Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“While I’m away on a job, I’ll have to worry, knowing what you’re doing and knowing I can’t get to you if something does go wrong,” he said. “Just as you’ll have to worry about me. I’ll send you messages through Sam when I can.”
Was she going to be okay with that? What was the alternative? Not having Zale in her life? She could pass up her chance of being with him because she didn’t want to be home waiting for his return. It wasn’t as if she was having hot date nights every night, nor would she if she turned him away. There was only Zale. Once she’d met him, she’d known no one else was going to measure up.
“You’re sighing.”
“Because you’re annoying.”
He laughed. “I’m annoying because you missed me and you don’t want to admit it.”
“I’ll admit it. I don’t want to take the chance that you’re going to break my heart all over again, Zale. I’d say we need to go slow, but there’s never time for us to go slow, is there? How long will you stay after Sam’s wedding?”
“I have another three weeks after his wedding.”
“I don’t know if I can take time off. I can get friends to cover part of it for me.” What was she thinking? Was she really going to start all over again with him? The idea was both exhilarating and scary—just like the proverbial roller coaster.
“Start asking them now,” Zale suggested. “We need as much time as we can get.”
“Are we really going to do this?”
He nodded. “We are. You aren’t a woman to go through life afraid, Vienna. There’s not one thing about you that says you do that.”
She laughed. “Zale, how could you possibly know what I’m really like? I’m living in a town called Knightly, up in the Sierras. I ran away from an argument with my mother and avoided talking with her because I was afraid of what she might say. I didn’t want us to make things worse. That’s real fear right there, Zale. I don’t think I can be called courageous at all.”
“She’s your mother, Vienna. That’s a different beast altogether. If I had a mother and had grown up as close to her as you had, I would be very careful not to do anything to make things worse between us.”
“I didn’t do much to try to repair the damage,” she admitted. “I called her and talked, but we both were so awkward when we spoke to one another, I think we just felt hurt when we hung up. She wouldn’t visit me in Knightly. I always made certain to invite Ellen to come with her, so she’d know I accepted her relationship, but it didn’t help. After a while, I just didn’t know what to do, so it was easier not to do anything.”
His hands wrapped around her feet, thumbs sliding up and into the soles. Vienna gasped at the way the massage felt. He never used too much pressure on her, it was always just the right amount.
“You never give yourself a break, Vienna. Has it occurred to you that your mother could have made an effort as well? The two of you could have talked things over and gotten the hurt out of the way. We’re not doing that. If I hurt your feelings, Snowflake, you’re going to tell me immediately and we’re talking it out. I’m bound to make a few mistakes. It’s not like I have a clue about family relationships.”
“Who raised you, Zale?”
“I don’t remember my parents. I’m not sure if I was ever with either one of them. My earliest memory was being cold. Really cold. I found this place in the dark where it was warm, a little hole I could squeeze into. The pipe was hot, and as long as I didn’t touch it, I didn’t get burned and I’d stay warm.”
“How old were you?”
“I don’t know, but I was in diapers.”
He said it so matter-of-factly that she almost didn’t understand. He even gave a little shrug, as if his childhood were of no consequence. Vienna said nothing because she wanted him to continue and was afraid if she said anything, he might stop.
“There was a bakery that sold all kinds of fresh-baked bread on the corner of the street. Below it, in the basement, were the ovens where they made the bread. The ovens were hot and the pipes ran under the bakery. I’d discovered them by accident. I had all the bread I could eat and there was a water spigot right outside the shop. No one could see me in my little space beside the pipe. Once I got rid of the diaper, I was able to run around at night and explore. I found a way into the basement and then into the bakery.”