Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“What’s going on?” Sheriff Sunny asked.
“What’s wrong is that woman isn’t allowing my dog into her business. He’s a service dog,” the man cried.
“What’s your name?” Sunny asked him.
“Werner Stanley,” he answered. “And this is my son, Griffith. He suffers from seizures, and this is his service animal.”
Sunny raised a brow. “How do you know that she wasn’t just closing up shop for the day?”
“Because the hours are posted on her door. She locked it before I could come in,” Werner countered.
Dude had a point.
The Marina’s hours were all day and night, practically. There were no promises of when a boat or a ship would come in and need fuel. They couldn’t close.
Sunny’s gaze went to the door where Alice was standing, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Ma’am,” Sunny said. “Can you step outside, please?”
Alice was already shaking her head no.
“You can come in, but the dog can’t.” Alice looked worried.
“She can’t come out here with the dog because she’s deathly allergic,” I offered when Sunny looked to me for patience.
Sorry, dude. I don’t have any of that to spare, my look said.
“She’s, like, embellishing,” Werner scoffed.
“She, like, dies,” Silvain the Third called, making his appearance on scene. “You should probably make sure you stay far away from her, too, since you rubbed up against the dog as you came inside. Being in the same room as an animal makes her throat close and shit go from bad to DEFCON in about thirty seconds.”
Sunny looked at the dog that was quite close to him.
His eyes went from the dog to Alice then to the man. “If she gets so sick that she can’t breathe and she needs medical attention, and you’re more than aware of that, then I think you’re the one who needs arrested.”
I thought so, too.
Werner didn’t, though.
“She’s lying,” Werner tried.
“She’s not lying.” Silvain shook his head. “I have medical proof if you want. When this dumbass tried to move the dog into her apartment six months ago, we went to the doctor’s office and got proof from the emergency doc. You can see all her records from the last time she was there. And each exposure only gets worse and worse on her end. Last time, she coded for thirty minutes before they could get her stabilized.”
Whoa.
“You’re not going anywhere near her. Not now, not ever,” I found myself saying. “If I catch you…”
“Costas,” Sunny grumbled. “Don’t.”
Don’t threaten him. Because then Sunny would have to do something about it.
One day, I’d find out why Sunny was so good to the Gator Bait MC. There had to be a reason that he was always protecting us.
“Who are you?” Werner finally asked. “Her bodyguard?”
Silvain’s gaze came to me. I could practically feel it resting on my exposed skin.
“I’m none of your damn business,” I told him. “Speaking of business, why don’t you fuckin’ mind yours.”
Werner hissed. “What is it with you derelicts and your language? I have a twelve-year-old child.”
“You have a child that looks bored out of his mind, that isn’t paying attention in the least because his eyes are glued to that phone, who’s currently getting a sunburn because you have him standing out here. When was the last time you got him some vitamin D?” I countered.
Probably fuckin’ never.
“My son and his practices are none of your business.” He looked at me with narrowed eyes.
I was pissing him off.
Good.
“Sir,” Sunny sighed. “Please get to the shade over there by the fishing pier,” he urged. “I’ll come talk to you in a moment.”
Werner did the first smart thing I’d seen him do. He followed the officer’s directions. Though, he sneered first at Alice, then Alice’s brother, before stalking off.
Once he was gone, Sunny gestured at Alice. “Can you come out now?”
Alice looked at where Werner had retreated, then unlocked the door.
She stepped outside, moving toward me and the side of the building so that she could get as far away from the dog, and I assumed, have an escape route should Werner decide to be a dumbass.
My bet was he’d try it. He didn’t look like he was firing on all cylinders.
“Yes, Sheriff?” she asked sweetly, looking for all she was worth as innocent as innocent could be.
I barely contained the eye roll.
She must’ve realized what I was thinking, because she elbowed me, causing my mouth to quirk.
“Please, call me Sunny,” he said. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
Alice sighed.
“I can tell you,” Silvain muttered.
“Silvy…” Alice started, but ‘Silvy’ spoke over her.
“Six months ago, that douchebag tried to move his dog into my sister’s house, even after her explaining to him that she’s deathly allergic to dogs. He just can’t seem to get it through his thick skull that she’s allergic. She kicked him out that day, and I’ve been keeping him away from her ever since. Because he just thinks that his thoughts, feelings and desires trump everyone else’s,” Silvy spoke.