Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 69794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“Uh, huh.” He snorted. “Is my girl allowed to go home?”
“She is,” Tina confirmed. “But she’ll still need to get her meds picked up. I called them into The Mercantile, so you’ll need to stop there first.”
“Anything special that I need to know?” Beau asked as he came to stand at my side.
“Nothing. The doctor already went over it with her. No driving with the pain meds in her system. Also, when you play your game on Friday, make sure to pre-medicate. Since I have a feeling that you’re going to play it.”
“I am,” I interrupted Beau’s “she’s not.”
Tina rolled her eyes. “Anyway, pre-medicate. Ibuprofen for the swelling, alternated with these pain meds. Take both right before your game.”
“Will do.” I slid my feet off the bed and stood.
I felt a little wobbly, which Beau immediately noticed and caught me around the hip.
Since Iris was still clinging, he held on to me until I was steady on my feet again.
“Who’s this little lady?” Tina asked.
She’d come on after Beau had left last night to get Iris to sleep.
“This is my other girl, Iris,” Beau answered. “She’s my favorite person in the world.”
Iris smiled against my neck, clearly hearing him and liking his words.
Fifteen minutes later, we were in the driveway of Beau’s house.
I didn’t comment on his choice of houses to take me to.
Instead, I got out and headed for the front door.
What I did not expect when we walked into the door of Beau’s place was Beau’s mother to be waiting with a beaming smile stretching her face.
She walked up to me and caught my good hand in hers. “I’m so glad that you’re okay, Magnolia. I’ve heard so much about you from Beau that I just had to be here.”
I grinned. “He’s told me a lot about you as well. I’m glad to finally meet you. I wish it was under better circumstances, though.”
She waved that away. “Beau was hogging you, wanting to keep you all to himself. He didn’t know I was coming, so don’t be surprised when he walks in and whines.”
The next moment he walked through the door with Iris, and his face fell. “Mom.”
Her lips twitched. “Yes?”
“Of course you’re here.” He sighed. “Magnolia, get off your feet. Mom, meet Iris. My best friend.”
Iris lifted her head up and smiled.
“Hi,” she signed.
Expertly, Olive signed back to my girl.
“Hi, I’m Grandma Olive.”
And for some reason, I didn’t correct her.
Because, if this was going where I thought it might, she’d spoken the truth.
It gave me a squishy, excited feeling inside my chest to realize, too.
NINETEEN
I’m awake and ready to be a problem.
—Text from Magnolia to Beau
BEAU
I had two sleeping girls in my bed, and both of them were taking up the majority of the king-size mattress.
Gently as I could, I moved Iris farther into the middle of the bed, then crawled into the small space that I was allotted.
I’d just closed my eyes, exhaustion deep set in my bones, when my phone started to vibrate on the table next to my face.
I reluctantly hit accept and walked back out of the room, stubbing my toe on the tiny shoe that was in the middle of the hallway. One that I’d seen, but chose to leave because I was too tired to pick it up earlier.
Cursing, I answered the phone slightly breathless. “What’s up, Black?”
Black sighed. “Hate to wake you up but…got a minute?”
Instead of answering, I slipped outside onto the back patio so I could speak without waking up the whole house. “What’s up?”
“Got a call about thirty minutes ago,” he said. “It’s Magnolia’s place.”
I blinked. “What about it?”
“Drunk and disorderly out front,” he said. “Name’s Eloy Wilkinson.”
I groaned. “That’s Magnolia’s ex.”
“Well, I brought him in and he’s airing out in the drunk tank,” he said. “But someone’s already come by to bail him out. I had to explain that he couldn’t get out until he was arraigned in the morning.”
“Who tried to bail him out?” I wondered.
He paused as he looked for the name. “A one…Cain McDuff.”
My stomach soured. “Fuck.”
“What?” Black asked.
I rubbed at my forehead. “How drunk was Eloy?”
“Sloshed,” he said. “Got the code to his phone, though. He was very helpful in providing that for us. Let me see if he made any calls.” He paused. “Do the two know each other?”
“If they do,” I said, “it would be very peripherally. Rose, Magnolia’s sister, was dating Cain at the same time Magnolia was dating Eloy. But from what I understand, Magnolia didn’t have much to do with Rose or her fiancé at the time because she didn’t like Cain, and Cain didn’t like her.”
“Well, that I can agree with. Dude was a prick.” He chuckled. “Flashed his license like I would know who the fuck he was just by simply knowing his name. And when that didn’t work, he started rolling off hundos and looking at me expectantly.”