Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Dylan giggles, and I fold my lips between my teeth. I can’t believe I said that.
“Let me up!” Hawke yells as Hunter pushes Kade through the opening.
“I want to see next,” Hunter says.
But Dylan takes my hand, and we run as Jax grabs the twins by the waists of their jeans. “You two, come here.”
Dylan and I race outside onto the porch and down the steps.
I did it. I didn’t forfeit!
“Kade has to steal the keys now,” Dylan brags.
It won’t be hard for him, unfortunately. But I’ll admit, it’s nice to see him lose. He never does. Especially against me.
The lake ripples with the light breeze, and I spot Lucas’s torn shirt on the beach. Dylan runs, joining her mom on the sand as she bounces James, Dylan’s baby brother, in her lap.
Where’s Lucas? I walk down the dock, scanning the water, and then I turn my head left and right, looking down the beach. I want to tell him I won.
Of course, that means I still have to go ATVing, which sucks.
Sliding off my sneakers, I sit down on the dock and dip my feet into the water. I study the island out on the lake. Maybe a little smaller than a football field, it’s filled with trees and large boulders trailing up the hills. There’s a cliff you can jump into the water on one side, and I even heard there’s a small cave somewhere. A canoe sits on the beach. Is that where Lucas went?
But just then a phone rings, and I look behind me, seeing a couple of people in the parking lot. I squint through the sun in my eyes and put my hand over my brow to see. Lucas?
The next thing I know, something grabs my ankles, pulls, and I’m flying forward off the dock. “Ah!” My heart leaps in my throat, choking my cry just before I hit the water. I flail, screaming, but it’s just bubbles coming out of my mouth underneath the surface.
I kick, but I’m hauled backward and quickly lifted up.
I cough and sputter as Lucas holds me by the shoulders.
“You big…” I struggle for breath. “…jerk.”
He presses a finger over his lips. “Shhh…”
I wipe the water out of my eyes, both of us crouched down and hidden underneath the dock. He casts his eyes upward, completely drenched himself.
“That wasn’t funny,” I whisper-yell.
He murmurs, “It was kind of funny.”
Footfalls hit the dock, and he goes still.
So do I.
“What?” I mouth.
But he just gestures, “Shhh!”
Are we playing hide-and-seek again?
The dock creaks under the footsteps, and I think I see two figures through the slits in the wood. Madoc and Jared, maybe?
They don’t say anything, and I try to move to get a closer look, but Lucas keeps hold of me. I gaze up at him, his golden hair and long lashes over blue eyes.
There’s two of them up there. And two of us. A pair.
Finally, they retreat, but Lucas waits another minute or so. Eventually, he releases me and swims backward out from under the dock. “Later, gator.”
My hair is plastered to my cheeks. “I hate you,” I gripe.
He grins wide. “But you’re making me pizza tonight back at Madoc’s, right?”
“Yes.”
But I pout about it, not sure if I’m mad at him for getting my clothes wet, or mad that I’m never really mad at him.
He beams. He loves my pizza.
I wish we could play hide-and-seek as a team, but…
We never get another chance.
A year later, he’s gone.
Leaves town. Doesn’t text. Doesn’t call.
He’s grown up, and I’m not. I guess we weren’t a pair, after all.
Quinn
Nine Years Later
I peer out the little window in the kitchen door, seeing the man still finishing his coffee. He sits at the table in front of the tall wall mirror, and he’s been there for two hours. I hate kicking people out, but…
Oh, who am I kidding? I’ve never kicked anyone out.
I usually rely on them seeing me switch the sign on the door and start cleaning up for them to get the hint that I’m closing.
Here I am, though. Dishes are done, counters cleaned, trash taken out, dough prepped for tomorrow, and floors swept and mopped. I only have to pack up the leftovers for the day and count out the register, which I refuse to do when I’m alone in the shop with a customer I don’t know. Hailey, my cashier, and Noel, my barista, left hours ago.
But as if he can hear my thoughts, the lone guy rises, buttons his suit jacket, and tucks in his chair. Aw. Nobody does that. I smile as he pushes through the door, leaving the bakery.
“See you soon,” I call out.
He doesn’t reply, simply turns his head slightly, showing me the side of his face, and nods once.
Once he’s gone, I lock the door behind him and shut off the light. Heading to his table, I pick up his cup and saucer and swipe up his napkin to find a phone sitting underneath it.