Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72969 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“So that makes her what? Around fourteen?”
“Yeah, fourteen in a couple months. Her and Raven both.”
Ted wets a washcloth in the sink and carefully applies it to my scraped knee. The washcloth is warm, and his touch is gentle. Gentler than I would’ve been.
“Doesn’t look too bad,” he says. “It’ll scab over and heal up in no time. Just in time for you to scrape the other one.”
“Yeah, probably.”
He takes the Bactine out, puts some on a cotton ball, and rubs it gently on the open wound before putting on a bandage. “There you go. The Bactine has an anesthetic in it that will numb the pain pretty soon.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“Tell you what. I don’t have a lot more to do today. How about you and I hang out together for the rest of the day?”
“Doing what?” Last thing I want to do is hang out in my father’s office and watch him work on the computer.
“Do you like games?” Ted asks.
“Sure. Who doesn’t?”
“Video games, I bet,” he says.
“Oh yeah, love them. We have a Nintendo, but Falcon is usually hogging it playing Mario Kart. But even when I do get my turn, Mom doesn’t let us have a lot of screen time.”
“Your mom’s a smart woman. Those things numb your brain.” He clasps his hands together. “I’ll teach you to play a real game. How about Monopoly?”
“We have it, but it takes too long. We never finish the game.”
He smirks. “I can take care of that. Or we could play Scrabble.”
“I don’t think we have that one.”
“I never travel without Scrabble,” Ted says. “I’ll go get it out of my truck. You stay here in your dad’s office, and I’ll be right back.”
10
DANIELA
Belinda and I arrive at the huge Bellamy ranch house right behind Vinnie and Raven.
I park my car and Belinda and I get out, following Vinnie and Raven inside. Hawk hasn’t arrived yet, and a sliver of sadness sweeps through me. His other brother, Eagle, is playing on his phone in the corner.
I’m sure he’ll be along any second.
Belinda tugs on my hand. “What am I supposed to do? There aren’t any kids my age here.”
“Why don’t you hang out in the kitchen with me?” I offer.
She purses her lips, shifts her weight from one foot to the other. “Well…I guess I could.”
“Or… I can ask Raven to put a movie on one of the TVs in one of the bedrooms for you. We all understand if you need some alone time.”
She smiles. “Yeah, actually I would like that.”
“Perfect.” We walk over to Vinnie and Raven. “Raven?”
She turns to me. “Yeah, what is it Daniela?”
“I guess I’ll be helping your mom in the kitchen, and Belinda was wondering if she could watch a movie in one of the bedrooms.”
Raven brushes a strand of hair from Belinda’s face. “Of course you can, Bee. Or you can hang out here with Vinnie and me. I can get you an Orange Crush.”
Belinda smiles. “If you want me to.”
Raven grins. “But you’d rather watch a movie, wouldn’t you?”
Belinda nods shyly.
“That’s okay,” Vinnie says. “A movie it will be.”
“I’ll take care of it, Vinnie,” Raven escorts Belinda down one of the hallways and into a bedroom.
“You sure you’re up for this?” Vinnie asks me.
“You know I love to cook.” I swallow. “I just don’t know if I’ll be up to Raven’s mom’s standards.”
“Star’s a good woman,” Vinnie says. “I know she can come on kind of strong at times, but she loves her family. And she wants to do this for Raven.”
“And you,” I remind him.
He chuckles. “Yeah, but especially for Raven. After getting through her cancer treatment and all. It’s just as much a celebration of that, and also of Austin waking up.”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“So go ahead and join her in the kitchen,” Vinnie says. “Or if you don’t want to, just tell me. I’ll take care of everything.”
“No, I’d like to be useful, Vinnie.”
He gestures me toward the kitchen. “Go on in then. There’s no reason to be shy around this family. Savannah and I learned that right away.”
“Speak of the devil,” I say.
Falcon and Savannah walk in.
Savannah grins. “You two talking about us?”
“All good things, I promise,” Vinnie says.
“I’m sure.” She pats Vinnie on the shoulder before turning to me. “Do you and Star need any help with dinner?”
“Since I have no idea what she’s planning to serve, sure,” I say.
“Come on then.” Savannah grabs my arm, turns to Vinnie. “Do you think Raven would like to join us as well?”
Vinnie is about to answer, but then his phone dings. He reaches into his pocket, looks at the text, and widen his eyes. “Actually… I need to talk to her about something.” He looks around the house. “Which way did she take Belinda?”
Eagle gets to his feet. “She probably took her to the guest room. I’ll show you. I have to take a piss anyway.”