Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97944 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
“Or not. Honestly, that’s water under the bridge. Like his body should be, deep under water, with a large boulder holding him down.”
Theo shakes his head. “You’re deflecting again.”
“I’m not deflecting. This is me coping. I told you I’m fine.” I set my coffee on the counter and stand. “I’ll be out of you guys’ hair today.”
“You know you’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”
“I know. But I have a lot of things to work out. One is sucking up to Harry to see if I can get my job back. You know, for income and all. And I want to stop by the hospital and visit Justin.”
“You don’t need to worry about money.”
“I am definitely not a charity case, so yes, I do. Now seems like a good time to shower. Really gonna miss your forty-seven-nozzle shower, boy toy.”
“Mindy—”
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out—or you’re gonna have to buy me a new one,” I say as I retreat down the hall.
***
I wave at Clara, the head nurse on duty, and walk down the hall to Justin’s room. He’s lucky to be alive. The doctor said it was touch and go, but with a lot of rest, he’ll make a full recovery.
“Hey, hero,” I purr, walking in. I smile at Ruth. “Girl, can you look any hotter? I swear, my belly is bigger than that after a taco marathon.”
Ruth giggles, drops Justin’s hand, and walks over, giving me a hug. “You’re too sweet.”
“Thanks. I’ve been called a lot of things, and sweet’s not one of them.” I laugh, looking at Justin. “How are you feeling today?”
“Like I’m going to go on a rampage if I have to take one more bite of hospital food.”
“Oh god, we don’t want that,” I say dramatically and open up my purse, pulling out a fast-food bag. “Good thing I brought you the best tacos in town.” His eyes light up like I knew they would. Tacos do that to people.
“Wow, now you’re saving my life.” He smiles, accepting the bag.
“Better hurry before someone catches you.”
“All I need is thirty seconds.”
We all laugh as he swallows his first bite, moaning into the steak taco.
I chuckle and point to his lip. “Cilantro looks good on you, hero.”
Ruth leans in, grabs a napkin, and wipes his mouth. My heart warms at their love before taking a nosedive.
I wish I had that.
“Did you ever hear back from Detective Rochel about the girl who was with Vince—I mean Paul—claiming to be his sister?”
I snap out of my sad thoughts. “Yeah. It was the classic rent-by-the-hour escort. No sister. Just Darla, the hooker.”
“Hmmm…” he says, taking another bite.
“So, when are they releasing you back into the wild?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Later today. I got the thumbs up from the doc. As long as I follow up with my primary in a few weeks to determine how I’m healing, I’m good to go.”
I offer him my frown face. “Is this goodbye? I was getting used to seeing you every day. Ruth is almost as good as you are at the name game.”
“You’ll have to come visit us once the baby’s born,” he comments.
“Born? We’re practically family now. I was hoping for the front row at the delivery.” Justin’s brow furrows while Ruth snickers. “Kidding, hero. I’m twenty-four and still believe babies come from storks. All the poor vaginas around the world, what did they ever do to anyone?”
We continue with small talk until his doctor comes in, then I say my goodbyes, promise to see them when the baby is born, and head home. When I walk in, I’m not sure what I expected, but everything looks the same. No one would ever guess a psychopath had blown up my kitchen. Pushing down my emotions, I say hello to my couch and make a cup of coffee using one of the surviving mugs. “You couldn’t handle me even if I came with instructions.”
Next order of business, I pull out my phone, find the right number in my favorites, and put it up to my ear. When the call is picked up, I say with my sweetest voice, “Harry, love of my life, how are you?”
Chapter twenty-nine
Mindy
Four weeks later…
“Shit!” That’s hot. Coffee spills over the side of my mug, splashing my wrist. I glance at the time again and let off another round of curses. I knew I shouldn’t have started another episode of Catfish. Now, I missed my mid-afternoon nap, and I’m about to be late to work. But dammit, why are those people so dumb! Hi, let’s date for five years but never see each other’s faces. Idiots.
I take one last look at myself before heading off.
“Mindy, dear?”
I stop to find poor Mrs. Carlson scurrying down the hall. “Did you need something? I’m kind of running late.”