Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Once we get to her homeroom class, Mrs. McGregor greets us with a bright smile at the door and tells Zuri she can find her name tag on her desk.
“I’ll be here to pick you up after school, okay.” Not wanting to embarrass her, I touch her hair when I really want to drag her into me for a hug and not let her go.
“Okay, Namalama.”
“Love you, kid.”
“Love you, too,” she whispers before she ducks her head. With my bottom lip caught between my teeth, I watch her wander across the room to her desk and start to unpack her bag. When I see another girl walk up to the desk next to hers and say something that she responds to with a smile, I let out a sigh of relief.
“She’ll be okay.” Turning my head, I smile at Mrs. McGregor.
“This is the first time I’ve done this, so I think I’m more nervous than she is.”
“That’s usually how it goes.” She laughs, rubbing my arm. “She’ll be alright, and you can also e-mail me anytime if you want to check in and see how she is doing.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she tells me before she wanders to the door when another group of parents and kids come into the class.
Looking back at Zuri one last time, I catch her gaze giving her a thumbs up and she rolls her eyes like I’m an idiot but smiles shyly before she turns her attention back to the girl next to her.
Feeling better, I leave her class and dodge people as I walk down the hall. While I’m taking the stairs back down to the first floor, my gaze connects with a man coming up on the opposite side with a boy Zuri’s age tucked under his arm. I almost trip over my own feet when I recognize him under the beard covering the lower half of his face and the years between now and when I saw him last.
Logan Rafe played a role in every single one of my teenage fantasies growing up. I had the biggest crush on him. All the girls did. He was tall and handsome with dark hair, a sculpted jaw, and blue eyes that seemed brighter because of his thick dark lashes. He played baseball, rode a motorcycle, and was always the most popular guy in school without even trying. I was a freshman his senior year, and I still remember being heartbroken when he graduated and left town because I was sure that I had missed my shot of him seeing me and instantly falling in love. He’s still gorgeous, maybe even better looking now that he’s lost his boyish features.
“Hey?” he greets as we pass each other, and I mumble something I can’t even make out. I feel like an idiot for being tongue-tied and an even bigger idiot when he grins. Red-faced and embarrassed, I hurry down the rest of the stairs and exit the building.
As I’m getting back in my Bronco my phone in my pocket buzzes. I pull it out expecting it to be either Talon or Bax asking me about something for work, but instead, it’s my mom asking how drop off went. I message her back that it was good then send her one of the pictures I took of Zuri this morning, and she sends me back a smiling heart eyed emoji.
I was scared to death moving home to Tennessee, and I wasn’t sure that it was the right thing to do for me or for Zuri after her mom went to prison. I was worried about how she would take to my family since she had never had any kind of relationship with any of them. I was worried about how she would feel being so far from her mom and not being able to visit, even just to see her through glass. Even though she hated going, getting physically ill each time we went. I was worried about a million different things, some of which I’m still worried about. But since the moment we arrived, I’ve been reminded almost daily why it was the right move for us.
If we had stayed in Colorado, we would not have the support we do now, and I would be struggling with work and the responsibility of taking care of her on my own because there was no one that I could count on to help me out if I needed it. Sure, I had friends, but they all had lives, and I couldn’t ask them to drop what they were doing at a moment’s notice if I needed help. And my job was cushy, but not so cushy that my boss would be okay with me working from home if I needed to or coming in late so I could get Zuri to school every day.