Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 97369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97369 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“Why didn’t you call your mom?”
“My mom had book club tonight, Milo.”
“And her book club was more important than helping her only daughter?”
She pivots, arms crossed. “We are his parents. We shouldn’t have to ask family to help us out all the time.”
All the time? I can’t remember the last time Pauline watched Benjamin. “Whatever, Jolene. I’ll take the blame.” I kiss Benjamin’s head, and he immediately calms down.
When I glance at her, Jolene gives me a frown. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Get him to stop crying so quickly?”
“You don’t wanna know. Just go do your work.”
She takes several steps toward me. “What’s that supposed to mean? Why wouldn’t I want to know?”
“Because you’ll be offended.” I head toward the kitchen to grab a glass of water. My little guy will heat me up rather quickly, nestled on my chest.
Jolene’s bare feet slap the floor behind me. I feel her inches away like a dog nipping at my ankles. “You’ve never spared my feelings before.”
Oh, Sweetheart … you have no idea.
I drink the whole glass of water and calmly set it on the counter. “This.”
“This what?” She blows at the hair falling into her face.
“This. You’re losing your mind. I can physically feel your anger from five feet away. He can feel your frustration, anger, and impatience; it makes him uneasy. When he’s uneasy, he cries. But I remain calm even if something is messing with my head. Like now, your willingness to have this conversation with me when you’re supposedly going to lose your case tomorrow because of me makes me want to ram my head into the wall.” I smile, showing my teeth. “But I let that shit stay in my head. From the neck down, I stay calm.”
Jolene rolls her eyes and huffs before pounding her feet away from me again. “It’s because you have no stress in your life. You ride a stupid horse all day and drive around in your truck. You have no clue what it’s like to have a real job.”
Again, I kiss Benjamin’s head. “Mommy’s an entitled bitch. Sorry, buddy. We don’t get to choose our parents,” I say in a soft, cooing tone.
He pulls in a breath and releases it in a shaky exhale.
“Yeah, my thoughts too. This is why daddy needs Indie in his life. She’s a gentle soul. You’d like her.” I carry him into the family room. “You’d crush her heart, but you’d like her. And eventually, I think she’d like you. You’re irresistible.” I ease into the corner of the sofa and prop up my feet. “I think you get that from me, but don’t tell your scary mommy.”
Several somewhat hard slaps to my cheek bring me out of my sleep. My hand bats the pesky slapper away while I peel open my eyes. “What the fuck, Jolene,” I whisper, jackknifing to sitting.
She’s in a black skirt suit with high, pointy heels. “What are you doing?” she whisper-yells while her finger jabs past me.
I glance back at Benjamin sleeping. “What?”
“Why is he in here?”
“Because he sleeps soundly next to me. Who knew? All this time, Leah’s been pacing the house with him half the night. Problem solved.”
“Problem not solved. You cannot start this. He needs to be in his crib.”
I swing my legs off the side of the bed. “That’s rich coming from the person who has never gotten up with him in the middle of the night and sleeps in the room farthest from his,” I say through a series of partially stifled yawns.
“Put him back in his crib now. Leah will be here any minute.”
I stare at her for a few seconds. I didn’t think it was possible for her to get worse than she was when I married her. The fact that I’ve put my dick into her a handful of times (drunk and desperate times) over the past four years is cringeworthy.
I salute her. “Yes, ma’am.”
This seems to anger her more, but she leaves my room in a hissy fit because she needs to get to work. Thank god.
After Leah arrives, I get chores done around here and mount my horse to check on the new calves. When I return to the house an hour later, flashing lights come into view. I speed up, fly off Ranger while one of the ranch hands takes him, and run into the house just as the paramedics wheel Fletcher out on a gurney.
“What happened?”
He’s barely conscious, brace around his neck, and the medics don’t acknowledge me. They’re in too much of a hurry to get him to the ambulance.
“Micah, what happened?”
Micah shakes his head, watching the medics. “He got sick after breakfast. He thought it was something I made him. But then he complained about the lights being too bright and affecting his vision. The next thing I knew, he tumbled down the stairs.”