Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Stevie would be our only focus.
Love and commitment fucked things up. She didn’t need that. She sure as hell didn’t need the dentist. The man couldn’t take care of her cunt the way I could. I wasn’t sure he even had a dick after feeling how tight her pussy was. Tomorrow, I would ease up on her. But I’d get her to tell me about the dentist and make sure she understood keeping things from me was lying. And I fucking hated being lied to.
Thirty-Three
Branwen
Last night, I had kept it together until Stevie fell asleep. Once she was breathing deep, I let the first tear fall. As I covered my mouth to keep my sobbing from waking her up, the bed shook. But I fell asleep, and rest had seemed to help.
Linc had yet to humiliate me today. I might make it through this day without crying myself to sleep tonight.
Stevie had been slow to warm up to Levi. I thought his appearance made her unsure what to think about him. When he spoke to her, she would get quiet, which was rare for her, and duck her head, as if she were shy. But it seemed they had found a way to bond.
I stood over by the fence post, where I used to sit as a child and watch my dad work with the jockeys who took the horses out to run the practice track. Levi was currently holding Stevie up so she could rub the mane on a large black thoroughbred.
Being here again made the past seemed like another world in one way and like it was just yesterday in another. Helping feed the horses, cleaning up the tack room, even cleaning out the stalls—it had all been a part of my life. There wasn’t much that went on here that I didn’t know about. These stables had been more my home than the actual house Dad and I lived in. When we were awake, we were here. We only ate dinner, took baths, and slept in our house. The best memories we shared had been on this property.
I glanced over at the buildings that were larger than they had once been. They’d been added on to, and the already-elaborate features had been upgraded. But the land was the same. The smell was the same. I inhaled deeply and wished I could hear my dad’s laugh one more time.
“Little Branwen Hester, all grown up,” a masculine voice said, bringing me out of my memories.
I turned toward the stables to see the older, more refined version of Kenneth Houston walking up to me. He’d been the worst one to tease me about my crush on Linc.
“You got old, Kenneth,” I replied.
He chuckled. “I’m surprised you didn’t follow that up by sticking out your tongue at me, then running off.”
“There is still time,” I warned with a grin.
He leaned up against the fence I was sitting on. “I gotta admit, I came by just to see you here with Linc. When Garrett told me about the two of you, I spit my damn whiskey out.”
I sighed. “If I’d only known then what I know now.”
“I think we all feel that way about something in our lives,” he replied. “She looks like you.” He pointed at Stevie with Levi.
“She has my hair and face, but Linc’s eyes.”
Kenneth smiled. “I have a granddaughter. That little girl is something else. Can’t imagine having a daughter. Those sweet smiles can wrap you right around their tiny fingers.”
“I know you have a son. Was he your only one, or did you have more kids?”
Kenneth’s family had their own stables, and I knew he’d had a little boy back then. I couldn’t remember much about him, but he had been young when I left.
“One boy. Saxon. He and his wife, Haisley, live on our land. Their daughter, Winter, is a raven-haired doll. She sure has livened things up for us. Melanie is owned by that child. I swear my wife lives and breathes to make her happy.”
The hollow ache in my chest when I thought about Stevie never meeting my dad or knowing him came uninvited. I didn’t want to be sad. I’d had enough of that yesterday.
“Well, I need to get up to the house. Garrett is expecting me. I just caught a glimpse of pale blonde curls, and it was like old times. Thought I’d come say hello,” he said, pushing off from the fence.
“I’m glad you did. It was good to see you, Kenneth.”
He nodded. “You too. And, Branwen, good luck.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but I didn’t ask as he headed back through the stables. I went back to watching Levi with Stevie. The familiar sound of a cantering horse caught my attention, and I glanced back to see a small blond boy on the back of a dark brown thoroughbred, headed in this direction. The confident way he held himself and the glint of mischief in his eyes left no question on who he belonged to.