Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Clem started to giggle. “Sorry, sorry, couldn’t help myself. Just a joke. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Just go and check on him every once in a while, and if he seems worse, give Alec a call. You have his number now, right?”
Lily nodded. She had the phone number of every Malone now. Plus, she was in a group chat with all of the women attached to a Malone, and boy, did they know how to chat. Her phone had never had so many notifications.
“Okay, you won’t be long, though, right?” she said nervously. This was the first time that Lily had been alone, it wasn’t that she was scared to be on her own on the ranch, but she just didn’t want anything to go wrong.
Clem smiled at her. “I won’t be long. Remember, Alec and West aren’t that far away. I’d call Alec first. Definitely wouldn’t call Beau or Tanner. Yep, don’t call Tanner unless you want to shoot somebody. Then call Tanner.”
Right. Good to know. Uh-huh. Cool.
She’d just call Alec.
Once Clem was gone, Lily decided she’d head to her favorite place, the pig stall. Opening it up, she let Pork Chop out, and all her babies trotted along behind her.
She scratched the top of Pork Chop’s head as soon as grew close enough, and then she picked up her favorite baby pig, Crackling.
“Hello, baby,” she said, giving him a cuddle. She crooned to him for a while, telling him about her day as she carried him around. “Gosh, you’re getting heavy, aren’t you?”
Suddenly, the rooster started making a lot of noise. Great. What was wrong with him now? Was he grouchy because Lily was here and not Clem? Mind you, he didn’t seem that fond of Clem either. And then she glanced over and saw a car coming down the driveway.
Her stomach tightened. Who would that be?
Maybe it was just one of the Malones. They were here a lot. Especially when they knew Jaret wasn’t around. One or the other of them often checked in.
But this wasn’t a truck, it was a car, and she couldn’t recall any of them driving cars. Suddenly, Rump Roast appeared. He moved straight in front of the car, forcing it to come to a stop.
Oh, crap.
She set Crackling down and started toward the large steer. This was one of Rump Roast’s favorite things to do. Luckily, all the Malones seemed aware of his antics and how to get him moving. Lily just wasn’t sure that she’d have the same luck.
“Rump Roast, get out of the way, man!” she called out, waving her hands. “Come on, you’ve got to move. The car wants to get through.”
The steer just found some grass and started munching on it. He had all the grass in the paddocks to eat, but he had to go for the grass on the side of the driveway.
She reached him with a sigh and started to push at his backside. “Move, you big lump of steak.”
“Lily.”
Lily froze. She had to be hearing things. There was no way that was his voice. There was no way he was here. Nope, nope, not happening.
She glanced down at herself. She was wearing a pair of Clem’s jeans that were a couple of sizes too big for her, and one of Clem’s belts so they’d stay up. Flick, who was married to Jaret’s brother, West, had given her a couple of T-shirts to wear. She’d obviously felt sorry for her when she’d learned that Lily didn’t have that many clothes.
At one time, Lily would have been horrified to wear hand-me-downs like this, but now she just didn’t care that much. She wasn’t even worried that she only owned a few pieces of clothing.
But would Harvey be horrified by the state of her? She wasn’t even certain that she’d brushed her hair this morning. She’d just pulled it back into a ponytail.
Mind you, it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her in a worse state.
“Lily, look at me.”
It was definitely him. She wasn’t imagining things. No one else could talk to her in that commanding way and make her want to obey him instantly.
Turning her head, she stared right at him. Yep, there he was, looking as sexy as he always had. He was wearing a white shirt, dark jeans and a pair of sunglasses. His shirt was unbuttoned halfway, so she could see the tattoos on his chest.
God, he was gorgeous. Only when he removed the sunglasses did she realize he had dark marks under his eyes that hadn’t been there before she’d left. He looked tired and worried.
“Are you all right, Harvey?” she asked in concern.
“Am I all right? Is that really what you want to ask me?”
“Well, it’s just you don’t look all right. You look tired. Did you drive the whole way here? Wait, what are you doing here?”