Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
When I get around to the other side of the pond, Kanan is walking up the dock with a fierce look on his face. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Surprised, I’m taken aback for all of two seconds before my temper gets flared. I put my hand on my hip and jut my chin at him. It would be so much easier if he wasn’t so handsome. “What? You said no running, but I didn’t think you meant that literally. I thought it was more of a metaphorical order.”
He’s still coming at me, and he doesn’t stop until we’re toe to toe. I practically have to suck in air as he trails his eyes down my body and back up again. I bite onto my lower lip, and I swear he gets even madder. What the hell is his deal?
He’s gritting his teeth, and I don’t even know how he’s forming words. “Go inside, Emerson.”
I cross my arms over my chest. He glances down and back up again. His once blue eyes are now black. “Look at you.”
He doesn’t say it like a compliment, but I refuse to back down. I don’t know why he’s got a problem with the way I look, but he obviously does. I’ve never let what a man thought about me or my body stop me in the past, and I’m not going to now. Instead of rising to the bait, I push past him to walk out onto the dock. It’s obvious what he’s been doing. There’s plenty of decayed and rotten wood on the dock, and he’s taking up the old to replace it with the new. I drop down to my knees, pick up the hammer he’d dropped, and start extracting nails from the wood.
“Emerson.” He grunts at me.
At this point, I’m holding back tears. I’m trying to remain neutral and act as if I don’t care what he thinks about me, but it’s the furthest thing from the truth. Obviously because I’m plus size he thinks I need to cover my body, and maybe I’m being ridiculous, but if I give in now, he’ll think he can tell me how to dress all the time. I’m not going to hide my body just because he doesn’t like it.
“Emerson,” he says again.
I drop back on my haunches and gesture to the wood. “Kanan.”
He drops down beside me. “Go get dressed.”
I continue to glare at him. “I am dressed.”
He tries to take the hammer from me, but I’m too fast and pull it from his reach. “Forget it. I’m not going in, I’m not changing my clothes. I am going to stay here and earn my keep, even if it was only for one night.”
With more force than necessary, I pry out another nail with a huff. “Are we taking out these nine boards?” I point at the last of the decayed boards.
He just stares at me with his nostrils flared, but I’m not going to let his glare stop me. “Kanan, I’m helping. These nine boards?” I ask him with a sweep of my arm.
He nods, and I get to work pulling the nails. Kanan picks up the decayed boards, and since we’re working together, it takes no time to get the old boards out.
I stand up as he picks up the last board, and as I’m walking up to the pile of new boards, I see Walker walking down the path. The smile comes easily, and I jog over to him as he catches me in his arms. My dad loved Walker—heck, everyone does—and ever since my dad died, Walker and his wife Brooklyn have made a point to check in on me, randomly stopping by at school to see me. When he releases me, he’s smiling. “Well, look at you. I knew you’d eventually come to your senses and come to Whiskey Run.”
Kanan is gruff as he comes to stop next to me. “You knew she was coming?”
He clears his throat and looks away, telling me he’s not about to tell me the whole truth. “I figured eventually she’d show up here.”
Kanan is standing with his arms over his chest, and he’s obviously not happy. “Did you know she was getting kicked out of school?”
Walker’s surprise is evident by the shocked look on his face. “Kicked out?”
I shrug my shoulders. “It’s a long story, but...” I look at Kanan, and he nods his head, so I continue. “Well, uh, I’m pretty sure my mom has taken my trust money that Dad left me. That’s where my school payments were coming from, and it seems the account is empty.” I can feel my face heat as I ramble on, but I try my best to hold my head high because I know none of this is my fault.
Walker is angry. That much is obvious by the way his jaw tightens. “I’ll look into it.”