Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70566 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
She may be old, but she was spry.
She slammed the door closed before I’d even finished leaving the truck.
I rounded the hood to see her stomping toward the Heartsans’ front door.
The door opened and a young woman smiled at my mother. “Mrs. Windsor. Hello. What are you doing here?”
The woman was stunning. Probably around Holly’s age.
“Hello, dear. Are your parents home?” Mom asked.
The woman smiled. “Dad’s in the barn. Mom’s not feeling well.”
My mother softened. “How’s the cancer?”
The woman’s face fell. “Not good.” She looked around at the farm. “She thought she was going to beat it, but it came back very aggressively. It’s not looking good.”
Fuck cancer.
“I’m sorry, honey,” my mom said. “You let me know if you need anything. And if the ban’s ever lifted on visits, I’ll be the first to stop by.”
She smiled. “Be careful. The road to the barn’s a little rough.”
Mom waved and caught my hand.
We were halfway to the barn when she said, “Now, I don’t like Mrs. Heartsan all that much, but no one deserves to be riddled away by cancer.”
I rolled my eyes. “What was all that bluster back there then if you don’t like her?”
“They practically stole Holly’s horse. I don’t know if you were around when that happened, but I watched that girl cry for days. And they pretty much gave them bottom dollar for that horse, claiming that they’d love and take care of it for the rest of his days. But every time we drive by, that horse is just lonely in the field. Doesn’t have any companions. Broke up the friendship between Holly and the Heartsan girl, too.
“I hated that for Holly,” she continued.
I did, too.
The barn doors loomed, and Mr. Heartsan came out looking ragged.
He blinked at us in surprise.
“Uh, can I help you?” he asked.
It was then that I realized that he was one of the men that I’d seen that night at the dog fighting ring.
I narrowed my eyes as anger started to fill me.
He saw my anger and blanched.
“We’re here about the horse, Mr. Heartsan,” my mother replied. “We want the horse back for Holly.”
Mr. Heartsan looked like he was going to say no immediately, but stopped.
“How much?” he asked.
My mother crossed her arms. “I paid your bail.”
I blinked.
“That was you?” he asked.
She nodded.
“I…”
“I got you out because I want something from you.” She pointed at a horse in the field closest to the house. “You’ve had him long enough. Give him back.”
“He’s my only source of income besides my accounting job,” he pointed out. “If I get rid of him, I won’t have money to pay for any more treatments.”
My mother leveled him with a look. “From what I understand, you stopped treatments last week.”
Mr. Heartsan blinked.
“Give us the horse, or I’ll let everyone in this town know where you were last weekend and why you were sent to jail in the first place,” she ordered. “I want the official paperwork done, too.”
Mr. Heartsan cleared his throat. “I don’t have it.”
She smiled. “That’s fine. I came prepared.”
She held out a bill of sale explaining that the horse was being sold and to whom and for how much.
Mr. Heartsan took it and signed using the pen that my mother also provided.
“Go get the horse, dear,” my mother ordered.
I did as my mother said and got the horse, who was sweet as pie.
Yeah, Holly definitely had a hand in raising this big baby.
I rubbed him down as I led him into the trailer, then locked him up tight.
Just as we were leaving, my mother called out, “You better go to your court hearing, Mr. Heartsan. Or I’ll have your farm.”
Mr. Heartsan swallowed roughly. “Yes, ma’am.”
I chuckled as I helped her into the truck.
It was only as we were halfway down their drive that I said, “You’ve had that planned for a while, but you know that they still owe us money.”
She smiled secretively. “I’m not sure you will ever see what he owes you, but I’ve been planning this ever since I noticed that you had a thing for her.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
If I were Rudolph and they treated me like I was useless until that foggy Christmas eve, I’d tell them to fuck off.
—Denver to Holly
HOLLY
My eyes popped open when he slipped into bed with me, and a small smile lit my lips as he buried his face into my hair.
It was well past midnight.
Well past when he usually went to bed.
“What took you so long?” I wondered.
He grumbled something under his breath about “stupid fucking bulls” and fell into a deep sleep moments later.
It took me longer to fall asleep, but when I did, I felt, for the first time, that this was exactly where I wanted to be for the rest of my life.
When I woke next, it was still dark.
But my screaming bladder wouldn’t allow me to stay in bed a second longer.