Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87573 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Funnel cakes,” Whitt added.
My eyes snapped back to his. So, he really had been listening. “I suppose I can’t resist a funnel cake.”
“That’s the word on the street,” he teased.
I licked my lips and averted my gaze. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see that my sister was calling.
“I have to take this. Y’all go ahead, and I’ll catch up.”
“I can wait,” Whitt offered.
I stepped aside, my stomach sinking. There were few reasons why Bailey would be calling me. And every single one of them was a bomb waiting to go off. I didn’t want to take this call. But I couldn’t not take this call.
“Bailey?”
She immediately launched into conversation about what was the newest problem in Midland. My heart sank as I listened and watched the crowd of people migrate from the auditorium toward the carnival grounds. It was like watching from outside of my body. So easy for everyone else to live in the moment. To forget the world around them and head to the carnival, where they could spend money without worrying about where every dollar had come from and laugh without wondering if someone was going to tear them apart for just existing.
The longer I was on the phone with Bailey, the more I remembered why that wasn’t my reality. Why I couldn’t be that carefree. Not when a tether held me under the water. Not when my responsibilities back home were still drowning me.
Whitt hesitated nearby, as if he was going to wait for me. The promised funnel cake inviting me to get off the phone quickly. To forget what my sister was saying on the other line. To get lost in him.
But I couldn’t be the girl who ignored the call. I had to deal with this. If I didn’t, then no one else would. It had to be me. Even if I wanted one day when I didn’t have to deal with anything.
Instead, I waved him off.
His brow furrowed. I thought he might disagree with me. That he might wait. But eventually, he nodded and left with the rest of the group.
I sighed. “Okay, okay. Slow down, Bails. I’ll handle it.”
Like I always did.
Part II
Dream Catcher
7
Whitton
“Knock, knock.”
I glanced behind me to find Jordan striding into my office with a roguish smile on his face. I’d been working with Jordan long enough to know that wasn’t a good thing.
“What happened?”
“Why does something have to have happened?” Jordan asked.
“Because I know you.”
He laughed and took the seat across from me, crossing his ankle at his knee. Oh boy.
I closed out of the memo I’d been writing on the survey Eve and I were going to look at in Midland this afternoon. She’d done every scrap of work sent her way almost immediately. Her lateness only seemed to be in relation to meeting in person. Which hadn’t happened since I’d seen her at the mayoral announcement.
She’d claimed that she was going to come to the carnival, and then she’d bailed without a word. Even Nora seemed concerned. I spent the rest of the afternoon wishing I could bail, too. Between being in Nora and West’s lovey-dovey gravity and fending off West’s attempts to get me to explain what was going on with Eve, I’d been exhausted by the time I did get home.
West didn’t really know how to take no for an answer from me. I’d say it was a twin thing, but I was pretty sure he was just an annoying younger brother. I’d get the same treatment from Harley if she were here.
Not that there was anything to say. Eve and I were working together. We’d flirted while I helped her with her car. That was all it was.
“I’m giving you an intern for the summer.”
I blinked at Jordan. “An intern? Why?”
“Special circumstances.”
“There’s only eight weeks left before the end of summer.”
“I know.”
There was something he wasn’t saying. I hadn’t ever asked for an intern. Really, I hadn’t ever wanted one. As nice as it was to have someone to file my paperwork and run for my coffee, I didn’t have the time to train anyone. Not with this massive project on my plate. What was Jordan thinking?
“Let’s call it a personal favor,” Jordan said with a grin.
“Since when are we doing personal favors at work?”
“Since Jensen’s kid is coming in from New York City and needs someone who won’t coddle his ass.”
I nearly choked. “Colton is coming to Lubbock?”
“Yep.”
“Because he was arrested?”
“Yep.”
“And you want him to work for me? The boss’s kid?”
“I want someone who won’t treat him like the boss’s kid. He can’t work for anyone who has grown up with him. And he can’t work for anyone who will treat him with kid gloves. He’s not glass; he won’t shatter under pressure.”
“You think I’m that person?”