Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 117740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Her method of addressing me sent a chill through me. Not only that—the cold look in her eyes was almost deadly, and I knew. Rose had misunderstood, and Isadora was telling me in no uncertain terms that she wouldn’t let me anywhere near her.
“Isadora—”
“You should leave before anyone else realises you’re here. You might not realise it, but nobody here wants to see you right now. You’d be best off going back to London as soon as you can.”
“Hang on.” Susan held up a hand. “If Eleanor was telling me the truth that time, then you haven’t signed the contract?”
“That’s what I want to tell Rose!” I threw my hands up in the air and balled my hands into fists, pressing them against my forehead so I could take a deep breath. “I haven’t sold the land. I cancelled that, what? Two weeks ago?”
Luke nodded. “Ten days-ish. We’ve been working around the clock on a stewardship contract ever since, but it’s taken time because of some complicated clauses this lovesick bastard insisted upon.”
“The final agreement came through this morning, and I just found out Rose may have heard us talking about it in my office,” I explained quickly. “If she’s told you we’ve sold the land, she’s absolutely misunderstood.”
“We never explicitly said what contract it was because it was just between us,” Luke continued. “If she only caught the tail end of the conversation, I can see how she thought it was the sale contract.” He glanced at me. “Especially if she heard me say you didn’t want her to know.”
“And Rose won’t jump to a conclusion if she can hop, skip, and jump to it,” Isadora added. “Damn it. I can’t believe I just helped her with her getaway.”
“Is she in Ramona?” I asked.
“Um, no.” She scratched the back of her neck and held up Rose’s keys. “She’s in my very normal, very boring, black Ford Focus, actually.”
In other words, I had no fucking chance of finding her.
“What’s going on?” Shaun asked, walking over. “Ooft, you’re brave,” he said to me.
I didn’t feel it right now. “Do you know where Rose is?”
“Limpet here was with her last I saw.”
Isa elbowed him. “She’s… um, well, she’s in my car.”
“Oh,” Shaun said, understanding washing over his face. “Yeah, you’re never gonna find her.”
I sagged back onto one of the few chairs still out and buried my head in my hands. “Fuck. What am I supposed to do now?”
“What’s wrong with him?” he said to Isadora.
“Ah, well, it’s like this,” she replied before launching into the whole story.
Shaun looked at me with eyes full of pity. “She’s in one of two places, but short of waiting outside the hotels all night…” He shrugged. “She’ll already have turned her phone off. When Rose wants to be alone, she means it.”
“What hotels?”
“No,” Luke said, shaking his head. “We are not waiting outside hotels all night in the off chance we’ll see her leave in the morning.”
“Yeah, I’m not doing that either,” Isadora said. “She’ll be fine. She just needs to cool off and get her thoughts in order. You won’t be able to hold a conversation with her right now. She’ll text me when she gets wherever she’s going to let me know she’s safe, so don’t worry.”
Luke rubbed his hand down his face. “And this is the woman you want to marry? One who runs away when she’s upset? Great. Real mature of her.”
“Hey,” Isa said, stepping towards him before I could say a thing. “You, watch your bloody mouth. She’s given everything to this place and pushed herself to exhaustion over the past several weeks trying to stop what this moron started.” She cocked a thumb in my direction. “So what if she’s upset? Is she not allowed to be? She might be stubborn and hard-headed, but she’s only human. Everyone needs time to themselves, and if that’s what she needs right now to work through her emotions, who are you to say anything about that? Have you ever needed to be alone, or are you just a heartless prick?”
Shaun wrapped his arm around her shoulders, clamping his hand over her mouth. “What she’s trying to say is that this is how Rose deals with a broken heart.”
Broken heart.
Ha.
One I’d caused.
All because I’d wanted to surprise her.
She peeled his hand off her mouth, elbowing him again, and turned to me. “And you! Wanting to marry her? Ha. I refuse.”
I stared at her.
I’d already worked out that much.
“You can’t refuse for her, dear,” Susan said, tugging on her arm.
“I can and I will,” Isadora declared. “He’s not coming anywhere near my sweet Rose anymore.”
“Sweet Rose.” Luke snorted.
“I swear I’ll—”
This time, Shaun restrained her properly, making it so she couldn’t escape his hold. “Are you trying to spend the night in her cell?” he asked flatly. “If her phone is off, she won’t bail you out, you know.”