Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“I don’t need his past as proof. He told me so himself! His exact words were, no hearts involved!”
Alexa frowned. “In the beginning, maybe. But now you’re the one keeping yours sealed shut.”
“That’s right, and it’s called self-preservation, thank you very much. And now I have to go to Havensbridge. I’m hoping someone heard from Daniella.”
“Still nothing?” Alexa asked, concerned.
“No.” Cara drew a deep breath. “Listen, I appreciate that you’re looking out for me, but I knew what I was getting into with Mike. And I asked you to meet me today because . . . maybe I am falling for him a little bit and I needed the reminder of why that’s a bad idea.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t give that to you.” Alexa shook her head. “I guess I need to believe someone can find the right guy.”
Personally, Cara thought Alexa could find that man if she stopped working so hard and let herself look around. But she knew better than to have the old argument.
“That’s okay,” Cara said instead. “I gave it to myself.”
Alexa rose, walked to Cara, and gave her a hug. “I just want you to be happy, and honestly? Being with Mike makes you happier than I’ve ever seen you.”
Too bad it couldn’t last. But Cara didn’t say that.
“Are you free for dinner tonight?” Alexa asked. “I have a rare free evening. I was thinking maybe dinner and a movie?”
Cara nodded. “That sounds wonderful.” It had been too long since Alexa had given herself permission to relax, and Cara definitely wouldn’t mind continuing their time together. They made plans for the evening, and Cara headed out the door.
At Havensbridge, no one had heard from Daniella. Cara spent the afternoon talking to a new woman who’d come in while Cara was in Vegas and encouraging her to look into self-defense classes in which she’d expressed an interest. All the while, Daniella’s absence, which was now going on two long weeks, weighed heavily.
That night, a snowstorm hit, forcing Alexa and Cara to change their plans. They ordered dinner in and watched the movie Friends with Benefits, which left Cara shaking her head at the romanticized ending.
“When was the last time a woman ended up with Prince Charming? One who organizes an entire flash mob to impress her?” Cara rolled her eyes, though she’d secretly loved the movie.
Alexa laughed. “It’s a movie; can’t you just enjoy it without analyzing it to death?”
Cara laughed, but she knew that when a guy said he didn’t do permanent, she’d better listen.
Alexa left before the snow got any worse, and Cara holed up in her condo, watching the beautiful snow fall outside her living room window.
She must have dozed off because she woke to the distant ringing of her cell phone, the sound coming from her bedroom.
She ran, hoping to catch the caller before they hung up. “Hello?”
“Cara?” Her name sounded like a whisper, but she recognized the voice.
“Daniella?” Cara gripped the small phone in her hand.
“I don’t know what to do,” the other woman said in a small voice.
“Are you hurt?”
Silence.
“Daniella? I’m not going to judge you. I just want to know if you’re okay.” Cara realized she was trembling and lowered herself onto the bed.
“I’m fine. But I need to talk to you.”
An opening, Cara thought. A small one, but it was there. Cara squeezed her eyes shut tight and prayed. “Where can I find you?”
“Umm . . . ”
“No pressure. We’ll just talk, and afterward, you can walk away if that’s what you want.”
The silence was deafening while the time that she waited for an answer stretched on. “The McDonald’s off Route 80,” Daniella said, and then Cara heard a click.
Heart pounding, Cara glanced down. She was wearing a pair of pink sweats and a T-shirt. Good enough. She wasn’t taking the time to change and risk Daniella leaving. She strapped on her holster and gun, pulled on her jacket, and was in the car within five minutes of the phone call.
The drive there normally took fifteen minutes, but thanks to the heavy snow and roads, which hadn’t yet been plowed, it ended up being a thirty-minute drive. Thirty long minutes in which Cara inched along in her car with too much time to think. Her first impulse was to call Mike and tell him she’d heard from Daniella, but Cara slammed the brakes on that idea immediately.
After Vegas . . . no, that wasn’t right—before Vegas, when Mike had shown up on her doorstep and told her he was headed out of town, her panic at the notion of his leaving told her in no uncertain terms that she was coming to rely on him too much. To put things back in perspective, Cara had to remember that this was her life. She’d been self-reliant before Mike arrived, and she’d have to go back to going it solo once he was gone. No reason not to exercise the same behavior now.