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)
The little girl didn’t say anything after that. And when we were done, Dunky strolled over, planting his chin on my leg, and I strained picking him up, and even though I knew she was going to say no, I held out my hand to Agnes.
“No, thank you,” she answered but opened the door for us.
She was a salty little peanut, but fortunately for her, I liked savory things just as much as I liked the sweet stuff.
And if anything else, she reminded me of what it was that mattered.
I hugged Duncan just that much tighter, relishing the feel of his frame and his weight because I was running out of time with moments like these. The good thing was, he didn’t mind as he licked my cheek.
“Yes,” he told me. “Love.”
My heart was going to burst one of these days, and I couldn’t think of a better way to go.
“What happened to your mom and dad?” Agnes asked suddenly, tipping her face up at me in the hallway. Her eyelashes were almost white, her eyebrows almost a light brown that made her cute face so striking.
This was the most we’d ever talked to each other at once. I loved it.
“My werewolf mom and dad?”
She started walking right alongside me. “Uh-huh.”
“They live in Mexico now.” I held Duncan tighter as the words came out of my mouth. “I still see them, but not a lot. I can’t drive to visit them anymore. They live somewhere without cell phones and internet, and calls are expensive. They’re older, and it’s harder for them to travel.” I would never blame Duncan, but his presence had put a stop to our easy visits.
Her eyebrows were at her hairline when she glanced up at me. “You miss them?”
“I miss them so much,” I told her gently, not sure where she was going with this.
I wasn’t sure she did either when she seemed to ponder that a while before asking, “But are they still your mom and dad? Even if you don’t see them?”
How could I explain such a difficult concept? And how in the world did I get myself into this position so much? “Some people are so important to you that nothing, not time, not being far, not life or… death, will ever take them away. I don’t see my best friends all the time either, but I still love them so much, and they love me, and they’re always going to be there for me.”
“But… how do you know you aren’t gonna forget them? Since you don’t see them?”
This was the last person in the world I ever would have expected to break my heart, and it took me a moment to get myself together. “Some things you just can’t forget. Think about Henri. He calls you Ladybug, right? So I bet, for the rest of your life, any time you see one, you’re going to think of him. There are probably a lot of things you two have talked about and been through that will make you think of him forever.”
She grumbled under her breath, but that was the best explanation I had. Fortunately for me, we made it to the kitchen, and I could see her pressing her lips together, that sharp mind racing with who knew how many thoughts. I hoped she’d ask me more about anything she wanted, even the difficult topics, even if I didn’t know how to answer them.
At the doorway though, I spotted a man leaning against the island, the rest of the kitchen empty.
There I went not paying attention again.
But it wasn’t Randall’s red head or Henri’s black color, much less Franklin’s more-salt-than-pepper hair.
It was a blond man.
And coming off him was werewolf magic.
It was Dominic, who looked up with a scowl from the phone he’d been focused on.
Honestly, I’d almost forgotten all about him. I hadn’t given him a single thought in a while. I considered it a blessing that he hadn’t been by again with his offer to mate with me.
I’d move to the South Pole before that ever happened.
And from the face he made, he didn’t exactly seem thrilled to see us either.
Not even his daughter, that rotten asshole.
As if the same thought hit her at the exact time it did me, Agnes set that stubborn chin, clenched those fists Maggie had mentioned she’d gotten into fights with in the past, and she marched right up to him, a freaking bone to pick written all over that small face. The eight-year-old girl went straight into intersecting a man that adults and children were intimidated by, like it was nothing to her. She was an army of one right then.
Pure pride went through my system, even though I had nothing to do with how tough she was.
I must’ve not been the only one surprised by her actions because even Dominic made a face like he didn’t get what was going on.