where she’d left her car the day before and climbed into the driver’s seat of her Camry, readjusting the seat and chuckling at how tiny Macy was. I had to move the driver’s seat out by almost a foot in order to get into a position that I actually found comfortable. It took me a few minutes to drive from the trailhead over to Hank’s gas station, thankful for the easy rapport that I’d managed to build with the man.
I pulled in and walked into the gas station, nodding at Hank as I walked up to the counter.
“Hey, Dillon. What happened to your truck?” Hank asked, looking out over the counter as he peered into the parking lot.
“Hey,” I said, leaning on the counter. “It’s a friend’s. I’ve got kind of a weird situation, and I was wondering whether you would be able to help me out with it.”
Hank raised his eyebrow at me but nodded, waiting for me to continue.
“There’s a new girl in town. She works at the grocery store.”
“Oh yeah, Macy.” I must’ve looked surprised by his knowledge of who I meant because he quickly said, “You know Nadine. She knows everyone, and she spotted Macy as soon as she got to town. She’s been trying to get her to come over for dinner too.”
“Of course she has,” I said under my breath. “Well, she just found out that her ex is in town, so she’s staying with me up at the cabin.”
Hank’s face was so shocked at the revelation that I almost started to laugh before I remembered why I’d gotten the reputation that I had.
“I’m guessing,” Hank said, slowly, “that this ex isn’t a good guy, is he?”
“No. No, he’s not. And I don’t want to take any chances that he might be able to find her or see the car. Do you think that you can store it in the back of the garage? I’ll pay you for the space.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, coming out to look at the car. “She’s one of the Ridgers, now. We’ve all gotta pitch in and keep her safe.”
I sighed in relief. “Well, if you won’t let me pay you for the space, then will you at least give it some service and an oil check? And write me a receipt so I can pay you the next time I come down the mountain for gas.”
He twisted his mouth in a grin and sighed. “Sure. Fine.”
“I have one last thing to ask you.” He nodded, waiting for me to go on. “Do you think that you can give me a ride to her apartment so I can scope it out and grab some stuff for her? She got stuck at the cabin without any of her things.”
He came out from behind the counter. “Let me just get Jeremiah to cover the front,” he said, referring to the kid he had as his assistant manager. “Meet me out by my car in five.”
A few minutes later, we were in the car, driving toward Huston Street in Hank’s old Jeep. When we pulled up to the building, I looked around for a few minutes for the guy with light brown hair and brown eyes. The guy who Macy had described as a taller Tom Cruise.
He was nowhere to be found, so I walked steadily into the building, buzzing myself in with the fob and going upstairs to the fourth floor. As I looked around, I felt another fissure form in my heart as I thought of what it had meant for her to go from the rich, rewarding life she’d had in LA to this filthy, run-down apartment building. I felt another wave of hate for Alex wash over me.