Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100277 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 501(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
“We gotta be in Denver at two o’clock. I’m just in there for prepping, you know. Surgery isn’t until the day after. Luckily, Dawn talked me into health insurance a while back or I’d be fucked. You got health insurance, kid? I know it’s copping to the man to hand over cash for that shit, but turns out anything could happen and it’s saving me a shit ton of dough.”
“I’ve got health insurance.” It wasn’t the greatest health insurance in the world, but it was something.
Arlo picked up dirty socks off the couch, threw them across the room, and sat down with a grin. “That’s cool. So tell me what you’ve been up to, Star Shine. You still waitressing at that drag show?”
I closed my eyes, asking every deity in our universe for patience. “That was six years ago, Arlo.”
“It was? Well, you know me and time don’t get along great. What you up to these days? Oh, wait.” He suddenly got up again. “I got to show you the commission I just did. It’ll blow your fucking mind. This guy right here”—he pointed his thumbs toward himself—“is like a fine wine. I get better with age.” He chortled as I reluctantly followed him through the house and out back toward his studio.
Patience.
I just needed a little patience.
* * *
• • •
As hard as I tried to get in contact with Dawn, I could not get hold of the woman. Arlo was in surgery for four hours, and they were some of the most nerve-racking hours of my life. He was a further four days in the hospital and then on Friday I took him home.
It had been an emotional and stressful week at my parents’ house. I dreamed of memories from my childhood, things I hadn’t thought about in years. The sight of Dawn’s clothing reminded me of her perpetual absence. Even when she was present, she was never really there. My bosses at All on the Line and We Bring Them to Life called asking if I knew when I’d have availability again and had warned me subtly that I’d start losing the best jobs or my spot completely on their roster if I couldn’t give them a return date. I’d told them I’d be back in two weeks and hoped that was true. Mostly because I didn’t think I could take Arlo for any longer than that. I’d scrubbed the house from top to bottom, done all the laundry that had piled up, and restocked the groceries. Arlo didn’t even notice, which was fine because, hello, heart surgery. However, Arlo the Patient was the worst version of my father anyone could encounter, and my desperation to get hold of Dawn grew by the second. Guilt filled me every time I wished I were anywhere but there because Arlo had just had major surgery and I should want to be there to look after him.
“You didn’t season this,” Arlo grumbled that Saturday morning as he ate the scrambled eggs I’d cooked.
“I just followed doctor’s orders. Want more?”
He shot me a disgusted look. “Why the fuck would I want more of this shit?” Trying not to flinch, I reached for his plate and he slapped my arm away. “What the hell are you doing?”
My skin stung right along with my feelings. “I thought you didn’t want it.”
“I’m eating it, aren’t I? Stupid girl.”
“Hey.” I said it with a gentle sharpness. “Hit me again and I walk, okay?”
Arlo scowled. “Mellow out, kid, and stop being such a downer. You can’t stress me out. Doc said so.”
I walked out of the bedroom before I gave in to the urge to strangle him.
Then the doorbell rang.
Even though I knew if it was Dawn, she’d have walked right in, I couldn’t help but wish it were her, anyway.
To my shock, the person standing on the doorstep was someone unexpected.
It was Rafe.
He’d called me and texted throughout the week, just enough to let me know he was thinking about me, but not too much to put pressure on me.
Yet there he was.
Considerate, caring, sexy Rafe Whitman. In Boulder, Colorado. For me.
“Rafe?”
He gave me a small smile and I felt instantly calm. “Hey.”
* * *
• • •
“I’m not here for anything,” Rafe assured me that night as he lay stretched out on the guest bed I slept in. “I’m just here for you.”
Deciding to put my confusion about us aside for now, I wearily climbed into the bed and accepted his invitation to snuggle into him. Resting my head over Rafe’s heart, I sighed heavily.
It had been a day.
While Arlo was happy to meet Rafe, to have someone new for company, his good mood didn’t last. Rafe chatted with him for a while and Arlo, who pretended to be a lover of animals our whole life even though he’d never taken care of an animal ever, thought Rafe being a vet was the shit. But as soon as he found out who Rafe’s family was, he started lecturing him on the evil of big business and corporations.