Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122440 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 612(@200wpm)___ 490(@250wpm)___ 408(@300wpm)
She had moved to Knightly to be invisible—to escape from being a public figure and associated with her father and his “family” campaigns. The world had watched her grow up, and those who loved—or hated—her father were far too invested in her life. She’d never been comfortable with having the microscope on her, and once she realized what a depraved deviant her father truly was, she didn’t want any association with him. The fact that she’d broken away, in the eyes of the media, made her an ungrateful brat.
The media hadn’t bothered to uncover the fact that she had worked her way through nursing school. Her parents hadn’t paid a single penny toward her education. They would have if she had asked, but she didn’t want anything from them. She had been determined to separate her life from theirs, and she’d done so—or so she thought.
“Are you all right, Harlow?” Raine’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.
“Yes, this shot is complicated,” she improvised. It was, but it wasn’t why she was wearing a frown.
Harlow wasn’t blind when she looked in the mirror. She knew she was considered extremely good-looking. Usually, looks like hers drew attention, but she’d learned to appear to be very closed off from others, and that prevented a lot of unwanted advances. She also dressed in very casual, loose-fitting clothes or hoodies and sweatshirts. Since she climbed boulders and ran often, she had workout clothes that she certainly didn’t consider chic. Strangely, her friend group always thought she was wearing designer gear. She didn’t waste money on products that weren’t going to hold up long-term, so she always bought very good brands. But they weren’t designer. Just good.
She didn’t have what it took to be in a family. She was far too suspicious of everything and everybody. She didn’t want to be seen, and her background and looks were a detriment to her rather than an asset. It would have suited her far better to be able to fade into the background. That got her thinking about Wilder. He was a good-looking man, even striking, his body very masculine, and yet he could be difficult to spot if that’s what he wanted. Maybe he could teach her.
“Don’t step there,” Raine cautioned suddenly. “Spiderwebs, mole or vole holes, less than a foot in front of you. Or whatever else, who knows?”
Harlow looked down at the ground directly in front of her. The sun was rising, light spreading across the sky and shining in streaks, illuminating the ground around the side of the old barn. There were several holes in the ground right in front of her. Had she continued forward, she would have stepped right in one of them. That was the trouble with getting caught up in her photography.
To her, there was beauty in the symmetry of the holes and the small mounds of dirt pushed up by creatures living or traveling beneath the surface. Beautiful spiderwebs, works of art, were spread along the ground over small rocky crevices and raised soil. The webs glistened like icicles lying in scattered patterns among the grass and rocks. She snapped a few shots and turned back to the barn before she lost the perfect light.
She took a moment to look around for Misha and Daisy. The two dogs were running around in the field of flowers, having the time of their lives. Both knew to stay away from snakes. They’d gone through the training several times.
The sun was climbing high when they headed over to the Twin Devil boulders. “This is the one I’ve been working on,” Harlow explained, indicating the boulder on the left. “I’m about halfway up, so taking it very slow and making certain I can downclimb every foot I advance.”
Raine surveyed the massive boulder. “It looks like an awesome climb.” She arranged her crash pad beside Harlow’s. “I can spot you while you’re climbing, and you can do the same for me when I go up.”
“Were you given the clearance to climb?” Harlow asked. She couldn’t help it. She was a nurse, and Raine had been struggling with her leg for well over a year. “You don’t want to chance ruining all the hard work you’ve put in.”
“I’ve had CAT scans, X-rays, MRIs, you name it, numerous times. With contrast, without contrast, and they tell me the plate and pins are holding. I have to get the leg stronger. That’s what they keep saying: get my leg stronger. I’ve been stretching, walking, hiking, going up hills, but I haven’t tried climbing yet. I won’t do much, but I want to see how the leg does.”
Harlow shoved down the uneasy feeling she had. She knew she was overprotective when it came to Raine. She detested the way Raine’s family treated her, acting as if she were responsible for her father’s death when she wasn’t. The man had been in the Irish mob. What did anyone expect? He’d lived a dangerous life, put his family in danger, and then, when he was killed, the family wanted to blame someone, so Raine was convenient. At least, that was how Harlow saw it. And she’d been shot, nearly losing her leg. Throughout the long ordeal of several surgeries and infections, she had persisted in working. In helping out the other women, no matter what was going on in her life. Harlow thought Raine was extraordinary, and she didn’t want anything to happen to her.