Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Fox nodded. “It does.” My cell started to buzz again. Fox and I read the name flashing at the same time. “Why don’t you just tell him to stop calling?”
“I have. But he’s persistent.”
Fox held my eyes, but said nothing. Once again, I pushed Ignore. But ten seconds later, the damn phone started buzzing. The muscle in Fox’s jaw flexed.
“You really want this guy to stop calling?”
“I haven’t answered in a week now, but he keeps filling up my voicemail. At first I felt bad, but now it’s gotten annoying.”
Before I realized what he was doing, Fox swiped the phone off the table and pressed to answer on speakerphone.
“Is this Noah?”
My eyes bulged.
“Who is this?” my ex snipped.
“This is the man telling you to stop harassing Josie. You need to stop calling her phone.”
“Who the hell is this?”
“Are you listening to me? Josie doesn’t want to talk to you. You fucked up. It’s over. It’s as simple as that.”
“Put Josie on the damn phone!”
“Not gonna happen. Now, Josie’s been trying to be nice, because she’s a nice person. Me, I’m not so nice. So I’m gonna tell you straight up how it is. If you call her phone again, she’s going to contact the police department and tell them she’s being harassed. If you continue to harass her after that, I’m going to pay you a visit myself. I might be six four and two-hundred-and-fifty pounds, but trust me when I say you won’t see me coming. One day you’ll be walking to your car in the hospital parking lot in the dark and suddenly we’ll meet.”
“This is insane. Who the hell are you?”
“No more calls, Noah. You don’t want to piss me off.”
With that, Fox calmly ended the call. He set the phone back on the table. My eyes were still wide with shock, but as it wore off, I grinned. “That was freaking fantastic.”
“Yeah? Thought you’d be pissed.”
“I wish I could’ve seen the look on his face.”
Fox smiled and lifted his chin in the direction of my foot. “I’m going to go. But ice that ankle once an hour until you go to bed.”
“Okay.” I stood, but he put his hand up.
“I’ll lock it behind me.”
“The bottom lock doesn’t work. Only the top one. So I’ll lock it behind you.”
Fox didn’t look happy, but he continued to the door. He stopped before opening it and looked down at me.
“By the way, you were right…”
“About what?”
His gaze shifted down from my face. He winked at my cleavage. “View from up here is pretty damn good.”
CHAPTER 10
* * *
Presents and Premonitions
Josie
“Hello?”
“Hi, Josie?”
The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. “Yes?”
“It’s Opal.”
“Oh. Hi, Opal.”
“Hope you don’t mind, but I schmoozed Sam at the home-improvement store into giving me your number.”
Yet again, it was apparent how different small-town life was from city life. I couldn’t imagine the guy at the Home Depot on Twenty-Third Street even knowing my name, much less giving my telephone number to someone. If that happened back home, I’d probably get a restraining order. Yet here, it seemed perfectly normal.
“No problem. What’s going on, Opal?”
“I was hoping you’d be up for lunch today. I have a little present for you.”
“A present? For me?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not expensive or anything. But I’m guessing you’re the type of person who doesn’t judge value by a price tag. If I’m right, my gift is priceless.”
“You have me intrigued now…”
“That’s what I was hoping. One o’clock work okay?”
“Sure. Why not.”
“Woodwards on Main Street. It’s the little café on the same side as the Beanery.”
“I know it. That’s perfect. See you later, Opal.”
My ankle was still pretty sore, so I left a little early for my lunch date and stopped at the small pharmacy in town to pick up an ACE bandage. The woman behind the counter smiled at me. “You must be Josie.”
I should’ve been used to it by now, but it still caught me off guard when a stranger knew my name. “Yes. How did you know that?”
“My aunt Frannie mentioned you were in town. Plus, I recognize you from the picture you sent years back. I’m Lily Dunn. We exchange cards a few times a year.”
I didn’t remember all the names on my card list these days, but Lily’s I did. Mostly because she had sent me one first. She and I were about the same age. Her aunt had told her about the card I sent, and Lily thought it was fun. She didn’t receive a lot of cards herself, so she’d mailed me one, and I’d added her to my list.
“Lily, it’s really great to meet you. You and your aunt were the first people I exchanged cards with. It’s meant a lot to me over the years.”
“Me too. I was looking forward to telling you a story in my next card. You’re part of the reason my boyfriend and I got together.”