Total pages in book: 254
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 240032 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1200(@200wpm)___ 960(@250wpm)___ 800(@300wpm)
He blinked, and it made me grin.
But a thought occurred to me suddenly. My stomach dropped. “I’m not worried about myself, but if someone in the community is talking… are they going to spread rumors about Duncan?”
“No.” Henri sounded so certain. “You don’t need to worry about that. The children are the greatest treasure we have in our community. No one would say a word. Not even Dominic. To put a child in jeopardy is to sacrifice your life.”
I almost sighed with relief, trusting his every word.
“Come on, let’s—” His ringtone went off, irritation taking over his face as he pulled his phone out. “One second,” he warned before touching the screen. “Henri,” he answered, his tone deceptively polite. The person on the other line would never know his jaw was clenched the whole time.
Since his focus was still on me, I tipped my head in the direction of where we’d left the UTV, and he nodded. He didn’t say more than “yes” and “correct” the entire walk back to it. Even when he picked up my bracelet where I’d dropped it, he only handed it to me. Something else came out of his mouth when he got behind the wheel that sounded like he’d ended the call, but Henri had barely pulled the phone away from his cheek when it went off again. It was another call from the ranch based off his “Henri.”
No wonder Matti and his dad had left this place behind.
Did they ever leave him alone around here? Did he ever get a day off to relax? I deflated at the idea that he didn’t, because every time I racked my brain for a sign that he got time off, not including the few play sessions outside and the night he’d watched movies with us, I couldn’t get any solid evidence otherwise.
Which got me thinking….
He stayed on the phone the entire way back to the clubhouse, shooting me an occasional apologetic face, his hands flexing and gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles going white on and off the whole ride. When we got to the warehouse, he pulled in, still listening to someone ramble on the other end.
Those amber irises slid toward me after he parked, and he shook his head, his whole expression just… tired.
Almost pained.
I held up my index finger just like he’d taught me and got out, leaving him there to run into the clubhouse. It didn’t take me long to get up to my room and get what I needed. My trip to the kitchen didn’t take long either, and neither did jogging out to the parking lot to back my truck up to my RV and hitch it up.
It might have been about fifteen minutes max by the time I circled back to the warehouse, not sure I was going to find Henri still there, but he was.
In the same position I’d left him in. One hand was cupping his forehead, eyes closed as he said in a flat voice, “I know you’re upset that your water heater can’t be repaired today, but if Shane said you need a new one, then you need a new one, Margaret. You’re more than welcome to stay in the clubhouse until then.”
He lowered his hand and gave me a flat smile when I slid onto the bench seat beside him.
A few more things were grumbled, and about five minutes of reassurances and apologies later, he dropped his hand with his phone in it on the seat between us.
He blew three normal-people-sized breaths out of his mouth at once.
I gave him a second to decompress before setting my keys beside where his hand was resting on the seat. The movement caught his attention, and he gave me that neutral expression he was so good at. I flicked the keys a little closer to his fingers.
“Right now, there are a whole bunch of leftovers sitting in the fridge of my RV. There’s enough gas in the generator and water in the tanks for maybe two days, if you don’t flush the toilet every time you pee. My best guess is that there’s two days of drinking water in bottles, if you don’t stop and get more. My trailer is already hooked up to my truck, ready to go. We can trade phones, so you aren’t without one in case of emergencies, and I’ll deal with whatever calls come in while you’re gone,” I explained my plan to him in a rush.
Henri blinked.
“I’ll tell everybody you got called into work, and if your work reaches out, I can contact you on my phone and pass the message along,” I went on, hoping I’d covered all our bases. “And nobody will know I’m lying because it’ll be on the phone.”
That bottom lip slowly unpeeled from his top one in what I would call the closest thing to his mouth gaping as he might ever get.