Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
I made it a point to know the name of every single person who worked for me, even though the bigger the company grew, the harder it was to keep track.
I knew there were people who thought I was crazy for still going out to fish with my crews, but I never wanted to forget how arduous and dangerous the job could be. Plus, there were days when I just needed the sea wind in my face. Being out on the water had always felt like home to me.
Still, being the boss meant when my daughter visited, I could stay at home, and my staff could contact me easily enough if they needed to. Which they did frequently. And since important customers had my personal contact information, my phone rang a lot. Unfortunately, it meant answering work calls when Kelly was around, which I hated, so when she said she wanted to visit with her grandmother that day, I’d taken the opportunity to go into the office and try to get on top of a few things to decrease the likelihood of work calls later. That rarely worked, but I lived in hope.
After a few hours in the office, I’d gone back into town to grab a bite for lunch when I saw London. It was like I had some kind of radar for the woman. As soon as she was in the vicinity, my whole body vibrated with bloody awareness. As I’d stepped out of Macbeth’s Pages & Perks with coffee in hand, the bakery next on my hit list, I’d seen London’s copper-red hair in the distance as she’d stepped out of the LSLS charity shop.
A spasm of dull pain I didn’t understand panged in my chest like it always did when I saw London.
As I’d strolled to the bakery, I’d watched over the lid of my to-go cup as she answered her phone, and the hair on my nape rose at the way she abruptly halted. Even with the road between us, I saw her distress. I’d been wavering between going over and minding my own business when she’d suddenly bent over and heaved like she was sick.
Nothing could have stopped me going to her then.
And listening to her shakily explain her ex-boyfriend’s threats filled me with outrage. London had never confided in me about her past, but I’d read between the lines. I recognized the signs.
I’d bet my entire company this Nick Huston bastard had abused her.
The thought of anyone hurting London … how could he? How could anyone?
She’d left me that morning feeling powerless, and I was tired of feeling like that these days.
My thoughts strayed from London to Kelly’s strange tone when she’d called me to come and pick her up from Mum’s.
Despite having offered to build Mum a new home, she still lived in the same bungalow I’d grown up in. It was situated at the end of a cul-de-sac in a residential development on the southern outskirts of Leth Sholas. Once you drove past this street, the homes were fewer as the island opened to farmland and rugged nature.
As I parked my Discovery outside my family home, I took a breath and got out to fetch Kelly. My parents’ house had not been the happiest of places growing up and, honestly, if it were up to me, I’d burn it to the ground. But Mum wanted to stay.
Mum’s neighbor Shona McIver was out pottering in her garden, and she popped up like a jackrabbit when she saw me stride along Mum’s path. Shona and I had grown up together, and she’d inherited the fishmonger and smokery from her parents, so we’d been doing business for years. A year or so ago her husband asked for a divorce and left the island, and for the last few months things between us had been … strange.
I wasn’t always the best at picking up signals, but I’d begun to realize Shona was trying to flirt with me.
“Murray!” She hurried to stand from a kneeling position and tripped over her own feet, catching herself at the last minute. Her cheeks flushed. “I’m all right! It’s all right!”
I bit my lip against a smile. “How are you, Shona?”
She beamed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, leaving a smudge of soil along her cheek. “Fine. I’m fine. How are you? Picking up Kelly? She’s such a sweetheart, Murray. You’ve done such a good job there.”
“Thanks.” I nodded and politely backed away. “Well, see—”
“Are you and the lads playing at the Lantern anytime soon?” Shona leaned toward me over the hedge that separated her and my mum’s garden until it gave way. She put a hand out to stop her momentum, only to burst through the greenery.
I lunged forward to catch her, but she’d already face-planted into the shrubbery. “Are you okay?” I awkwardly reached over to grip her under the arms and pull her up.