Total pages in book: 155
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 772(@200wpm)___ 618(@250wpm)___ 515(@300wpm)
“Another friend you’re pulling out of your magic bag?” It blazed out of me like an accusation.
“I have a lot of magic tricks.” He winked.
Freaking winked.
“Pretty much know everyone in Moonlit Ridge,” he added like it wasn’t a big deal.
Moonlit Ridge.
It was the town we had been traveling toward.
This morning, Nelly had covered her eyes with her palm then swirled her finger over the map on her lap and pointed at it.
It was a game she loved to play. Something we tried to pretend was fun and not just a pathetic way of escaping.
The tip of her finger had landed directly on the small town.
The weather was supposed to be decent until close to midnight, so we thought we could make it there before it hit.
Not even close.
My throat thickened. “Thank you for the offer, but I can bandage it myself.”
“I’m sure you can, but don’t you think he should take a look at Finn? Just to be sure?” His brows lifted as he glanced at me.
Air huffed from my lungs.
Apparently, the guy knew exactly how to manipulate me.
Snared by the ultimate worry for my son.
I blew the air out through my nose. “Fine. You can have him come out, but after that, we won’t bother you anymore. You can give me the number to the autobody shop, and I’ll take it from there. You can go home and forget that we even exist.”
He looked between me and the road, and his wicked mouth twisted in some sort of gleeful satisfaction. “Whatever you say, Pipes. Whatever you say.”
THREE
PIPER
From where I sat on a couch in the motel’s lobby, I tried not to squint as the doctor shined a bright light into my eye.
“I don’t see any evidence of a concussion.” His voice was craggy with his age.
He’d already butterflied the wound, deeming actual stitches unnecessary.
Of course, at my insistence, he first examined Finn and my grandmother.
Both had been cleared of any injuries.
“I think you’re going to be just fine,” he continued. He clicked off the flashlight and tossed it into his medical bag.
The doctor was nothing like I’d pictured, but what I’d been picturing, I wasn’t entirely sure. Maybe someone right out of med school who had just as many tattoos as Theo.
Vicious beneath a white lab coat.
Not what had to be a seventy-year-old man with shaggy white hair.
Theo had introduced him as Dr. Reynolds, his uncle who still headed a local family medical practice here in Moonlit Ridge.
The man was kind and thorough and skilled, and I couldn’t stop the rush of gratitude that Theo had facilitated this.
I’d needed the reassurance that we were all fine.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you, Dr. Reynolds. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you coming out in the storm like this.”
“No need to thank me,” Dr. Reynolds said with a gentle, crooked smile. “I’m always happy to help out someone in trouble.”
He glanced at Theo when he said it.
Theo who had been loitering entirely too close while the three of us had been examined.
Refusing to budge.
I’d suggested that he leave us and our belongings on the sidewalk under the covered drop-off area in front of the lobby when we arrived, but he’d only sent me one of those grins as he’d said, “You wouldn’t want me to lose sleep tonight not knowing if the three of you are fine or not, would you?”
Then he’d hopped out of his truck and rounded to my side to help me down.
I’d again tried to refute by telling him he’d done too much, and his mouth had come far too close to my ear when he’d murmured, “It’s my pleasure.”
Chills had streaked far and wide as we’d stood too close in the passenger door of his truck.
This intensity zapping from him that had lit across my skin.
Compelling.
Provoking.
Chains that I could so easily get tangled in.
Now, Theo tipped his chin up at his uncle, their gazes locked like the two were sharing some silent conversation.
A thousand words passed between them without either of them making a sound.
The old man finally pulled his attention from Theo, and he was quick to latch up his medical bag. “I’ll get out of your hair so you can get settled in a room.”
I popped up from the couch. “Will you send a bill or…?”
I had no idea what a house call would cost. I didn’t even know that was a thing anymore. But whatever it was, the peace of mind was worth it.
The old man rumbled a tender laugh. “Oh, no, dear, there is no charge.”
My brow pinched. “What do you mean?”
He glanced at Theo again. “I owe Theo a favor or two.”
Disbelief shook my head. “But I’m not one of them.”
“Sure, you are.” That growly voice skated over me from the side.
A shiver lifted in its wake.
I whirled that way, and I nearly stumbled back at his proximity.